Aurora – To beat Cherry Creek once in a season is nice.
To sweep the season series from the Class 5A powerhouse is, well …
“It just shows a lot of people what we can do,’ Smoky Hill second baseman Vinny DiPaolo said Thursday after the eighth-ranked Buffaloes beat the No. 5 Bruins 3-2 in a Centennial League matchup.
DiPaolo – a No. 9 hitter – knocked in a run in the fifth inning and starting pitcher Sean Burnette threw into the seventh inning as the Buffaloes (12-3, 9-1) won their fourth straight.
Cherry Creek (12-3, 8-2) committed two costly errors and stranded nine base runners to squander a solid effort by starting pitcher Adam Morrison. Morrison gave up five hits, struck out six and at one point retired 10 straight.
After striking out right fielder Joe Mills in the top of the seventh, Burnette walked Darren McDonald and was pulled after a high pitch to Tyler Robbins.
Burnette said he thought he had enough control to keep going, but admitted he “was just a little overwhelmed.’
Reliever Mike McElreath walked Robbins but struck out Brett Sowers looking and got first baseman Mike Halpern to ground out for the win.
“We’ve been playing tight. I don’t know whether it’s the youth or the inexperience of the real close games,’ Cherry Creek coach Marc Johnson said.
Smoky Hill scored two runs in the fifth inning when No. 8 hitter Josh Ogden singled to left and advanced to second on a fielding error. DiPaolo singled up the middle to bring home Ogden and Tyler Zanella singled to score DiPaolo.
Cherry Creek 000 002 0 – 2 7 3
Smoky Hill 000 120 x – 3 5 2
Cherry Creek – McDonald lf 3-0-0-0, Robbins ss 3-0-1-0, Sowers 2b 4-1-2-0, Halpern 1b 3-0-0-0, Bryant dh 2-0-1-0, Morrison p 0-0-0-0, Weir 3b 2-0-1-0, Sheridan cf 3-0-1-1, Watters c 3-0-1-0, Mills rf 3-0-0-0, Baker cr 0-1-0-0, Sokolowski p 0-0-0-0. Totals 26-2-7-1.
Smoky Hill – Zanella ss 2-0-1-1, Jensen 3b 3-0-1-0, Glime c 3-0-0-0, Rust 1b 3-1-0-0, Beamon rf 2-0-0-0, Huggins dh 3-0-1-1, Burnette p 0-0-0-0, Snyder cf 2-0-0-0, Ogden lf 3-1-1-0, DiPaolo 2b 2-1-1-1, Larson cr 0-0-0-0, McElreath p 0-0-0-0. Totals 23-3-5-3.
E – Weir 2, McDonald; Jensen, Zanella. LOB – Cherry Creek 9; Smoky Hill 5. DP – Cherry Creek 1; Smoky Hill 2. SB – Sowers 2, Robbins; Glime, Larson. CS – Robbins. SAC – Snyder. 2B – Bryant.
Batteries – Morrison, Sokolowski (6) and Watters; Burnette, McElreath (7) and Glime. W – Burnette (4-2). L – Morrison. S – McElreath.
