LOVELAND — The emotional fist pump by Lyons baseball coach Kyle Schuyler summed it up perfectly.
Lyons’ 15-year-old program entered Saturday’s Class 2A District 4 tournament with only a 9-11 record after toiling most of the season in the rugged Class 3A Patriot League — arguably the state’s best.
Lyons’ bats, which have been strong all season, did the damage Saturday, pounding out 23 hits in the team’s two games.
And the Lions won their first district championship in school history with a 15-7 victory over Resurrection Christian, enabling them to enter the regional tournament with momentum and an 11-11 record.
“We came out stroking the first couple of innings and got on the board,” said Schuyler, whose team plays defending Class 2A champion Limon next Saturday at All-City Field. “That eased the pressure.”
Resurrection Christian (17-3) will play Byers, which beat Limon 13-3 in the District 3 final, in the regional round.
The Lions continued right where they left off against Dayspring Christian in the semi-finals in the first inning, hitting Cougars starting pitcher Lance Harper hard.
Heath Fesenmeyer led off with a triple to right field and was quickly driven home on a sharp double to left by Jesse Fisher.
“We knew we wanted to win it, but I don’t think we really knew we could win a district championship,” said Fisher, who went 3-for-5 and had four RBIs. “We just came out and played our best.”
Hayden Fesenmeyer capped a three-run first inning with a home run to deep left field.
Resurrection Christian answered with three runs in the bottom of the frame off Taylor Keen, who pitched 11 solid innings for the Lions the whole day.
Four more runs in the second inning and six runs in the fourth blew it open for Lyons.
“You don’t necessarily want to go into the next round with a loss, but I will be honest with you: I’m glad we played a good team,” said Resurrection Christian coach Tad Carls. “We know we’ve got to step it up.”
Hayden Fesenmeyer finished with three hits and three RBIs, and brother Heath scored four times.
“We need to have a good week of practice and cut down on some of the errors,” Schuyler said.
The Cougars received two hits each from Harper, Racey Butler and Aaron Boettger.
Lyons 342 600 0 — 15 13 5
Resurrection Chr. 301 201 0 — 7 8 3
Lyons — He. Fesenmeyer 1b-rf 2-4-1-1, Fisher cf-p 5-2-3-4, Brodie c 4-0-2-1, Tomczak cr 0-0-0-0, Albertson ss 4-1-1-3, Ha. Fesenmeyer 3b 5-2-3-3, Keen p-1b 3-1-1-0, Gibson 4-1-0-0, Valadez 2b 3-3-1-1, Scanlon rf-cf 4-1-1-0. Totals 34-15-13-13.
Resurrection Christian — Mondt ss-p 3-1-1-0, Lowry cf 3-1-0-0, Boehler c 3-1-1-1, Cooksey cr 0-0-0-0, Butler 3b-p-ss 5-2-2-0, Lohr lf-3b-rf 3-1-0-0, Richardson 1b 3-0-0-0, Harper p-lf 3-0-2-1, Bakersky 2b 3-0-0-0, Boettger rf-p 4-1-2-0, Swett cr 0-0-0-0. Totals 30-7-8-2.
E — Ha. Fesenmeyer 2, Valadez, Keen, Albertson; Lohr, Boettger, Richardson. LOB — Lyons 8, Resurrection Christian 13. Sac — Albertson. 2B — Fisher 2, Albertson; Butler, Boettger. 3B — He. Fesenmeyer. HR — Ha. Fesen- meyer (one on in the first). SB — Boettger.
Batteries — Keen, Fisher (4) and Brodie; Harper, Butler (2), Mondt (3), Boettger (5) and Boehler. W — Keen (6-5). L — Harper (1-1). Sv — Fisher. WP — Fisher 1; Butler 2, Mondt 3. PB — Boehler. T — 2:33.
