DENVER | Many prime chances got away from the Grandview baseball team during Saturday’s Class 5A Championship Series contest with Fort Collins, but the Wolves got what they needed in the sixth inning at All-City Stadium.
Coach Scott Henry’s 16th-seeded Grandview team had stranded nearly double-digit baserunners during the first five frames of its elimination contest with the seventh-seeded Lambkins before a three-run rally — including clutch late hits from junior Chase Chapman and senior Tucker Smock — gave them a 6-3 victory.
Junior Justin Dean pitched six strong innings and senior Ben Crandall picked up the save as the Wolves moved into the semifinal round of the 5A Championship Series for the first time since 2019. Grandview will play No. 8 Prairie View at 10 a.m. May 31 at All-Star Park for the chance to play No. 5 Cherry Creek with a state title game berth on the line.
“We told them after Cherry Creek (a 4-1 loss Friday), just get us into next weekend,” Henry said. “Baseball is a goofy game, so we’ll see what happens.”
The Wolves had an advantage going into the contest as they were able to deploy Dean — the team’s leader in wins — while Fort Collins had to use just about every arm on its roster in its second game of the day after it defeated 19th-seeded Horizon 4-3 in elimination play.
The Lambkins sent five different pitchers to the mound over the course of seven innings, while Grandview just had to use Dean — who allowed three runs on six hits over six innings — and Crandall, who got a grounder to shortstop with the bases loaded to end the game.
“We’re really fortunate with the arms we have and we feel pretty confident throwing all of our guys,” Henry said.
The Wolves broke a 3-3 tie with the rally in the sixth inning, which began when senior Tony Crow doubled with one out and junior Jax Pfister was intentionally walked. Senior Easton Flores was hit by a pitch from Fort Collins’ Jude Miller to loaded the bases before Chapman delivered a go-ahead single.
An infield pop-up produced the second out of the inning and Smock had two strikes on him before he put the ball in play on the ground and beat the throw to first base, which brought Pfister in to score. Chapman rounded second and was caught in a rundown, but extended it long for Flores to cross the plate for a run that counted before the end of the inning.
“Our coaches have been telling us to just put the ball in play, put pressure on the defense and good things will come out,” Smock said. “We got a drop ball there at first and they we’re able to score two runs there. If we buy into what they preach, it will work.”
Chapman saw the chaos created in Fort Collins’ infield defense and he kept the attention of the Lambkins while Flores, who initially broke back to third base, could get home before the final out was recorded.
“It’s instinct mostly…I was just trying to stay in it (the rundown) so our runner could score and we could go up three,” Chapman said. “Just stay in it, see what happens and then go play defense.”
Dean allowed base hits to the first two Lambkins in the seventh inning, which prompted Henry to go to Crandall, who had worked Grandview out of a bases-loaded jam the previous day in a 13-5 extra-inning win over Prairie View.
Crandall got a flyball and strikeout and after a walk, induced a bouncer to Crow, who made a calm throw to first base and send the Wolves’ dugout into pandemonium.
The bottom three hitters in the lineup accounted for four RBI for Grandview, as Smock knocked in a pair, while senior Collin May and junior Kyle Cacciavillani had single RBI.
The Wolves will be one of just four 5A teams that will practice this week and have at least one game ahead — joining Prairie View, Cherry Creek and Regis Jesuit, which went 3-0 — and they vow to be ready.
“Obviously there’s huge excitement, but we have to be locked in when we play Prairie View,” Smock said. “We already beat them, so we know they’ll be coming to get us. …These are the four best teams in the state, so we have to be locked in all week.”
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2024 CLASS 5A BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Elimination bracket: (16) GRANDVIEW 6, (7) FORT COLLINS 3
Score by innings (r-h-e):
Grandview 021 003 0 — 6 8 3
Fort Collins 100 200 0 — 3 6 0
GRANDVIEW (ab-h-r-rbi)
AJ Maroni 3b 5-0-1-0, Tony Crow ss 3-1-2-0, Jax Pfister 1b 3-1-1-0, Easton Flores dh 1-2-0-0, Chase Chapman 2b 3-0-1-1, Brock Johnston lf 3-1-1-0, Tucker Smock cf 2-0-2-2, Collin May c 2-0-1-0, Cameron Kennedy pr 0-1-0-0, Kyle Cacciavillani rf 3-0-0-1, Matt Schimberg ph 1-0-0-0. Totals 26-9-9-5. Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so): Justin Dean (W, 6-6-3-3-3-4), Ben Crandall (Save, 1-0-0-0-1-1)
FORT COLLINS (ab-r-h-rbi)
Nathan Snyder 2b 4-1-0-0, Sean Togher rf-cf 2-1-0-0, Jude Miller cf-p 4-0-4-3, Dylan Rubenstein ss 4-0-1-0, Max Bronson 1b-p 2-0-0-0, Gino Maccarini 3b 4-0-0-0, Kaden Souders lf 3-0-1-0, Ben Hopper dh 4-0-0-0, Oliver Stanevich c 2-1-0-0. Totals 29-3-6-3. Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so): Coy Priebe (1 2/3-3-2-2-0-1), Van Worman (2/3-1-1-1-3-1), Max Bronson (2 2/3-1-0-0-0-4), Jude Miller (L, 1-3-3-3-1-1), Kaden Baete (1-0-0-0-0-1)
2B — Grandview: Tony Crow. Fort Collins: Jude Miller