AURORA — In contrasting styles, it was mission accomplished for defending champion Rocky Mountain.
After blowing away Chaparral by the 10-run rule in five innings in an earlier round, the Lobos were able to hold off resilient Air Academy 12-9 on Friday in the opening rounds of the Class 5A championship series at Cherokee Trail High School.
Rocky Mountain will take a solid 20-3 record into Saturday’s 3 p.m. game at All-City Field against Chatfield.
The Lobos, who trailed 1-0 early against Air Academy, quickly took command and led 12-5 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning. However, Air Academy batted around, got two-run home runs from Dexter Price and Matt Fenlason, then left the bases loaded as Andy Burns came on to get Rob Burton to ground out.
“That’s playoff baseball,” Burns said. “They’ve got a great club. They swing it, they do everything really well. It came down to the wire and luckily we pulled it out.
“Today’s definitely the hardest of the tournament. You have to go out there and win two games. It was loud, and that’s why you play.”
Rocky Mountain was outhit by the Kadets 15-11, but used five early walks and a hit batsman, and got a three-run homer by Chris Roglen and a solo shot that landed on the bank beyond left field by Burns in the seventh.
Lobos sophomore left-hander Marco Gonzales was knocked around by the Kadets, but he pitched out of trouble until late.
Roglen and Burns combined for seven runs batted in.
For Air Academy (21-2), No. 9 hitter Mike Bartlett was 4-for-4, Ross Yeager had three hits and Burton had two run-scoring doubles.
“We’re in a really good position,” Burns said. “You have to give our entire team credit.”
Earlier, the Lobos whipped Chaparral 11-1 as Bryan Peters pitched a three-hitter and ripped three homers, including one in the fifth to end it.
Peters, according to coach Scott Bullock, almost didn’t play because of a hip injury.
“It doesn’t get much better than that,” Bullock said of Peters.
The Kadets had six homers, two by catcher Matt Moore, in their earlier 16-6 victory over Arapahoe.
Rocky Mountain 042 302 1 — 12 11 1
Air Academy 103 100 4 — 9 15 1
Rocky Mountain — Burns ss-p 4-1-2-3, Peters 3b-ss 4-0-2-1, Stewart cf 3-0-0-1, Kelly 1b 4-2-2-0, Gonzales p 3-0-1-0, White cr 0-2-0-0, McLimnas cr 0-1-0-0, Roglen rf 4-2-3-4, Wunsch c 3-2-1-0, Hersch lf 3-0-0-0, Dratch ph 1-0-0-0, Trumper 3b 0-0-0-0, Daggett 2b 0-0-0-0, Bean dh 2-2-0-1. Totals 31-12-11-10.
Air Academy — Terry ss 4-1-1-0, Yeager 2b 4-2-3-1, Burton cf 4-1-2-2, Price 1b 4-1-1-3, Moore c 4-0-0-0, Brown p 4-1-1-0, Volz rf-p 4-1-2-0, Montano rf 0-0-0-0, Fenlason lf 3-1-1-2, Bartlett 3b 4-1-4-1. Totals 35-9-15-9.
E — Moore, Peters, Terry. LOB — Rocky Mountain 8, Air Academy 9. SB — Stewart. CS — Wunsch.
2B — Burton 2, Wunsch, Gonzales. HR — Roglen, two on in fourth; Burns, solo in seventh; Price, one on in seventh; Fenlason, one on in seventh.
Batteries — Gonzales, Burns (7) and Wunsch; Brown, Volz (7) and Moore. W — Gonzales. L — Brown. HBP — Bean (by Brown); Yeager (by Gonzales). WP — Brown 2, Gonzales 2. T — 2:31.
Neil H. Devlin: ndevlin@denverpost.com or 303-954-1714
