Chad Bell didn’t know the opportunity would come, but he was ready for it.
Thursday at the local field of dreams, Coors Field, the senior at Rocky Mountain stepped up to bat with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning and the chance to not only cap the season with a bang, but his prep career too.
Bell smacked a deep sacrifice fly to left field to send everyone home walk-off style and top a 10-9 victory for the Black team (seniors) against the Purple (underclassmen). In the Colorado Futures Game sponsored by the Rockies, Bell beamed afterward, probably more than the other 49 selectees.
“Yeah, it was sweet,” Bell said after being mobbed by teammates. “It was a great opportunity to come out here and play at Coors Field and get the opportunity to walk it off. It’s fabulous.”
Bell said he “saw a fastball, just something I could put up into the air.” It scored Aeneas Roberson (Cherry Creek). The ninth opened with a double by Parker Jax (Cherry Creek), an intentional walk to Bruins teammate Blake Goldsberry, a sacrifice by Fairview’s Jacob Thoning and another intentional walk, to D’Evelyn’s Grant Witherspoon. Bell’s flyball came off Regis Jesuit’s Caleb Sloan.
It was a longer wood-bat game (preps usually play seven innings).
“It was an absolute blessing to coach these guys, and on both sides we had a lot of really strong athletes who were fun to coach,” said Valor Christian head coach and Black team assistant Keith Wahl.
Nineteen pitchers saw action. Also, there were some oddities — and not just because the Rockies announced the game to media the day before.
Regis Jesuit’s Quin Cotton, a junior for the Purple team, not only faced Raiders teammate Brent Schwarz (he walked), he hit a popup in the infield during the second inning that fell for a double … and the runner on third base didn’t score.
In addition to the four triples in the game, one, by Fairview’s Ryan Madden, possibly the first area pick in next month’s draft, never left the infield. He too hit a towering popup, near the front of home plate, that no one fielded.
“It was fun,” said Rock Canyon junior Daryl Myers, a day after he helped the Jaguars win the Class 5A state title. “At Coors Field? You’re kidding.”
Neil H. Devlin: ndevlin@denverpost.com or
