AURORA | Besides wanting to beat rival Gateway, the Rangeview baseball team had extra incentive for Saturday’s regular season finale.
With a win, coach Mike Hamilton’s Raiders would wrap up fourth place in the East Metro Athletic Conference and secure the league’s fourth automatic berth into the Class 5A districts playoffs, which they missed last season.
Crooked innings in the second (six runs) and fourth (five runs) innings helped Rangeview pull away from the Olys for a 16-6 victory shortened by the 10-run mercy rule. The Raiders finished the regular season with their fourth win in five games to get to 8-11 overall and 6-3 in the league. They’ll await seeding of the 5A district tournaments, which is due out Wednesday.
Against Gateway, senior Caesar Estrada earned the win for the Raiders on the mound and also pounded out a pair of doubles with 3 RBI.
Senior Evan Kennedy, pressed into duty by injuries, crushed a bases-loaded double in the fourth inning to bring in two runs and ended the game with a sacrifice fly that drove home the run that invoked the mercy rule.
Coach Brian Dossey’s Olys finished the season 3-16 overall.
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
RANGEVIEW 16, GATEWAY 6 (5 INN.)
Score by innings (r-h-e):
Gateway 023 10 — 6 4 1
Rangeview 261 52 — 16 12 2
WP — Rangeview: Caesar Estrada (3 IP, 3 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 5 BB, 7 K); Rangeview hitting: Caesar Estrada 2-3, 2 2B, 3 RBI, 2 runs; Evan Kennedy 1-2, 2B, 3 RBI, 2 runs; Jack Pauley 2-4, RBI, 2 runs