AURORA — Chris O’Dowd said he was just trying to “put the bat on the ball. If you do, good things can happen.”
He did, and they did, too, as Regis beat Heritage 6-5 on Wednesday in the first of what should be many close games in the always-competitive Class 5A Continental League.
With two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning and down to his last strike, O’Dowd, the son of Rockies general manager Dan O’Dowd, reached out and stroked one to the opposite field. Left fielder Cody Murray ran it down to the base of the fence in left field, but lost it in the sun and changing wind gusts. The ball bounced off his glove.
The Raiders’ Alex Goetz, who failed to execute a sacrifice and instead bunted into a fielder’s choice, alertly scored from first base.
Regis, bound for games in Florida next week, gladly improved to 2-1 overall after taking its league opener.
“That was a hard win,” Raiders coach Steve Cavnar said. “I don’t know what others are looking at, but Heritage is a contender.”
Said O’Dowd, “I was just trying to put a swing on the ball.”
It also made a winner of left-handed starter Spencer Jackson, who surrendered a run in the first, cruised over the next four, weathered a four-run sixth and pitched out of trouble in the seventh.
“I was close to lifting him, but he wanted to battle,” Cavnar said of Jackson, who struck out seven batters, including the side in the fourth.
Regis took a 3-1 lead in the fourth on four hits over five batters, notably a two-run home run by Cole Norton, then tied it at 5 in the sixth on a fielder’s choice and run-scoring single by Ben Bullock.
Heritage (4-1, 1-1) was otherwise sharp defensively in turning two double plays and throwing out a runner at the plate in the fourth. Shortstop Shane Opitz led the way with two singles, a walk and run scored.
“(Murray) battled the sun and wind, and it was a tough play,” Eagles coach Nick Arcuri said.
Heritage 100 004 0 — 5 7 2
Regis 000 302 1 — 6 9 2
Heritage — Ortivez c 4-1-1-0, Opitz ss 3-1-2-0, Schul-thies 3b 2-0-1-0, Wilson cr 0-1-0-0, Murray lf 3-0-0-1, Kazakoff p 4-0-1-1, Miller cr 0-1-0-0, Meacham cf 3-1-1-1, Brandi dh 3-0-0-0, Powers 2b 3-0-1-0, Mueller rf 3-0-0-0, Durrant 1b 1-0-0-0. Totals 29-5-7-3.
Regis — Rouse cf 4-0-2-0, Goetz ss 4-1-0-0, Knox 2b 4-1-1-0, O’Dowd c 3-1-1-0, Blach 1b 2-0-1-1, Kellogg cr 0-2-0-0, Jackson p 1-0-1-0, Norton 3-1-1-3, Bullock rf 3-0-1-1, Hodges 3b 3-0-1-0. Totals 27-6-9-5.
E — O’Dowd, Knox, Murray, Ortivez. DP — Regis, Heritage 2. LOB — Heritage 5, Regis 4. SB — Ortivez, Opitz, Hodges. 2B — Beach, Powers, Meacham. HR — Norton, one on in fourth.
Batteries — Kazakoff, Wetterlin (6) and Ortivez; Jackson and O’Dowd. W — Jackson (1-0). L — Wetterlin (0-1). WP — Jackson. T — 1:52.
Neil H. Devlin: 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com
