AURORA — In a showdown between the top two teams in Class 5A, both of which feature juggernaut offenses and strong-armed pitchers, the outcome was easy to dissect.
Grandview caught the baseball and came up with timely hits. Cherokee Trail did neither.
The top-ranked Wolves took advantage of No. 2 Cherokee Trail’s defensive miscues to post a 7-4 victory Thursday. Grandview’s win broke a tie atop the Centennial League standings and extended the Wolves’ winning streak to 11 games since they suffered a 17-14 loss at home against Cherokee Trail on April 9.
Grandview (15-3, 11-2) needs a victory in the regular-season finale Saturday against Cherry Creek in order to clinch the conference crown.
“As good as we played on Tuesday (against Cherry Creek), we played that bad today,” Cherokee Trail coach Allan Dyer said. “Routine plays we could have made, and we didn’t take care of the ball. And if you don’t take care of the ball against a good team, then they are going to get you. That’s basically what it came down to.”
Grandview third baseman Jordan Schlehuber was the offensive star for the Wolves, going 3-for-4 with two doubles, a two-run home run and a successful steal of home on a perfectly executed double steal.
Yet it was Cherokee Trail’s defensive breakdowns that allowed Grandview to take control. After the Cougars were unable to catch a foul pop by Grandview’s Jordan Rousselle in the third inning, the Wolves outfielder responded with a single, and Schlehuber took advantage of the extra out by blasting a two-out homer that gave Grandview a 3-0 lead.
Cherokee Trail (13-5, 10-3) failed to score after loading the bases with two outs in the third and fourth innings, but the Cougars finally got on the board in the fifth with three runs that cut Grandview’s edge to 5-3. Grandview, however, added RBI singles by Jerod Smith and Jackson Peitzmeier in the top of the seventh to pull away.
“We’ve been really hot lately, and we just wanted to keep that going,” Schlehuber said.
Grandview 102 110 2 — 7 10 0
Cherokee Trail 000 030 1 — 4 7 3
Grandview (ab-r-h-rbi) — Soicher cf 4-0-0-0, Rousselle rf 4-2-3-0, Bird c 2-1-0-0, Schlehuber 3b 4-3-3-3, Smith 2b 4-0-1-1, Lemke ss 3-1-2-0, Peitzmeier 1b 3-0-0-1, Yeros dh 3-0-0-0, Hufnagel dh 0-0-0-0, Thurston lf 4-0-1-0. Totals 31-7-10-5.
Cherokee Trail — Johnson 2b 2-1-0-0, Marquardt ss 4-1-2-1, Mucha p/cf 4-1-1-1, Perry dh 4-0-1-1, Mackay 1b/p 2-1-1-0, Schlekway 3b 4-0-2-1, Wilson lf 3-0-0-0, McPhail 1b 1-0-0-0, Schneider rf 2-0-0-0, Chavez cf 2-0-0-0. Totals 28-4-7-4.
E — Schlekway, Mackay, Johnson. LOB — Grandview 8; Cherokee Trail 8. SAC — Peitzmeier. 2B — Schlehuber 2, Perry, Mucha, Mackay, Schlekway. HR — Schlehuber (one on in third). SB — Lemke, Schlehuber.
Batteries — Richardson, Spencer (5), and Bird; Mucha, Mackay (6), and Bradley. W — Richardson. L — Mucha. Sv — Spencer. HBP — Marquardt (by Richardson in third).
