Greenwood Village – Perennial power Cherry Creek and newer Class 5A challenger Mountain Vista, the preseason favorite, had a lot going on Tuesday: similarities, differences and oddities as part of what should make the 2007 baseball season worth watching.
Ultimately, host Cherry Creek earned an 11-4 nonleague victory, but there’s more.
The Bruins started four sophomores and evened their mark at 3-3 – unusual on both counts – by overcoming a 4-0 deficit. They also managed a more stable pitching performance, notably in relief, after being lit up for 43 runs in three of their past four games.
Mountain Vista, last season’s runner-up with several veterans returning, appeared in command before slipping to 1-2 and ace left-hander Danny Beck, signed with USC, dipped to 0-2.
The game’s momentum shifted drastically in the bottom of the fourth inning, when Beck, who had not allowed a hit, was called for a balk after a walk, had it waived off and the Bruins sent 12 more batters to the plate in a seven-run binge.
“It’s a game of momentum and guys started getting a few hits,” said Bruins coach Marc Johnson, who also was hit by a wicked line drive while manning the first-base coaching box. “It broke open.”
Mountain Vista coach Keith Wahl agreed, but said the delay when the Bruins argued the balk call that lasted for several minutes “worked. It changed the momentum … the umpire called the balk too soon, that’s all there was to it. (The umpires) didn’t tell me anything about it, but talked to (the Bruins) for 10 minutes.”
After the delay, Beck, who also ripped a solo home run in the top of the inning, gave up a single, a three-run homer to Andy Weliver, a double, a walk and another single before being lifted. Connor McCabe capped it with a two-run single and Cherry Creek plated three more in the sixth on a run-scoring single by John Haines that turned into three runs on a three-base outfield error.
Josh Snyder earned the win in relief of Brian Wagner with five innings of three-hit ball.
Mountain Vista 201 100 0 – 4 6 2
Cherry Creek 000 713 x – 11 9 0
Mountain Vista – Cruz cf 2-0-0-0, Higgins ss 3-1-1-0, Schugel 3b 3-1-1-0, Haezebrock 1b 3-0-1-2, Beck p-rf 3-1-1-1, Davis c 3-0-0-0, Anderson lf 3-0-0-0, McFadden dh 3-0-1-0, Bradley rf 0-0-0-0, Schmerber 2b 2-1-1-0, Winter p 0-0-0-0, Lupton p 0-0-0-0. Totals 25-4-6-3.
Cherry Creek – O’Connor 2b 4-0-0-0, Park 2b 0-0-0-0, Satherlie 3b 2-1-0-0, Shantz ss 4-2-2-1, Weliver cf 2-2-1-3, Haines c 3-1-2-1, Patel dh 3-1-0-0, English lf 3-2-2-0, Korecki cr-lf 0-1-0-0, Mielnicki 1b 2-1-1-0, Gaston 1b 1-0-0-0, McCabe rf 3-0-1-2, Wagner p 0-0-0-0, Snyder p 0-0-0-0. Totals 27-11-9-7.
E – Haezebrock, Anderson. DP – Cherry Creek 2. LOB – Mountain Vista 3, Cherry Creek 6. 2B – Higgins, Haezebrock, Haines. HR – Beck, solo in fourth; Weliver, two on in fourth.
Batteries – Beck, Winter (4), Lupton (6) and Davis; Wagner, Snyder (3) and Haines. W – Snyder (1-0). L – Beck (0-2). Wagner 4, Beck 2. T – 2:01.
