PUEBLO, Colo.-
Dylan Hochevar had two hits, two RBI and picked up the save to lead Wray to a 3-1 victory over Paonia and its first 2A state championship at Runyon Field on Saturday.
The win helped erased Wray’s bad memories from a 2005 state title game loss to Las Animas.
Wray senior right-hander Michael Kerbs took a no-hitter into the fifth inning and surrendered just one run on three hits to earn the win. He was relieved by Aaron Orr in the sixth inning, and Hochevar pitched a scoreless seventh to seal the win and earn the save. also drove in the Eagles’ third run in the bottom of the fifth inning on a fielder’s choice.
Wray (19-6) got on the board first, scoring two runs in the first inning on Hochevar’s two-out two-run single that scored leadoff hitter Heath Fecht and Aaron Orr. Fecht drew a walk to get on base, while Orr reached on an error by Paonia third baseman Tanner Ridgway.
Kerbs, who drove in Wray’s third run in the bottom of the fifth inning, kept Paonia (22-2) in check until the top of the fifth inning. Paonia, which came into the title game averaging more than 10 runs, scored its only run on left fielder Rueben Mendoza’s two-out single that scored pitcher C.J. Cannell.
Paonia threatened in the top of the sixth inning, putting runners on first and third with one out, but Cannell lined out to shortstop and Ridgway was doubled off first base to end the inning.
Hochevar, who has signed a national letter of intent to play baseball at the University of Tennessee, is the younger brother of Luke Hochevar, who was the number-one overall pick in the 2006 Major League Draft by the Kansas City Royals. He led Wray to the title game with a complete-game shutout of Custer County in the semifinals the day before.
