Loveland – It could have been easy to write off the Resurrection Christian baseball team coming into this season.
The Cougars, ranked No. 6 in The Denver Post’s Class 2A poll, lost seven starters to graduation – including their most notable name in Chris Carls, now closing games for Cornell.
Resurrection Christian coach Tad Carls, Chris’ father, has the Cougars believing.
They improved to 7-2 on Saturday with a 5-2 nonleague victory over previously unbeaten Denver Academy.
“We are a very different club,” said Tad Carls, whose team defeated preseason No. 1 Las Animas last weekend and took now-No. 1 Limon to nine innings.
“Basically we are going seven innings every game. We’ve got to eke things out, got to move runners and take advantage of mistakes. That’s what we’ve been able to do all year, and we execute when we have to.”
A rather inauspicious start for the Cougars saw Mustangs leadoff hitter A.J. Miller crush Josh Scheer’s 0-1 pitch 335 feet over the right-field wall.
“That was a great piece of hitting,” Carls said of Miller’s blast.
Resurrection Christian responded in the home half, getting runners to second and third with one out. Scheer tomahawked a high fastball deep enough to center field to score Dustin Stallings.
The Cougars took the lead for good in the third inning.
Three consecutive hits by the top of the order produced two runs. Ryan Pauly led off with a single, Stallings followed with a triple to the center-field wall and Jonny Swett rapped a double to center.
Denver Academy (5-1) scored a run in the top of the fifth inning. Nate Perry’s double drove in Sam Pomeroy to make it a 3-2 game. The hit could have tied the game, but Miller was caught stealing at second moments before.
“We’re still trying to get everybody on the same page,” 11th-year Denver Academy coach Mick McLaughlin said. “I take my hat off to these kids. They battle. And every time in the Mile High League we have to come to play, and I told them after the game, this is preparation for the league.”
Resurrection Christian got the insurance it needed in the top of the sixth inning. A throwing error with the bases loaded, followed by Pauly’s single, gave the Cougars their cushion.
Pauly, who caught two runners stealing, went 2-for-4 at the plate and also pitched. He struck out six of the eight batters he faced, including the side looking in the seventh inning.
“Pitching has always been my thing,” Pauly said. “Coming into this season everyone thought we were going to (struggle). But the players kept saying we may not be as good, but we certainly weren’t going to be bad.”
Denver Academy 100 010 0 – 2 5 4
Resurrection Christian 102 002 x – 5 6 1
Denver Academy – Miller 2b 3-1-1-1, Perry p-rf 3-0-1-1, Tapp cf 2-0-1-0, Snyder ss 2-0-0-0, Lopez rf-1b-p 3-0-1-0, Duke 1b-p 3-0-1-0, Duffy 3b 3-0-0-0, Pomeroy lf 2-1-0-0, Chrisinger 2-0-0-0, Syanor cr 0-0-0-0, Hoffinger ph 1-0-0-0. Totals 24-2-5-2.
Resurrection Christian – Pauly c-p 4-1-2-1, Stallings ss-c 3-2-1-1, Swett cf 2-0-2-1, Scheer p-3b 2-0-0-1, Mercado 1b 3-1-1-0, Williamson rf 1-1-0-0, Gustin 3b-ss 1-0-0-0, Ewing 2b 2-0-0-0, Scott dh 2-0-0-0, Haag rf 1-0-0-0. Totals 21-5-6-4.
E – Chrisinger, Tapp, Lopez, Snyder; Ewing. LOB – Denver Academy 5, Resurrection Christian 6. 2B – Perry; Swett. 3B – Stallings. HR – Miller, solo in the first. SAC – Scheer, Ewing. DP – Denver Academy 1, Resurrection Christian 1. SB – Tapp; Swett 2, Williamson, Pauly. Caught stealing – Syanor, Miller.
Batteries – Perry, Duke (3), Lopez (5) and Chrisinger; Scheer, Pauly (5) and Pauly, Stallings (5). W – Scheer (2-2). L – Duke (1-1). S – Pauly (2). WP – Perry; Scheer. PB – Pauly, Stallings. HBP – Pomeroy (by Scheer in the sixth).
Jon E. Yunt can be reached at 303-820-5446 or jyunt@denverpost.com.
