Colorado Springs – Dan Neumann could have copped an attitude earlier in the baseball season, perhaps even divided his team or given up what can be a frustrating game.
But instead of pouting or throwing a tantrum, he dropped from third and fourth in the batting order to last.
It may never seem like a better move than on Monday, when he ripped three home runs in two games, two in the title game, to propel Heritage into this weekend’s beginning of the Class 5A Championship Series. The No. 23 seed Eagles downed host and Colorado Springs Metro League champion Doherty 8-7 at Hildebrand Field to take a 14-7 record into the double-elimination rounds.
Neumann’s third longball of the day was the difference in the title game. Earlier, his solo homer had brought Heritage to within 2-1 in the top of the third inning. And in the first round, his solo shot in the sixth helped the Eagles handle Rocky Mountain 11-6.
On the day, Neumann, a senior, was 4-for-5 with three homers, a double and six RBIs.
“Unbelievable,” Neumann said. “I was feeling it.”
Coincidentally, he said he felt tired coming down from Littleton for the games, which were postponed from Saturday.
But he promptly ran his homer total on the season to six and put his team into contention for a state championship against a wide-open field as the Eagles joined fellow Continental League members Chaparral and Mountain Vista in the final eight.
“After I hit the first one, I was, like, OK,” he said. “Then I really hit the second one, but on the third one, I lunged.”
His last round tripper of the day came after T.J. Hanneman had doubled to open the seventh. It broke a 5-5 tie, then the Eagles tacked on another on a single by Brandon Lessnau and two Doherty errors.
Heritage needed all of it after Alex Oesterle bopped a one- out, two-run homer for Doherty. However, Eric Skufca came on to retire the next two hitters and record the save.
Earlier, Lessnau’s three-run homer highlighted a four-run Eagles’ fifth.
Doherty, which ended 17-4 and also defeated East 13-2 in the first round, had answers, just not enough of them. The Spartans took a 2-0 lead on two singles, a double by Kensley Dukes and a balk by Heritage starter Matt Mueller. They also rallied in the sixth to make it 5-5.
Heritage finally chased Doherty starter and loser Mark Gerster, who had success inducing ground balls and shaking off a shaky fifth, but Neumann greeted reliever Kyle Sedlak with his third homer.
“That’s the way our season has been all year,” said Heritage coach Nick Arcuri, a Denver policeman.
Said Neumann, who began the season 0-for-7 in the meat of the order but is presently hitting .460 at the bottom of it: “Whatever works.”
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Heritage 001 040 3 – 8 9 1
Doherty 020 003 2 – 7 11 2
Heritage – Dean cf 4-1-2-1, Lessnau ss 4-1-2-3, Skufca 1b-p 3-1-1-0, Skogg pr 0-1-0-0, Murray lf 4-0-1-1, Arckey cr 0-0-0-0, Little rf-p 4-0-0-0, Turre 3b 3-0-0-0, Meecham cr-rf 0-1-0-0, Kazakoff dh-1b 2-0-0-0, Hanneman 2b 3-1-1-0, Neumann c 2-2-2-3, Muellar p 0-0-0-0, Ramsey p 0-0-0-0. Totals 29-8-9-8.
Doherty – Gilman cf 3-0-0-0, Kaplan ss 4-1-2-0, Oesterle lf 3-1-1-2, Gerster p-1b 4-0-1-0, Jolly cr 0-1-0-0, Deas dh 4-1-1-0, Ogawa 3b 0-0-0-0, Piscitelli 2b 3-2-3-1, Sedlak 1b-p 3-0-0-0, Kachel c 3-0-1-1, Henderson cr 0-1-0-0, Dukes rf 2-0-1-1, Young ph 1-0-1-1. Totals 30-7-11-6.
E – Neumann, Ogawa, Kaplan. LOB – Heritage 3, Doherty 2. SB – Piscitelli. CS – Young. DP – Heritage. 2B – Dukes, Skufca, Piscitelli, Hanneman, Kaplan. 3B – Kachel. HR – Neumann (2), solo in third and one on in seventh; Lessnau, two on in fifth; Oesterle, one in seventh.
Batteries – Muellar, Ramsey (3), Little (6), Skufca (7) and Neumann. W – Little. L – Gerster. S – Skufca. Balk – Mueller 2. WP – Mueller. Gerster, Sedlak (7) and Kachel.
FIRST ROUND
East 000 20 – 2 5 3
Doherty 131 8x – 13 12 0
Jolley and Young; Hayden, Wilson (5) and Villarreal. W – Jolley (5-0). L – Hayden. Highlights – Oesterle, D, 3-for-3, 2 runs scored, 2 SBs; Ogawa, D, 2-for-3, 3B, 2 RBIs; Piscitelli, D, 2-for-3, 2 runs scored, 2 RBIs; Wilson, E, 1-for-2, 2 RBIs.
Heritage 002 501 3 – 11 9 2
Rocky Mountain 300 020 1 – 6 11 5
Skufca and Hanneman; Engelbart, Bachman (5) and McCoppen. W – Skufca (6-1). L – Engelbart. HR – Neumann, H, solo in 6th. Highlights – Stouffer, RM, 3-for-4; Neumann, H, 2-for-3, 3 RBIs; Skufca, H, 10 Ks; Dean, H, 2-for-5, 2 RBIs, 2B; Kazakoff, H, 3-for-4, RBI.
Neil H. Devlin can be reached at 303-820-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com.
