There are tough outs and then there is Valley’s Brandon Frank.
The Vikings’ senior center fielder had the biggest of the many big days for Valley hitters Saturday at Denver Lutheran’s Kettner Field in the Class 3A District 8 playoffs.
Frank hit one of two Vikings grand slams in a 17-7 victory over freshman- and sophomore-dominated Aspen that propelled coach Steve Kissler’s team back to the Final 8 for the second time in three seasons.
“We were just looking for base hits and that’s a short porch in right,” said Frank, who went 6-for-8 in the two games with a triple, seven RBIs and the home run over Lutheran’s 285-foot right-field fence. “It didn’t hurt when we were going the opposite way. Balls were just going out.”
The Vikings (16-5), seeded No. 11 in the 32-team bracket, move onto the tournament’s double-elimination stage this week in Greeley against the winner of District 7, Granby or Middle Park.
“We did a lot of little things right today,” Kissler said.
Aspen, which ousted the host Lights 4-2 in the opener behind pitcher Anderson Cole’s complete-game performance, started quickly against the Vikings. Zach Maraziti’s RBI double scored Quinn Moorhead and the Skiers appeared to have all the momentum.
Valley’s bats proved to be much healthier. Four straight hits to start the game, including Frank’s two-run triple, gave Valley the lead for good.
In the third, Valley’s leadoff man, Joe VanHoesen, hit the first grand slam over the short fence in right.
“I love that we battled at the end and showed some heart,” said Skiers coach Nate Grinzinger, whose team scored five runs in the fifth inning to avoid having the mercy rule invoked earlier. “You just got to hand it to those guys. They’ve got some big swingers.”
Aspen 100 15 — 7 6 5
Valley 407 15 — 17 12 3
Aspen — Mayer p-2b-c-ss 2-0-0-0, Moorhead cf 1-2-1-0, Maraziti c-p 3-1-2-1, Dreher 1b 2-1-2-0, Belinsky pr 0-1-0-0, Moriarity 3b 2-1-0-0, Cole ss-p 2-1-1-3, Munger 2b-p-rf 3-0-0-0, De La Cruz lf 3-0-0-0, Gross 2-0-0-0. Totals 20-7-6-4.
Valley — VanHoesen ss 3-3-2-4, Kline rf 3-1-1-0, Olson p 0-0-0-0, Frank cf 4-4-4-6, Hodson 1b 4-1-2-1, Baier dh 2-1-0-0, Flores c 0-0-0-0, Huwa p-rf 2-1-2-2, Joseph cr 0-2-0-0, B. Dellenbach lf 2-1-0-0, Lind 3b 2-1-0-0, Deroo 2-2-1-0. Totals 24-17-12-13.
E — Maraziti, Mayer, Munger, Moriarity, Moorehead; Kline, Lind, Huwa. LOB — Aspen 4; Valley 2. SB — Maraziti, Dreher; Hodson. Caught stealing — Mayer; Hodson. SAC — Huwa. 2B — Maraziti, Cole; VanHoesen. 3B — Frank. HR — VanHoesen (grand slam in third); Frank (grand slam in fifth); Huwa (solo in fifth). DP — Aspen 1; Valley 2.
Batteries — Mayer, Munger (3), Gross (4), Maraziti (5), Cole (5) and Maraziti, Mayer (5), Maraziti (5); Huwa, Olson (5) and Flores. W — Huwa (5-0). L — Mayer (n/a). WP — Maraziti. HBP — Dreher (by Huwa in 1st). Time — 2:04.
GAME 1
ASPEN 4, DENVER LUTHERAN 2
Aspen 202 000 0— 4 8 0
Denver Lutheran 000 200 0— 2 2 2
Cole and Maraziti; Stehler and Leintz. W — Cole (8-0), 6 K’s, 3 BBs. L — Stehler (8-2), 8 K’s, 2 BBs. HR — Hock, DL, one on in fourth. Highlights — Mayer, A, 2-for-3, 2B, run scored; Moriarity, A, 2-for-4, 2 stolen bases; Stehler, DL, 1-for-3, run scored.
GAME 2
VALLEY 9, JEFFERSON ACADEMY 1
Jefferson Academy 100 000 0— 1 4 7
Valley 112 311 x— 9 11 1
Anderson, Staudt (4), McKenna (5) and Johnson; Huwa, Olson (6) and Flores. W — Huwa (4-0), 7 K’s, 3 BBs. L — Anderson (2-1). Highlights — Kline V, 2-for-4, run scored; Frank, V, 2-for-4, 2 runs scored, RBI; Lind, V, 3-for-4, 2 runs scored, 2 RBIs; Staudt, JA, 0-for-2, RBI; Coisman, JA, 1-for-2, 2B, run scored.
