Cherry Hills Village – Call it a late-season epiphany. The Lutheran Lights learned how good they can be down the stretch.
The Lights rallied with five runs in the seventh inning of their semifinal game against Denver Christian, then again in the sixth inning of the Metro League district championship game against Holy Family to claim their first district championship since Jimmy Carter was president, winning 10-8 in 10 innings.
“It’s been awhile. In fact, it’s been a long time,” said Lutheran coach Dan Gehrke, who guided the Lights to the 2002 3A semifinals. “We’re pretty happy about winning this one.”
The fifth-seeded Lights (13-10) got all sorts of help in every facet of the game. Offensively, with the championship game tied at 8 going into the 10th, No. 9 hitter Daniel Cattau ripped a single to right to lead off, thus setting the tone for the inning.
A single by Johnny Garmatz put runners on the corners with two outs for Ben Ahlman. The senior doubled to the gap in left-center, scoring Cattau. Chase Gray’s fourth single of the game drove in Ahlman for the insurance run.
“I’ve been seeing the ball well lately, and we were due for a hit and due for some runs,” said Cattau, whose team had been blanked by Tigers reliever Vinny Martinez for three innings. “It’s all been crazy, such a roller-coaster day. We battled back and forth with both teams, and just proved that we wanted it.”
Gray overshadowed his four-hit performance with five innings of relief that, Gehrke said, “got better as he went along.”
“Today everything was working well, and we were swinging the bats well,” Gray said. “This gives us all the confidence in the world, and if we play like we did today, we can compete against anyone.”
The Tigers (16-4) tied the game in the sixth with three runs, highlighted by Josh Duval’s two-run home run. They tied it on a close call with Eric Everson scoring on Scott Hesemann’s sacrifice fly, but just before Zach Bell was thrown out at third base.
“(Lutheran’s) clicking on all cylinders, and they did all the little things at the end of the game to win it,” Tigers coach Marc Cowell said. “We had our chances, and we didn’t capitalize.”
Once the Lights got the lead in the top half of the 10th, Gehrke wasted little time getting Ahlman ready. Ahlman, who threw 100-plus pitches on Wednesday against Faith Christian, as well as the seventh against Denver Christian, retired the Tigers 1-2-3 for his second save of the day.
“To come in and have enough stuff to get two saves today is pretty impressive,” Gehrke said.
All four teams that played Saturday, including Bishop Machebeuf, will be seeded by the CHSAA today and will be sent to one of four regional sites in Northglenn, Greeley, Grand Junction or Pueblo.
“I don’t know. What are they going to do with us?” said Gehrke, referring to the conundrum his Lights have put the CHSAA seeding committee in. “I’m not sure where we’ll end up, but I sure like the way we are playing right now.”
Bishop Machebeuf built an early 9-1 lead against Denver Christian in the third-place game, winning 13-8.
Lutheran 011 114 000 2 – 10 16 1
Holy Family 100 043 000 0 – 8 14 2
Lutheran – Schuessler 2b 4-2-2-1, Garmatz ss 5-2-2-1, Ahlman rf-3b-p 6-1-3-3, Nathan c 4-0-0-0, Gray 3b-p 4-1-4-1, Pelton cr 0-0-0-0, Mott lf 4-0-0-1, Rhodes p-rf 4-0-0-0, Vanderhyde cf 5-2-2-1, Cattau 1b 5-1-3-1, Leintz pr 0-1-0-0. Totals 41-10-16-9.
Holy Family – D. Langfield rf-p 5-2-2-0, Falasco p-lf 3-0-0-0, M. Langfield cr 0-1-0-0, Martinez p 2-0-0-0, Duval ss 5-2-3-3, Everson 1b 4-1-1-0, Coday c 5-1-2-2, Bell cr 0-0-0-0, Garcia lf-cf 5-1-4-0, Hesemann 2-0-0-1, May 2b 5-0-2-1, Quintana cf-rf-lf 4-0-0-0. Totals 40-8-14-7.
E – Schuessler; May, Falasco. LOB – Lutheran 11; Holy Family 9. 2B – Schuessler, Ahlman; Coday 2. 3B – Cattau. HR – Ahlman, solo in fifth; Duval, one on in sixth. SAC – Mott 2, Schuessler, Gray; Hesemann 2. SB – Nathan, Cattau; D. Langfield 5, Quintana 2, Duval. CS – Duval. DP – Lutheran 1.
Batteries – Rhodes, Gray (5), Ahlman (10) and Nathan; Falasco, D. Langfield (5), Martinez (6) and Coday. W – Gray (2-0). L – Martinez (1-1). S – Ahlman (2). WP – Falasco, Langfield. PB – Nathan; Coady 2. HBP – Gray (by Galasco in 2nd); D. Langfield (by Rhodes in 5th).
SEMIFINALS
HOLY FAMILY 4, BISHOP MACHEBEUF 2
Holy Family 210 000 1 – 4 4 1
Bishop Machebeuf 000 011 0 – 2 4 3
Everson and D. Langfield; Shaer and Hensen. W – Everson, 12 Ks. L – Shaer, 13 Ks, 3 BBs. Highlights – D. Langfield, HF, 1-for-4, 2 runs scored, stolen base; Everson, HF, 1-for-2, RBI; Kathman, BM, 1-for-4, double; Lopez, BM, 1-for-2, triple, 2 HBP, run scored.
LUTHERAN 9, DENVER CHRISTIAN 8
Lutheran 002 200 5 – 9 10 5
Denver Christian 012 005 0 – 8 8 5
Cattau, Ahlman (7) and Nathan; Nieuwenhuis, Olson (6), Weitzel (7), Ross (7), Lofe (7) and Matthies. W – Cattau. L – Weitzel. HR – Nieuwenhuis, DC, on on in third. Highlights – Schuessler, L, 2-for-5, double, 2 runs scored; Cattau, L, 2-for-4, double, run scored, 2 RBIs; Nieuwenhuis, DC, 2-for-2, HR, 2 BBs; Ampe, DC, 1-for-3, 2 runs scored.
Jon E. Yunt can be reached at 303-820-5446 or jyunt@denverpost.com.
