LAKEWOOD – It can be difficult for a coach to preach patience, especially during the second game on a hot, dusty day at All-Star Park.
But after the Regis Jesuit baseball team forced Grandview’s Ethan Wachsmann, who Raiders coach Matt Darr called “maybe the best pitcher in the state,” to 35 pitches in the first inning Friday, that point became easier to sell.
Wachsmann held Regis scoreless for the first five innings but hit the 110-pitch limit with no outs in the top of the sixth inning. The Raiders responded by taking two runs off Josiah Giron to punch their ticket to the state championship game tomorrow.
Those foul tips and deep counts ultimately won Regis the game, something Darr joked he’s been preaching all season.
“Hopefully with two games left they buy in now,” Darr said with a laugh. “But it was the right way to approach that, especially after the number of pitches we got him to in the first inning. You could feel the team really making an effort to work deep into counts, fouling pitches off. If he’s in there the whole game, I don’t think we score.”
Wachsmann logged five innings and struck out 11 batters with only two walks and three hits. The Wake Forest commit maintained the top-seeded Wolves’ narrow lead, which was scratched out in wild fashion during the bottom of the third.
Kyler Vaughn doubled with two outs and stole third. A hit batter put runners on the corners, then a wild pitch high above the catcher’s head put a run on the board and put another runner on third. After a walk, the Wolves attempted a delayed steal, but the runner was tagged out at home to cut short the rally.
Three scoreless frames went by, setting up Wachsmann’s exit with no outs and a runner on first. Giron walked one batter and hit another to load the bases, then a safety squeeze from Gavin Cronin tied the game and another walk gave the Raiders the lead.
From there, Michael Kroll was able to finish a complete game for Regis Jesuit, allowing just three hits while striking out two and issuing just one walk. The Raiders’ defense was razor sharp despite coming off an uglier 6-4 victory over Broomfield earlier in the day where the team had four errors.
Regis fell behind early to the Eagles, allowing two runs in the top of the first, but responded by scoring almost all their runs in a five-run third.
The pair of victories sets up a rematch of last year’s state championship battle with Cherry Creek, albeit in opposite fashion. Last year, the Bruins had to come from the consolation side of the bracket and won twice on the final Saturday of the season to send Marc Johnson into retirement with a championship.
This year, the Bruins are in the driver’s seat, having won all three of their games last weekend to reach the title series. Cherry Creek needs just one victory to win the title, which Darr said puts added pressure on their opponents.
“We just need to play loose,” the coach said. “It’s a tough task, but you win an inning, you can win a game. The pressure is already all on them, but with momentum, it becomes even tougher. We just go out and play.”
(Steve Abeyta/steveabeytaphotography.com)
