“It’s easy to have fun when you’re not supposed to be playing,” Grand Junction catcher Geoff Baldwin said.
He wasn’t kidding. The Tigers, thought to be out of the Class 5A championship series, got a chance to get back in after a technicality, then made Lewis-Palmer pay.
Originally defeated in its district championship Saturday, Grand Junction took advantage of the unexpected opportunity and defeated Lewis-Palmer 13-3 in five innings Wednesday at All-City Field.
Both teams had been defeated by Legacy in district play, but the Lightning discovered an eligibility issue, turned itself in, lost an appeal to the state board and forfeited both games.
On the road with another shot, the Tigers (19-3) constantly put Rangers starter and Washington State-bound Bobby Hansen in trouble, gradually put him away and sealed their berth Friday against Dakota Ridge.
“We were at lunch (Tuesday), thinking we were done,” Grand Junction coach Kyle Rush said. “We were out. But we got a call. It’s unfortunate for Legacy, which pounded us (12-2), but we took advantage of it.”
Said Baldwin: “We were all packing up and heading for the summer. Then the coach calls and tells us, and we were just happy to be out here.”
Baldwin must have been ecstatic. He was 3-for-4 with two doubles and four runs batted in to pace a 13-hit attack. Aaron Berk added three hits and Bubba Higgins knocked in three runs. Connor Dixon (6-2) notched the pitching victory as Lewis-Palmer (14-6-1) had no answers.
“It was a free game of baseball,” Baldwin said. “It was awesome.”
Lewis-Palmer 003 00 — 3 5 2
Grand Junction 003 55 — 13 13 1
Lewis-Palmer — Vieira 3b-2b 2-1-1-1, Wade ss 2-0-2-0, Leonard dh 2-0-1-1, Hansen p 3-0-0-0, Huntsman rf 2-0-0-0, Stewart cf 2-0-0-0, Moore-Lister 1b-3b 2-0-1-0, Ververs cr 0-0-0-0, Helwege lf 0-1-0-0, Caparelli 2b-3b 1-1-0-0, Mohr c 0-0-0-0. Totals 16-3-5-2.
Grand Junction — Kelly 2b 3-3-3-0, Arnold rf 2-3-1-0, Higgins cf 3-1-1-3, Koepsell c 3-1-1-2, Dixon cr 0-2-0-0, Baldwin c 4-2-3-4, Berk dh 4-0-3-3, Quigley lf 3-0-1-0, Bergman ss 3-0-0-0, Gastineau 3b 2-1-0-0, Dixon p 0-0-0-0. Totals 27-13-13-12.
E — Vieira 2, Koepsell. DP — Grand Junction 2. LOB — Lewis-Palmer 4, Grand Junction 6. SB — Higgins. CS — Vieira. SAC — Caparelli, Wade.
2B — Berk 2, Leonard, Baldwin 2, Higgins.
Batteries — Hansen, Caparelli (4) and Mohr; Dixon and Koepsell. W — Dixon (6-2). L — Hansen (7-4). HBP — Arnold (by Caparelli); Koepsell (by Caparelli). WP — Hansen. PB — Mohr. T — 1:50.
