It was one of those games, and Dylan Nelson knew it.
There were a combined 27 strikeouts, few hits and no scoring … until the D’Evelyn junior did something about it. He ripped a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning Tuesday that finally broke it open and led the Jaguars to a 5-0 victory against visiting Holy Family in Class 4A nonleague play.
The Jags, ranked No. 6 in The Associated Press 4A media poll after an out-of-state trip, are 9-0 and feeling uplifted.
“The count was 3-2, and I was just looking to get the bat on the ball,” Nelson said. “I saw the pitch coming in there, and it was right where I wanted it.
“When I hit it, I was, like, ‘Oh, gosh, it’s going a long way.’ “
Nelson’s blast to center field followed an error, a dropped third strike, three wild pitches and a single by Jonathan Strotz. It made it 3-0. The Jags tacked on two more runs on a couple of walks, a pinch-hit RBI single by John Zaller and another error by the Tigers.
“We wanted a close game, the competition we need before (4A Jefferson County) league play,” the 6-foot-4, 240-pound Nelson said.
Jags coach Dan Porreco noted his team had “been punching in a lot of runs,” as they had reached double figures in each of their previous eight outings, but left-handed starters Cameron Brown of D’Evelyn and Holy Family’s Austin Brown were dominant — between them, they registered 24 strikeouts, 11 in which they caught batters looking.
As for the Tigers, now 4-4 in their first season since jumping to 4A, coach Eric Nakayama said his guys “are still trying to identify who we are.”
Holy Family had multiple chances to take the lead early as it stranded six base runners.
Next, the Jags will hit the spring-break lull — they will have one game over the next 10 days, Thursday at home against 5A Loveland, before opening league play April 11 at Arvada. Holy Family will open Tri-Valley play Monday at Roosevelt.
Holy Family 000 000 0 — 0 5 2
D’Evelyn 000 005 x — 5 5 1
Holy Family — Karty ss 4-0-1-0, Phillips c 1-0-1-0, Miller c 1-0-0-0, Comeaux 1b 2-0-0-0, Coufal dh 3-0-0-0, Chavez rf-p 0-0-0-0, Brown p-cf 3-0-1-0, Jachimiak 2b 3-0-1-0, Kreutzer 1b 3-0-0-0, Tinnon cf 3-0-1-0, Elliot lf 2-0-0-0. Totals 25-0-5-0.
D’Evelyn — Witherspoon cf-p 2-1-0-0, Menard 3-0-0-0, Strotz 3b 2-1-1-0, Nelson 1b 3-1-1-2, Helmreich c 3-0-0-0, Cedillo 2b 2-1-0-0, Brown p-rf 2-1-1-0, Jolton lf 1-0-0-0, Zaller ph 1-0-1-1, Boyer ss 3-0-1-0. Totals 22-5-5-3.
E — Strotz, Jachimiak, Brown. LOB — Holy Family 6, D’Evelyn 4. 2B — Phillips, Timmon. HR — Nelson, one on in sixth.
Batteries — Brown, Chavez (6) and Phillips, Miller (3); Brown, Witherspoon (6) and Helmreich. W — Witherspoon. L — Chavez.
