Casey Coy was anything but shy Friday.
The Chatfield right-hander was called on to help guide the Chargers out of trouble against rival Dakota Ridge, and he got it done — with his arm and his bat.
Coy pitched 6 1/3 innings of relief and was 3-for-3 at the plate, driving in two runs as the surprising Chargers rallied from a 5-0, first-inning deficit to beat the Eagles 15-6 on the first day of the Class 5A state tournament.
“It was kind of scary coming in that first inning, but I just tried to stay calm and pitch my game,” said Coy, who improved to 7-2 on the mound and was a double short of the cycle at the plate.
The Chargers (19-4) extended their season to next weekend and will play Rocky Mountain (20-3) today at 3 p.m. in a battle of the unbeatens in the eight-team, double-elimination tournament.
Chatfield pulled off the biggest upset of the day by downing previously unbeaten Cherry Creek (21-1) in the first game at All-City Field before meeting its Jefferson County League rival after the Eagles (20-3) dispatched Grand Junction (20-4).
Chatfield has lost to Dakota Ridge in the regular season on a walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh and kept that memory close Saturday, even after the Eagles erupted in the top of the first and chased Chatfield starter Anthony Urbano.
“Those are good guys over there, but ever since we lost in the regular season we wanted to get them guys back,” said Chatfield catcher Jake Davis, who was 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI.
The Chargers got two home runs from Mark Shannon, a two-run homer by Taylor Rogers in the bottom of the first inning and a solo shot by Coy in the second as the Chargers scored 11 unanswered runs.
Shannon was 3-for-5 and shortstop Jon Watson was 2-for-4 with a double.
The teams combined for nine doubles, while the Dakota Ridge pitchers combined to walk 11 batters — one intentionally.
“I think the walks killed us,” Eagles skipper Jeff Legault said. “You give up 10 walks to a team that can hit the ball like that and it takes our defense out of the game.”
Dakota Ridge starter Alex Ellison lasted 1 1/3 innings, allowing seven runs on seven hits. Andrew Melton took over and walked seven of the 10 batters he faced. Kenny Brown relieved Melton in the third inning and finished up.
David Whitaker was 3-for-3 at the plate for the Eagles, and Eric Cain was 2-for-4 with two doubles.
Dakota Ridge 500 100 0 — 6 10 1
Chatfield 533 022 x — 15 15 0
Dakota Ridge — Phelan cf 4-1-2-0, Melton ss-rp-2b 3-0-0-0, Cain 3b 4-2-2-1, Ochoa c 3-0-1-1, McCulley cr 0-1-0-0, Whitaker 1b 3-1-3-1, Porter 2b 0-0-0-0, Brown dh-rp 3-0-1-0, VanderVelde ph 1-0-0-0, Rosco rf 3-1-0-0, Ellison sp-ss 4-0-1-3, Espinoza cr 0-0-0-0, Pritchett lf 3-0-0-0. Totals 31-6-10-6.Chatfield — Shannon cf 5-3-3-3, Coy 2b-rp 3-2-3-2, Putka cr 0-1-0-0, Duley cr 0-1-0-0, Davis c 3-2-2-1, Ty. Rogers cr 0-1-0-0, Crubaugh 3b 3-1-1-1, Camporeale lf 3-1-1-1, Urbano sp 0-0-0-0, Joyce 2b 0-0-0-0, Ta. Rogers dh 4-1-1-2, Neville pr 0-0-0-0, Watson ss 4-1-2-1, Mills 1b 4-0-1-2, Moisey pr 0-0-0-0, Fritze rf 4-1-1-0. Totals 33-15-15-13.E — Ellison (catch). LOB — Dakota Ridge 8, Chatfield 11. SB — Melton, Whitaker; Davis 2, Putka. IBB — Ta. Rogers. SAC — Crubaugh.
2B — Cain 2, Ellison, Phelan, Ochoa; Shannon, Camporeale, Watson, Davis. 3B — Coy. HR — Ta. Rogers (one on in second), Shannon (solo in second; one on in third), Coy (solo in second).
Batteries — Ellison, Melton (2), Brown (3) and Ochoa; Urbano, Coy (1) and Davis. W — Coy (7-2). L — Ellison (6-1). WP — Ellison, Melton. T — 2:41.
