Pueblo – Moments after closing out Wray’s first baseball state championship with a clean seventh inning Saturday, pitching star Dylan Hochevar couldn’t wait to get to his cellphone.
In the spirit of sibling rivalry, Hochevar was looking forward to razzing his famous brother. Luke Hochevar, twice a first-round draft choice, is pitching in the Kansas City Royals organization. But he never won a state title while at Fowler.
Dylan, on the other hand, was celebrating a 3-1 victory over Paonia by hoisting the Class 2A championship trophy.
“I’ve got to get on the bus and give him a call,” Dylan said. “I’ll definitely rub it in a little bit. He never even got to regionals.”
A senior, Dylan Hochevar has signed with the University of Tennessee, where his brother earned All-America honors. Dylan pitched seven innings and shut out Custer County on Friday, but told Wray coach John Cure that he would be available for relief duty in the championship game.
“I asked him if he could go one (inning) if we needed him,” Cure said. “He said, ‘Yeah, I can go one.'”
“I didn’t hesitate when he called my number,” Dylan said of pitching the seventh. “I’ve been waiting for that state championship. We’d come close.”
Wray (19-6) lost to Las Animas in the 2005 title game and reached the semifinals last year before losing to Limon. Breaking through is not easy, and Saturday’s finale became a pitchers’ duel that seemed to ride on every pitch. Neither team could muster an extra base hit. And Paonia pitcher C.J. Cannell struck out 13 Wray hitters.
Hochevar proved to be the hitting star when he drove in two runs in the first inning with a single up the middle.
Wray got five strong innings from starting pitcher Michael Kerbs, before giving way to Aaron Orr in the sixth.
“I was sitting in our dugout in the second inning and something told me those two (runs) might be enough,” Hochevar said. “Kerbs is one of the quietest guys. But when he gets on the mound he’s as tough as anybody.”
Kerbs, who struck out four and allowed three hits in five innings, knocked in the other Wray run when his fielder’s-choice grounder scored Heath Fecht from third base in the fifth.
Paonia (22-2) got its run in the fifth but missed a chance to put up a big number.
Center fielder Kevin Johnson stranded two baserunners when his groundout to second base ended the inning.
Paonia was bidding for its sixth state championship and first since 2003.
“This is the first time all season we’ve scored only one run; their pitchers kept the ball in the (strike) zone and kept us off balance,” Cannell said. “It was a game where every run counted.”
Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com.
Paonia 000 010 0 – 142
Wray 200 010 x – 352
Paonia – K. Johnson cf 3-0-0-0, T. Johnson 2b 3-0-0-0, Wilson ss 3-0-1-0, Ridgway 3b 2-0-0-0, Cannell p 3-1-1-0, Wiggins pr 0-0-0-0, Todd 1b 3-0-0-0, Bissell 2b 3-0-0-0, Mendoza lf 3-0-1-1, Smith dh 2-0-1-0. Totals 25-1-4-1.
Wray – Fecht cf 3-2-0-0, Orr ss-p 3-1-1-0, Kerbs p-c 3-0-0-1, Reinick lf 3-0-1-0, Hochevar 1b-2b-p 3-0-2-2, Travis c 3-0-1-0, Campfield pr 0-0-0-0, Helling 2b-3b-2b 1-0-0-0, Provasco dh 1-0-0-0, Weaver rf 2-0-0-0, Jay 3b-ss 3-0-0-0-0. Totals 25-3-5-3.
E – Ridgway (2), Hochevar, Kerbs (as catcher), DP – Wray. LOB – Paonia 4, Wray 7. SB – Kerbs. SAC – Helling.
Batteries – Cannell and T. Johnson; Kerbs, Orr (6), Hochevar (7) and Travis, Kerbs (6). W – Kerbs. L – Cannell. HBP – Helling (by Cannell in fourth), Fecht (by Cannell in fifth). WP – Cannell, Kerbs. T – 1:45.
