Lakewood – There is a certain amount of expectation that comes with being dubbed the designated hitter.
Namely, hitting.
Arvada West’s Chris Biren was 0-for-2 in that spot Wednesday until he tagged the biggest hit of the day in the sixth inning against Ralston Valley.
“It’s been a work in progress all year. I adjusted my hands a little bit today and it came together for me,” Biren said.
Biren mashed Brian Chritz’s offering over the left-field fence at All Star Park for a grand slam for the finishing touches on an 11-3 victory in which the Class 5A Wildcats outplayed their 4A neighborhood rivals.
Behind six steady innings from Ryan Hill, the Wildcats (4-0) applied the pressure by manufacturing runs while the Mustangs (3-2) couldn’t muster the support to prevent a cave in.
“We just played baseball today,” Hill said. “We were bunting all over the place, trying hit-and-runs, stealing, we were doing everything. Pitching, I didn’t have my best game, but just knowing you got a defense behind you helps even more.”
The Wildcats got great defensive plays from second baseman Jake Smith in the second inning and a diving catch in center field by Rocco DeLorenzo to deny Jentry Yost in the sixth.
Hill (3-0) allowed two runs on eight hits, walked four and struck out three.
A-West was outhit 10-7 but had five sacrifice hits. The Mustangs helped out with four errors, three wild pitches, a passed ball and base-running mistakes.
Ralston Valley stranded two runners in the second inning and left the bases loaded in the third and fourth.
“It was set up by our inability to do the little things today,” Mustangs skipper Shane Freehling said. “Inability to field bunts, giving up extra bases, bases everywhere, on passed balls, strike three passed ball. When you don’t do the little things right, it adds up to big damage.”
Arvada West 120 116 0 – 11 7 1
Ralston Valley 000 200 1 – 3 10 4
Arvada West – Campbell ss 3-0-0-1, V. Capra 1b 4-2-1-0, Hill sp 3-0-1-0, Harmer rf 3-1-1-2, Biren dh 3-1-1-4, O’Neill lf 0-0-0-0, N. Capra c 4-0-1-0, DeLorenzo cf 3-2-1-0, Shinkle 3b 2-3-1-0, Smith 2b 1-1-0-1, Lemieux cr-ph 0-1-0-0, Haegerty cr 0-0-0-0, Harrison cr 0-0-0-0, Zendejas rp 0-0-0-0. Totals 26-11-7-8.
Ralston Valley – Barban 3b-ss-3b 4-0-2-1, Yost 2b 2-0-0-0, Skipper sp-3b-1b 2-1-2-0, Chritz ss-rp-ss 2-0-1-0, Rowe 1b-rp 4-0-2-0, Patten DH 4-1-1-0, Shopnitz c 0-0-0-0, Hayes cf 2-0-0-1, Arrieta rf 4-0-1-0, Faherty lf 3-1-1-0, McLaughlin cr 0-0-0-0. Totals 27-3-10-2.
E – N. Capra; Skipper 2, Barban, Shopnitz. LOB – Arvada West 8, Ralston Valley 9. 2B – Hill, Harmer, V. Capra; Skipper. HR – Biren, grand slam in sixth. SAC – Smith 2, Campbell, Harmer, Shinkle; Hayes. SB – Harmer. CS – Harmer. DP – Arvada West.
Batteries – Hill, Zendejas (7) and N. Capra; Skipper, Chritz (6), Rowe (7) and Shopnitz. W – Hill (3-0). L – Skipper (1-2). HBP – Chritz (by Hill in third); Yost (by Hill in fourth); Smith (by Rowe in seventh); Campbell (by Rowe in seventh); Skipper (by Zendejas in seventh). PB – Ralston Valley. WP – Skipper 3. Time – 2:21.
