LAKEWOOD — With the 2015-16 school year coming to a close and spring state champ- ionships in full swing, Small Town Colorado is visiting the Denver area. It comes with rewards.
“We get to stay in a hotel and get to go to Buffalo Wild Wings; the closest one to us in Holly, Colorado, is 2½ hours away, in Pueblo,” Holly coach Dayne Eaton said Thursday.
Chicken wings and travel can make state titles seem even sweeter. And despite Holly — about 4 miles from the Kansas border in Colorado’s southeast corner — being the least- elevated town in the state (3,392 feet), it’s riding a high.
At Keli McGregor Field at Coca-Cola All-Star Park, Holly made the four-hour trip worth it by winning its first baseball championship, 5-0 over Fleming in Class 1A.
Afterward, the team picture with the trophy at home plate went beyond players and coaches. It included past coaches and players as well as well-wishers who made the journey. The town that has only a blinking stoplight and fewer than 700 residents was represented well and motivated.
Ricardo Juarez certainly was — the junior tossed a four-hit shutout, struck out six and never was seriously in trouble. He remembers the last time Holly was in a final and lost to Fleming in 2013.
“I’ve been thinking about that ever since,” Juarez said. “(Fleming) always has a good team and I knew I had better pitch good for this game.”
He did. Holly plated four runs in the first inning to take command, and Juarez threw strikes. He walked none, hit one batter and never faced more than five Fleming batters in any inning.
“I was kind of nervous,” he said. “But I settled down.”
Yaniel Vidal added two triples and scored twice for Holly.
But it was mostly about Juarez, symbolic of the state’s small-town athletes who do a little of everything. Sometimes a lot.
The 5-foot-10, 197-pounder also bats third, was 2-for-3 with two run-scoring singles and was hit by a pitch. When not pitching, he played shortstop. He led the team in RBIs (29) and was 6-1 on the mound.
In the fall, he was the football team’s middle linebacker and in basketball played the post. Both were state qualifiers.
“The past summer, he really established the placement (of his pitches) and he maybe has a chance to play in New Mexico as a junior college player,” Eaton said.
Fleming, near the state’s northeastern tip, finished 16-5 and never really got going. It couldn’t deal with Juarez and aided Holly by making three errors, two in the decisive first inning.
Eaton said his group enjoyed the trip and that it should be an annual visit for all in the class.
“I think we ought to keep it here. The field is as nice as its gets,” he said. “We might have more fans if we get it to Pueblo … southeastern Colorado tends to do well in 1A baseball.”
HOLLY 5, FLEMING 0
Holly400 010 0 — 5 6 2
Fleming000 000 0 — 0 4 3
Holly — Donaldson c 3-1-0-0, Vidal ss 4-2-2-1, Juarez p 3-0-2-2, C. Rushton cr 0-1-0-0, Wilson cf 3-1-1-0, Kennedy 1b 3-0-0-0, Crum 2b 3-0-0-1, M. Rushton 3b 2-0-0-1, Fletcher rf 3-0-0-0, Chapparo lf 2-0-0-0. Totals 26-5-6-5
Fleming — King p 3-0-0-0, Asfeld 3b 3-0-1-0, Wilkening cf 3-0-1-0, Lambrecht 1b 2-0-0-0, Meredith ss 3-0-0-0, Johnson rf 3-0-1-0, Tanner lf 3-0-0-0, Lousberg c 3-0-0-0, Dickinson 2b 3-0-1-0 Totals 26-0-4-0
E — Asfeld, Dickinson, Meredith, Crum, Vidal DP — Holly. LOB — Holly 4, Fleming 6. SB — Wilkening, Lambrecht. CS — Chapparo. 2B — Dickinson, Wilson, Johnson. 3B — Vidal 2.
Batteries — Juarez and Donaldson; King and Lousberg. W — Juarez (6-1). L — King. HBP — Juarez (by King); Lambrecht (by Juarez). SF — M. Rushton. T — 1:24.
Neil H. Devlin: ndevlin@denverpost.com or @neildevlin
