HIGHLANDS RANCH — For openers, it was the Continental League, which has won two of the past three big-school championships and three of the most recent four.
So ThunderRidge’s dramatic, walk-off 5-4 victory at home in nine innings Monday against Class 5A defending state champion Rock Canyon in a league opener wasn’t unusual for the suburban group that is capable of producing everything from football-like scores to the pitching gems displayed on a fresh, post-rain afternoon.
“That’s one of the funnest games,” coach Joe White said after his Grizzlies, ranked No. 9 in The Associated Press 5A media poll, improved to 7-1 overall. “Tyler (Munro, the Rock Canyon coach) came over about the seventh inning and said, ‘Win or lose, this has been an unbelievable game.’ “
Ultimately, Phil Ferguson’s bad-hop single up the middle plated Cole Butler with the winning run.
“I was just trying to get it up the middle,” Ferguson said.
But there was a lot more. The Grizzlies’ Jake Eissler and Rock Canyon’s Bobby Rexroat had a terrific pitching duel, with Rexroat permitting a leadoff double to Ferguson, then not another hit until the eighth. During one span, the Jaguars’ Cayden Zimmerman recorded five of six outs with strong plays at third base. There were no errors in the game. Brody Perkins and Jason Hall hit bottom-of-the-ninth doubles.
Also, ThunderRidge avenged a walk-off loss a year ago to the No. 7 Jaguars, who are 4-6.
“We aren’t losing when Jake’s pitching,” Ferguson said of Eissler, who has signed with TCU.
“This is how our league is,” White said.
Neil H. Devlin: @neildevlin or ndevlin@denverpost.com
