Aurora – Without a cloud to be seen, Grandview second baseman Tommy Klouser gave the home fans something special to look up and watch Saturday morning.
With the bases loaded and two outs in the third inning, the No. 9 hitter turned on an inside fastball from Mullen starter Steve Covelo and parked it over the left-field wall for a decisive grand slam in the Wolves’ 9-6 victory.
Klouser was nearly sat down on the previous pitch, a dying curveball that dropped him to one knee as he checked his swing. Klouser didn’t hold back on the next pitch as he helped lead the Wolves, ranked No. 1 in The Denver Post/9News Class 5A poll, to their 12th straight victory.
“I hit it good, obviously, but I didn’t think it was going,” said Klouser, who was 3-for-4 at the plate and scored twice.
Grandview, which can run the table in the Centennial League with a win Monday over Smoky Hill, improved to 15-3, 13-0 in league.
Klouser’s blast put the Wolves up 8-5 for the last of the fireworks. While Mullen’s bullpen quieted the Wolves, the Mustangs (13-5, 11-3) were stuck with a resurgent Max Hewitt, who found his groove late to throw a complete game.
Hewitt walked eight batters, but fanned six of the final 10 to raise his record to 7-0 this season.
“Max is his own worst enemy,” Wolves skipper Dean Adams said. “He’s so competitive, but he obviously settled down.”
Hewitt contributed plenty at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a two-run single up the middle. Center fielder Mike Barker was 3-for-4 with a run-scoring triple off Covelo.
Covelo took the loss as the left-hander gave up eight runs on seven hits. The eighth-ranked Mustangs fell behind twice but tied the game in the second on Nick Nguyen’s two-run homer before taking a 5-4 lead in the top of the third.
In the bottom of the third, Covelo got two outs before walking designated hitter Adam Bies and left fielder Michel Burek to load the bases for Klouser.
Mullen 023 100 0 – 6 7 2
Grandview 224 001 x – 9 12 0
Mullen – Schenk rf-cf 4-0-1-0, Salvucci cf 1-1-1-0, Athens cr-pr-rf 1-1-0-0 Ehrhart 3b 4-0-1-1, Thornburg dh 2-2-1-1, Covelo sp 0-0-0-0, Asnicar rp 0-0-0-0, Gemperline rp 0-0-0-0, Nguyen 1b 3-2-1-2, Slinkard lf 1-0-0-0, Stransky 2b 4-0-1-0, Belloni ss 3-0-1-1, Hogan c 2-0-0-1, Goldy ph 1-0-0-0. Totals 26-6-7-6.
Grandview – Hewitt p 4-1-3-2, Woods cr 0-0-0-0, Albritton ss 3-0-0-0, Leonida c 4-0-1-1, Vetanze cr 0-1-0-0, Schlehuber 3b 3-0-1-0, Barker cf 4-1-3-1, Leedholm 1b 3-1-0-0, Bies dh 2-2-0-0, Gaskins rf 0-0-0-0, Burek lf 1-1-0-0, McCall ph 1-0-1-1, Klouser 2b 4-2-3-4. Totals 29-9-12-9.
E – Ehrhart, Covelo. LOB – Mullen 9, Grandview 8. SB – Salvucci; Klouser, Vetanze. GIDP – Ehrhart. SAC – Thornburg; Albritton. 2B – Salvucci. 3B – Barker. HR – Nguyen, one on in second; Klouser, grand slam in third.
Batteries – Covelo, Asnicar (4), Gemperline (6) and Hogan; Hewitt and Leonida. W – Hewitt (7-0). L – Covelo (3-2). WP – Covelo; Hewitt. HBP – Thornburg (by Hewitt in second). Time – 2:26
