Shhhh!!!
Don’t tell anybody about the Brighton Bulldogs.
Coach Ray Garza’s team is perfectly happy flying under the radar, but pretty soon, people are going to begin to take notice.
The East Metro League leading Bulldogs throttled their crosstown rival Prairie View 15-0 in a nonleague affair at Coors Field on Saturday and further strengthened their case as a team that could be in the mix next month.
“We really appreciate what we have, but we also understand what there is outside of our league,” Garza said. “We’ve got out work cut out for us and we talk about that daily.”
With the victory, Brighton improved to 13-2. Prairie View, which came in winners of six in a row, dropped to 8-6. Both teams are 7-0 in the EMAC and will play for what amounts to the league title May 1 at Brighton.
The Brighton bats set the tone from the get-go. Leadoff man Seth Bunn tripled to right off Thunderhawks starter Kyle Killen and was followed by back-to-back singles from Rick Lane and Gabe Medina.
Run scoring doubles later in the frame from T.J. Egloff and Ty Archuleta provided starting pitcher Alex Werbach more than enough offense.
Werbach was fantastic, striking out nine and not allowing the Thunderhawks a hit.
“It was definitely an experience being out here on this field,” said Werbach, who missed the Bulldogs’ game at Coors last year against Erie with an injury. “Especially against a rival, it makes it that much more exciting.”
Prairie View’s Dominic Cardenas delivered the only hit of the game in the bottom of the fifth inning off reliever Andrew Brazzell.
Brighton: 633 12 — 15 10 0
Prairie View: 000 00 — 0 1 6
Brighton: Bunn cf 2-2-1-0, Montoya cf 0-0-0-1, Lane 2b 3-1-2-2, Banks ph 1-0-0-0, Medina lf 3-2-2-0, Heidt lf 0-1-0-0, Morales ph 1-0-0-0, Adkins 1b 1-2-1-1, Towers 1b 2-0-1-1, Smith ss 2-1-0-1, Reynolds ss 0-1-0-0, Kelley 3b 3-1-0-1, Vialpando 3b 2-0-0-1, Egloff rf 3-2-1-1, Schenck rf 1-1-1-1, Archuleta dh 2-0-1-1, Golderman c 0-0-0-0, Werbach p 1-1-0-0, Brazzell p 0-0-0-0. Totals: 27-15-10-11.
Prairie View: Dameron cf 3-0-0-0, Cardenas 3b 2-0-1-0, Killen p-ss 2-0-0-0, Hockney c-p 2-0-0-0, Moreno 2b 1-0-0-0, Downs ph 1-0-0-0, Mueller rf 1-0-0-0, Lubick lf 1-0-0-0, Coffman rf 0-0-0-0, Ringler ss-c 2-0-0-0, Cole dh 0-0-0-0, Davis dh-1b 0-0-0-0, Walter 1b 1-0-0-0, Mecillas lf 0-0-0-0. Totals: 16-0-1-0.
E: Moreno 4, Hockney, Cardenas.
LOB: Brighton 12; Prairie View 6.
2B: Egloff 2, Archuleta, Adkins; Cardenas.
3B: Bunn.
SB: Egloff, Heidt.
Caught stealing: Vialpando.
Batteries: Werbach, Brazzell (5) and Golderman; Killen, Coffman (3), Hockney (4), Mueller (5) and Hockney, Ringler (4), Hockney (5).
W: Werbach (3-0). L: Killen (1-3).
HBP: Adkins (by Killen in 1st); Lane (by Killen in 1st); Adkins (by Killen in 2nd); Werbach (by Mueller in 5th); Cardenas (by Werbach in 1st); Killen (by Werbach in 1st).
Time: 1:42.
