HIGHLANDS RANCH — So how many walk-off doubles in which two outfielders collided not only won a game, but also clinched a league title, have you seen?
None was a popular answer Wednesday, when it happened at Rock Canyon. The Jaguars rallied past visiting Highlands Ranch 5-4 and grabbed their first-ever Class 5A Continental League crown.
“The beauty of baseball,” Quinn O’Neill said.
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For O’Neill, it must have been gorgeous. The senior greeted Falcons reliever Gary Madrid by driving one to deep left-center field, only to have Highlands Ranch’s Tyler Miller and Michael Forlenza, who had been playing shallow, collide while trying to catch it. No. 9 hitter Chris Givin, who was on third base, and leadoff hitter Josh White, who was on second, scored easily after each singling.
“It was surreal,” O’Neill said. “It’s something I’ve never seen before. As soon as the ball went up I saw them come together. The biggest thing was I was looking for a drive pitch to get one run in, but happened to get in two.”
Said Jags coach Tyler Munro: “I’ve never seen it and I’ve seen a lot of walk-offs this year.”
It was even more unusual in that Munro said O’Neill had been struggling most of the year, but the coach said he saw something recently and decided to move him to second in the order. It worked. O’Neill had a four-RBI day after also doubling in two runs in the third.
“For him to come through for us, it was fantastic,” Munro said.
Howard had gotten to second base on a wild pitch and moved to third on White’s single. White then took second without a throw when the Falcons infield was in. O’Neill called it “huge.”
All told, it improved Rock Canyon to 16-2, 8-1 in league. Ranked No. 5 in the final Associated Press 5A media poll, Rock Canyon will finish the regular season Thursday at Chaparral.
It also made a winner of senior right-hander Bryce Dietz, who improved to 8-0 after permitting just four hits and dealing out of trouble. And at one point the Cal Lutheran signee retired 12-of-13 Falcons.
“I’ve never seen it,” Falcons coach Joseph Gleason said afterward of the unusual finish. “But that team (the Jags) knows how to compete. And I thought we played hard.”
Kentucky signee Nick Shumpert singled and stole two bases for Highlands Ranch (11-7, 4-6), which will finish the regular season on Friday with a nonleaguer against the Centennial’s Eaglecrest.
In addition to Quinn O’Neill, Chris Givin and Logan O’Neill each hit safely twice.
Neil H. Devlin: ndevlin@denverpost.com or
Highlands Ranch: 200 011 0 — 4 4 0
Rock Canyon: 003 000 2 — 5 11 1
Highlands Ranch — Shumpert ss 3-1-1-0, Dammel 2b 3-1-0-0, Mallon 1b 3-0-1-1, Bonnell p 3-1-0-1, Madrid p 0-0-0-0, Helbling c 3-0-1-0, Medina cr 0-0-0-0, Liffrig dh 3-1-1-1, Miller cf 0-0-0-0, Newman rf 3-0-0-0, Forlenza lf 3-0-0-0. Totals 25-4-4-3.
Rock Canyon — White 2b 3-2-1-0, Q. O’Neill cf 3-1-2-4, C. Givin ss 3-0-2-0, Myers 3b 3-0-1-1, Sneider 1b 3-0-1-0, C. Howard dh 3-0-0-0, Zimmerman rf 3-0-1-0, Schiller cr 0-0-0-0, L. O’Neill c 3-0-2-0, T. Howard 3-1-1-0, Dietz p 0-0-0-0. Totals 27-5-11-5.
E — Zimmerman. DP — Highlands Ranch 2. LOB — Highlands ranch 5, Rock Canyon 5. CS — Q. O’Neill. SB — Shumpert 2, T. Howard. 2B — Q. O’Neill 2, Zimmerman. HR — Liffrig, solo in fifth.
Batteries — Bonnell, Madrid (7) and Helbling; Dietz and L. O’Neill. W — Dietz (8-0). L — Bonnell. SF — McIntosh. WP — Bonnell 2.
