DENVER | Retiring at season’s end, Dean Adams is hoping to go out with a bang with the Grandview baseball team.
The Wolves made some pretty loud noise for their coach Tuesday at the rescheduled Class 5A District 2 tournament at Metropolitan State University of Denver, as Adams’ 25th-seeded squad rolled past No. 6 Legend and No. 9 Central of Grand Junction on their way to the 5A Championship Series.
Grandview knocked around five pitchers for 15 hits — eight of them doubles — and got a four-hit complete game from junior pitcher Nick Morris in an authoritative 11-1 victory over Central of Grand Junction that qualified it for the double-elimination tournament starting Saturday and Sunday.
With two of the eight 5A district tournaments set to be played Wednesday, the 25th-seeded Wolves (13-8) are the second-lowest seed among the six qualified teams behind No. 28 Chatfield, which won District 4 in Fruita Monument.
But anybody who knows the tradition of the Grandview baseball program and the Centennial League knows the No. 25 seed meant nothing going into districts.
The Wolves got a complete game effort from junior Grant Schroeder in the opener to knock off host Legend, with pinch hitter Carter Boswell striking a big blow with a tie-breaking triple in the sixth inning to set up a meeting with Central of Grand Junction. The Warriors blanked No. 24 Highlands Ranch 1-0 in a tidy game that lasted just 1 hour, 20 minutes.
Grandview struck early and often in the district championship game, beginning with Eric Mingus’ sacrifice fly that brought in leadoff man Keifer Glau in the top of the first inning.
Morris admits to having one bad inning in each of his starts and that came in the first, when an obvious out call was missed at first base by the umpire, which allowed the Warriors to load the bases. A walk brought in a run to tie it at 1-1, but Morris induced a double play to end the inning.
That would be all offensive for Central, which had just two runners reach base in the final six innings.
The Wolves unleashed a barrage of extra base hits to break the game open, highlighted by back-to-back-to-back doubles by Mingus, Tyler Smith and Nick Brown in the fifth inning. Grandview scored three times in the frame and the Warriors used three pitchers to get three outs.
Courtney Oakes is Sports Editor of the Aurora Sentinel. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel
CLASS 5A DISTRICT 2 BASEBALL TOURNAMENT
May 12 at Metropolitan State University of Denver
Championship game: NO. 25 GRANDVIEW 11, NO. 9 CENTRAL (G.J.) 1
Score by innings (r-h-e):
Grandview 111 132 2 — 11 15 1
Central (GJ) 100 000 0 — 1 4 1
GRANDVIEW (ab-r-h-rbi)
Keifer Glau cf 4-2-1-0, Ben Marshall lf 5-1-2-1, Eric Mingus ss 4-2-3-1, Tyler Smith 2b 3-2-2-3, Nick Brown dh 4-1-1-2, Tyler O’Dorisio 3b 3-1-2-0, Chase Mclaran c 2-0-2-2, Carter Boswell pr 0-1-0-0, Travis Parker rf 4-0-0-0, Morgan Smith 1b 4-1-2-1, Nick Morris p 0-0-0-0. Totals 32-11-16-10. Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-s0): Nick Morris (W, 7-4-1-1-1-4).
CENTRAL (G.J.) (ab-r-h-rbi)
Andrew Martinez rf 3-1-1-0, Brandon Martinez cf-p 3-0-1-0, Jeremy Champlin ss-p 3-0-1-0, Trey Garcia 3b 3-0-0-0, Tanner Huskey dh 1-0-0-1, Jason Holman ph-p 1-0-0-0, Alex Schaneman 2b 3-0-1-0, Cole Rupe 1b 2-0-0-0, Luke Romine 2-0-0-0, Kody Steves ph 1-0-0-0, Wyatt McElwain lf 2-0-0-0, Michael Estep p 0-0-0-0, Seth Barker p 0-0-0-0. Totals 23-1-4-1. Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so): Michael Estep (L, 2-3-3-3-2-0), Seth Barker (2-3-2-2-2-0), Brandon Martinez (0-4-2-2-0-0), Jason Holman (2 1/3-5-4-4-1-2), Jeremy Champlin (2/3-1-0-0-0-0).
2B — Grandview (8): Ben Marshall 2, Eric Mingus 2, Morgan Smith 2, Nick Brown, Tyler Smith. Ejection — Central (GJ): Cole Rupe.
First round: NO. 25 GRANDVIEW 6, NO. 6 LEGEND 4
Score by innings (r-h-e):
Grandview 200 013 0 — 6 7 1
Legend 201 000 0 — 4 5 3
WP — Grandview: Grant Schroeder (7 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 10 K); Grandview hitting: Ben Marshall 2-4, run; Eric Mingus 2-3, run; Keifer Glau 1-3, RBI, run; Carter Boswell 1-1, 3B, RBI, run
