ARVADA — It was one of those early season baseball games in Colorado.
The winds changed as did the temperature and the game wasn’t completed until 2 hours, 46 minutes after the first pitch.
There also were multiple walks, relief pitchers, hit batsmen, errors, wild pitches, double plays, sacrifices and runners thrown out on the bases. Such is life for in-state schoolboy play in its opening month, particularly for two traditionally strong teams that unusually combined to dress more than a dozen sophomores and freshman.
Ultimately, Fairview was able to hold off host Arvada West 14-8 on Tuesday in Class 5A nonleague, a matchup that also featured more runs than hits, flirted with darkness before recording the final out and was the final game for each team before heading to Arizona for out-of-state competition during next week’s spring break.
But it was almost as if the two were making it a point to kill 3 hours.
“I know, ” Knights coach Rick Harig said. “It was just poking along. Then I finally jinxed us by saying that we scored in every inning (except the seventh).”
The Knights, who moved to 2-0, dressed three freshman and four sophomores.
It should make Fairview’s season interesting.
“We just don’t know,” Harig said of taking on a Front Range League schedule next month. “They’re good players, but you don’t know how they’re going to be able to compete regularly.”
With all of his team’s underclassmen, he added, “that’s a youth movement. It’s a matter of growing, growing and growing.”
Jordan Blair, one of the Knights’ few seniors, reached base all five times from his No. 2 spot in the order. Both of his singles drove home runs, including a two-run single to left field in the second inning. He also reached base by error, walk and when hit by a pitch.
“It felt good,” he said. “I feel like we can be good if we can stick to it … we’re just trying to lead the young-ens.”
Fairview sophomore Anders Hill tripled his first two times at the plate for three RBIs as the Knights never trailed and scored at last twice in their first six at-bats. Leadoff Cameron Frazier added two doubles.
Jefferson County’s Arvada West (2-2) kept coming, but never got the big hit to keep it really interesting. The Wildcats stranded seven runners over the final four innings.
“We have some growing up to do,” said Wildcats coach Matt McDougal, the program’s longtime assistant who took over for Jim Capra (now an assistant before heading to restart the Adams State program in Alamosa ).
Neil H. Devlin: 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com
