T.J. Lemke had quite the day.
The Grandview senior drove in seven runs Wednesday, powering the Wolves’ 16-2 thrashing of ThunderRidge in a Class 5A nonleague game.
Even better, the shortstop crushed a three-run homer to left field that landed about eight rows up into the Coors Field bleachers.
“I got all of it,” Lemke said of his home run in the fifth inning that broke open what had been a 3-0 game. “It was a fastball inside and I turned on it, struck it pretty well. It was good to get it out of this field.”
So much for high school baseball’s new restricted-flight bats. Remarkably, Lemke’s day could have been even more productive.
In the first inning, Lemke hit into a fielder’s choice — ThunderRidge cut down a runner from third base to home — but then picked it up. He laced a run-scoring single in the third inning, homered in the fifth, plated another run on a fielder’s choice in the sixth, then finished with a two-run double to right-center in the seventh.
What will he remember most from the Wolves’ opener?
“The home run will be a good memory,” he said.
Both teams will be idle until next week’s spring break, when they travel to play in Arizona. Meanwhile, getting to play at Coors Field can’t hurt either team.
“(ThunderRidge coach) Joe (White) and I talked, and this is about the experience for the kids,” Grandview coach Dean Adams said.
Both coaches emptied their benches while gauging where they stand early in the season.
“We have seven starters back from last year, so I’ll be very disappointed if we don’t do something,” Adams said. “It’s only a 19-game season, so it’s who gets hot. But I saw (today) what I needed to see.”
ThunderRidge, in dropping to 2-1, had too many issues on the mound, White said. The Grizzlies also committed four errors and had only two hits.
The Wolves erupted for 14 hits, six for extra bases.
Neil H. Devlin: 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com
