Green Mountain’s Roy Anderson found his perfect moment to score — a scenario his coach prepared him for.
With two outs and Green Mountain runners on second and third in the bottom of the seventh, D’Eveleyn pitcher Grant Witherspoon hurled a fastball low that rolled under catcher Matt Helmrich’s legs. That’s when Anderson, who was sitting at third, took off and scored.
“The ball just squeezed through the catcher’s legs, and I went for it like coach told me to,” Anderson said. “The plate was wide open for me.”
The passed ball gave Green Mountain a 2-1 win over D’Evelyn in the Class 4A baseball tournament semifinals on Tuesday at Metro State’s Regency Athletic Complex.
“Weird things happen in baseball,” Green Mountain senior shortstop Cole Shetterly said.
Anderson, a Rams junior outfielder, was pinch-running for Reid Effrein. Right before the play, Anderson and Green Mountain coach Brad Madden had discussed what to do on a passed ball.
“On this field, sometimes the ball bounces straight back. But for some reason, that one just settled down right by the backstop,” Madden said.
The Rams scored an early run off pitcher Talon Schaller’s RBI single, putting Green Mountain up 1-0 in the bottom of the first.
The Jaguars tied the game in the top of the third after Mitch Menard launched an RBI triple to deep center field.
Schaller held it together on the mound for the Rams when the Mustangs had the bases loaded in the sixth with no outs.
“It’s a heartbreaker to lose a game that way,” D’Evelyn coach Dan Porreco said. “Especially when our catcher has been so unbelievable this season.”
Green Mountain, the defending 4A state champs, advances to the title game on Wednesday as the last undefeated team in the tournament’s double elimination format.
Green Mountain will play Lewis-Palmer at 1 p.m. If the Rams win, they defend the 4A state title. If the Rams lose, a second game immediately after will determine the state champion.
Morgan Dzakowic: 303-954-1275, mdzakowic@denverpost.com or
