Brush – Brush baseball coach Mark Muniz can only shake his head and wonder.
He’s not any different from any other skipper with the un- enviable task of staring into the opposing dugout and trying to figure out how to beat Eaton.
For six seasons he has tried and each time has come up empty, including Saturday’s regular- season finale at cold and blustery Sunset Park. The Class 3A top-ranked Reds rolled into the district tournament with a 4-0 victory over the third-ranked Beetdiggers.
“It showed a lot about us, that we can play with them,” said Muniz, whose team also dropped an 8-4 decision to Eaton this month. “But it’s those little tiny things that keep coming back and haunting us.”
Both teams have one day of practice to work out the kinks before facing all-or-nothing play Tuesday as two of the four hosts in the Patriot League’s tournament. Eaton (17-1-1) will host Yuma and Brush (15-4) will start with Highland.
Roosevelt and University are the other top seeds with hopes of making it to Saturday’s seeding games at Jackson Field in Greeley. Four teams from the Patriot advance to the regional tournament.
Eaton got all the offense it needed Saturday in the third inning. Just when Brush pitcher Terry Steiner seemed to be settling into a groove, he opened the third inning by plunking No. 9 hitter Brady Craddock. Shane Dyer drove in Craddock three batters later with a sharp single to center field.
Jared Carlson followed with a hard-hit ball to Brush third baseman Cameron Alexander, who had no play on Carlson, and his errant throw home allowed Whitman Jones to score.
The Reds ended up scoring four runs on just two hits in the third inning.
“I don’t know what it was today, but that is something we have to start to put together, at-bats,” said Carlson, one of just two Eaton starters who returned from last season.
“I’ve been doing this a long time,” Eaton coach Jim Danley said, “and I like the signs I see from this team in many respects. Our hitting right now is not where I’d like it to be, but defensively and our pitching I like.”
The pitching trio of Kyle Ottoson, Jeff Jansson and Dyer limited the Beetdiggers to just three hits, and only Drew Oakeson advanced past second base. He was left stranded at third base in the bottom of the first inning after Travis Bass and Steiner struck out.
Eaton 004 000 0 – 4 6 2
Brush 000 000 0 – 0 3 1
Eaton – Jones cf 2-1-0-0, Hood 1b-3b 3-0-0-0, Dyer 3b-p 4-1-1-1, J. Carlson c 3-0-2-0, Rapp cr 0-1-0-0, Payne ss 3-0-0-0, Ottoson p-lf-1b 3-0-1-1, Harris dh 2-0-2-1, McLavey 2b 0-0-0-0, Ball rf 4-0-0-0, B. Craddock lf 2-1-0-0, Jansson p 0-0-0-0, Anderson cr 0-0-0-0, Hall lf 0-0-0-0. Totals 26-4-6-3.
Brush – D. Bass ss-3b 3-0-1-0, Oakeson 2b 3-0-0-0, Gutierrez cf 3-0-1-0, T. Bass c 2-0-0-0, Steiner p-ss 3-0-1-0, Alexander 3b-1b 3-0-0-0, Melendez lf 3-0-0-0, Gonzales rf 2-0-0-0, Needens 1b-p 2-0-0-0, Martos cr 0-0-0-0. Totals 24-0-3-0.
E – Payne 2, Alexander. LOB – Eaton 11, Brush 4. CS – Martos. DP – Eaton 1, Brush 1.
Batteries – Ottoson, Jansson (4), Dyer (6) and J. Carlson; Steiner, Needens (4) and T. Bass. W – Ottoson (8-0). L – Steiner (5-2). WP – Ottoson 2, Needens. PB – T. Bass. HBP – Jones (by Steiner in first), B. Craddock (by Steiner in fourth), Jansson (by Needens in fifth). Time – 1:48.
Jon E. Yunt can be reached at 303-820-5446 or jyunt@denverpost.com.
