WHEAT RIDGE — On a day defined by a wild power display, it was an Andrew Wylde bunt that tipped the scales.
The Wheat Ridge catcher laid down a suicide squeeze in the bottom of the seventh inning Saturday, and it succeeded (barely), sending the No. 2 Farmers to a 9-8 win over top-ranked Green Mountain in a Class 4A Jefferson County League thriller.
“I knew it was going to come down to that after we’d already gotten two bunts down in the inning,” said Wylde, the Farmers’ No. 9 hitter. “Our coaches have told us that little things matter in a big ballgame, so we’ve been working on things like that, and it paid off.”
After Green Mountain’s Kyle Garner tied it 8-8 with an RBI single in the top of the seventh, Eugene Tullar led off the bottom with a single. Brett Kovach, who earned the win in relief, tried to sacrifice but beat out the bunt for a hit.
After a Tommy Bradley sacrifice and a walk, Wylde bunted back toward Rams pitcher Brandon Storm, who underhanded the ball to the plate — but not in time to beat Tullar sliding home.
“I give Eugene a lot of credit because he had a great break,” Wylde said.
Tullar also pitched the first six innings and appeared to be cruising toward a win before an error and a walk kept the sixth alive for Green Mountain’s Cameron Quick, who launched a three-run homer to tie it 7-7. Austin Shetterly also had a three-run shot for the Rams (14-2, 6-1) in the first.
“We’ll put this behind us,” Quick said. “But we’re on fire because of it. We’re going to come out the final four games angry, ready to win.”
Tullar, Alex Walker and Ryan Wagner all hit solo home runs for Wheat Ridge (14-1, 6-1), with Walker also making several key plays in center field.
“They’re a great team — they’re like us — so it was a great game,” Walker said. “We don’t care how we do it, we just want to win.”
Green Mountain 301 003 1 — 8 9 1
Wheat Ridge 212 111 1 — 9 15 2
Green Mountain (ab-r-h-rbi) — Willis lf 2-2-0-0, Quick cf 3-2-2-3, Lynes rf 4-0-1-0, Shetterly 1b 3-1-2-3, Fonte pr 0-0-0-0, Siegele ss 4-1-2-0, Peters 3b 4-0-0-0, Engle c 3-0-1-0, Cox cr 0-1-0-0, Garner dh 4-1-1-1, Halverson 2b 3-0-0-0, Boettcher ph 1-0-0-0. Totals 31-8-9-7.
Wheat Ridge — Swanson 2b-lf 3-2-2-1, Lonergan ss-2b 4-1-2-1, Walker cf 3-1-2-3, Wagner 3b 4-1-2-2, Tullar p-ss 3-2-3-1, Kovach rf-p 3-0-1-0, Bradley 1b 3-1-1-0, Shipp dh 3-1-2-0, Wylde c 3-0-0-1, Lopez lf-rf 0-0-0-0. Totals 29-9-15-9.
E — Willis, Wagner, Bradley. DP — Wheat Ridge 1. LOB — Green Mountain 8, Wheat Ridge 5. 2B — Lynes, Siegele, Engle, Tullar. HR — Shetterly (two on in first), Quick (two on in sixth), Walker (solo in third), Tullar (solo in third), Wagner (solo in fifth). SB — Siegele 2, Garner. SF — Swanson. SAC — Bradley, Wylde.
Batteries — Rooney, Storm (5) and Engle; Tullar, Kovach (7) and Wylde. W — Kovach (6-0). L — Storm (4-1). T — 1:57.
