Arvada – To see Ralston Valley’s Matt Skipper – all 6-feet-7, 225 pounds of him – saunter to home plate, one might tag him as a Jim Thome-type, a burly, big hitter who lives on the longball.
The guess would be off some, as Skipper had yet to successfully negotiate the fences coming into the District 4 series at Ralston Valley High School on Saturday. But Skipper’s three-run homer in the fourth inning of the district championship against Pueblo County reinforced his stereotype in helping the Mustangs to an 8-5 victory and a berth in the Class 4A state tournament.
“I was just looking for a base hit,” said Skipper, a freshman. “But I got a fat pitch down the middle and got a hold of it.”
No. 4-seeded Ralston Valley (16-3) will play No. 14 Sterling (16-4), upset winners in 11 innings over Palisade in District 5, on Friday in the opening game of the double-elimination state tournament.
“The great thing about this lineup,” Ralston Valley coach Shane Freehling said of his team, “is that we’ve got a number of guys who can pick it up at any time. When you have this many weapons, I think this team has a great chance.”
Skipper’s home run in the fourth, on a 1-0 count against the Hornet’s Brandon Hopper, was his first of the year. It scored Brian Chritz and Levi Tapia and put the Mustangs back ahead, a lead they would not surrender.
Skipper went 4-for-4, with 4 RBIs and scored twice to lead all hitters.
Ralston’s Kevin Chritz pitched a complete game and struck out five for his fifth win of the season.
“Sometimes you run into a team that’s just a little better,” Pueblo County coach Scott Egan said. “We just came out on the short end.”
No. 20 County (12-8) earlier upset No. 13 Centaurus 8-5 in the district semifinals.
Trailing 4-2 in the top of the fourth inning, County bounced back after right fielder Kevin Carter grounded a double just inside the third- base bag, scoring Hopper and Matt Andenucio.
After Ralston rallied for a four-run fourth, Kevin Chritz took over, allowing just one other hit, a solo home run to Carter in the sixth. Carter went 2-for-3 with 3 RBIs to lead the Hornets.
Kyle Parzybok doubled to lead off the fourth for Ralston. He later scored on a RBI single by Brian Chritz.
Pueblo County 011 201 0 – 5 6 1
Ralston Valley 031 400 x – 8 9 4
Pueblo County – Harshman dh-lf 4-0-0-0, Meserve p 0-0-0-0, Montano cf 4-1-1-0, Musso c 4-0-0-0, Wigner lf-ss 3-1-1-0, Long cr 0-0-0-0, Hopper ss-p 1-1-1-0, Andenucio 2b 3-1-1-0, Grasmick 1b 2-0-0-0, Carter rf 3-1-2-3, Comfort 3b 3-0-0-0. Totals 27-5-6-3.
Ralston Valley – Alvarado rf 4-0-0-1, B. Chritz ss 3-1-1-1, Tapia c 3-2-1-0, Skipper 3b 4-2-4-3, Andres dh 3-0-0-1, Young 2b 0-0-0-0, Meiser 1b 2-1-0-0, Harfst lf 2-1-0-0, Parzybok cf 2-1-2-1, K. Chritz p 3-0-1-1, Totals 26-8-9-8.
E – Comfort; B. Chritz, Meiser, Young, Skipper. LOB – Pueblo County 5; Ralston Valley 4. 2B – Carter; Parzybok. HR – Skipper, two on in fourth; Carter, solo in seventh. SB – Montano; Parzybok.
Batteries – Meserve, Hopper (2), Montano (6) and Musso; K. Chritz and Tapia. W – K. Chritz (5-0). L – Meserve (0-2). HBP – Grasmick (by K. Chritz in 2nd); Parzybok (by Meserve in 2nd).
RALSTON VALLEY 12, RANUM 1
Ranum 001 00 – 1 3 2
Ralston Valley 615 0x – 12 8 0
Zima, Holcomb (3) and McGee; Schmidt and Meiser. W – Schmidt (5-0). L – Zima (1-3). Highlights – Tapia, RV, 2 HR, 4 RBI’s, 3 runs scored; Parzybok, RV, grand slam.
PUEBLO COUNTY 8, CENTAURUS 5
Pueblo County 021 140 0 – 8 12 0
Centaurus 100 103 0 – 5 6 1
Harshman and Musso; Chavez and Swenson. W – Harshman (2-0). L – Chavez (5-3).
