D’Evelyn junior Cameron Brown fires to the plate during the first inning Tuesday afternoon against Holy Family. Brown pitched five inning with a dozen strikeouts. The Jaguars improved to 9-0 on the season with a 5-0 victory. (Dennis Pleuss)
DENVER — It was good to be a lefty pitcher Tuesday afternoon at D’Evelyn Junior/Senior High School.
Southpaw starting pitchers — D’Evelyn junior Cameron Brown and Holy Family senior Austin Brown — combined for 23 strikeouts through five scoreless innings in the Class 4A non-league showdown. Cameron Brown actually didn’t pick up a decision after leaving the mound after five innings with a dozen strikeouts and allowing four hits.
“I was hitting my spots and mixing it up a little here and there,” Cameron Brown said. “I kept them off balance.”
D’Evelyn senior Grant Witherspoon, another lefty, picked up the victory on the mound going two innings with two strikeouts and giving up one hit. The Jaguars’ five-run bottom of the sixth inning was all D’Evelyn, ranked No. 6 in the latest CHSAANow.com 4A baseball poll, needed to run its record to 9-0 this season with a 5-0 victory.
“Was that ridiculous? There were tons of Ks,” D’Evelyn coach Dan Porreco said of the combined 27 strikeouts. “You have two great lefties throwing, plus how many lefty batters? It was hard for those lefty batters against the lefty pitchers.”
Witherspoon actually started the Jaguars’ five-run sixth inning against Holy Family (4-4, 2-2). The senior reached on an error. He scored the first run of the game advancing to second, third and eventually home plate on three wild pitches.
Holy Family senior Austin Brown (5) throws a pitch to D’Evelyn senior Jonathan Strotz on Tuesday. Brown had a dozen strikeouts, but eventually took the loss on the hill for the Tigers. (Dennis Pleuss)
“I was ready for a hit, but I just had to run around the bases,” Witherspoon said.
Senior Jonathan Strotz had an infield single to keep the rally going. Junior Dylan Nelson delivered the big blow with a two-run home run over the wall in centerfield to put the Jaguars up 3-0.
“Dylan’s hit was a big boom. That really helped,” said Porreco of his Jaguars who were getting no-hit through four innings.
Senior Xavier Chavez took the mound for Holy Family after Nelson’s home run. Back-to-back walks along with two more defensive errors by the Tigers allowed sophomore Christian Cedillo and Cameron Brown to score, extending the lead to 5-0.
“He (Austin Brown) pitched great today. He had us off balance with his curve and was locating with his off speed,” Cameron Brown said of Austin Brown who finished with a dozen strikeouts and allowed just three hits while taking the loss. “We haven’t really seen anybody like that yet. It took us a little awhile to used to it, but then we got him.”
Four errors in the fifth and sixth innings hurt Holy Family’s chances on ending D’Evelyn’s perfect record.
“Austin (Brown) was throwing well. We know what we are going to get when Austin in on the mound,” Holy Family second-year coach Eric Nakayama said. “Defensively we’ve got to match it and offensively we’ve got to give him some support. Unfortunately we didn’t have that today.”
Holy Family threatened to break up the shutout in the seventh inning. Senior Andrew Tinnon and junior Paul Elliot reached base with two outs, but Witherspoon struck out junior Jake Karty to end the game.
“I feel like we have three really good lefties and one really good righty,” Witherspoon said of the Jaguars’ staff. “We are really confident in our pitching. Just as confident in our hitting.”
Scoring runs hasn’t been a problem for D’Evelyn so far this season. The Jaguars outscored their first eight opponents 106-12. D’Evelyn scored double-digit runs in each of its first eight games.
“League (4A Jeffco) is going to be a lot tougher then what we’ve been playing right now. League should be a good test,” Cameron Brown admitted.
D’Evelyn junior Dylan Nelson (23) is greeted at home plate by seniors Jonathan Strotz (9) and Matt Helmreich (12) after Nelson’s two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning Tuesday. The Jaguars’ five-run sixth inning guided D’Evelyn to a 5-0 victory against Holy Family. (Dennis Pleuss)
Defending 4A state champion Green Mountain along with Valor Christian, D’Evelyn and Evergreen from Jeffco are all currently ranked in 4A’s top-10.
D’Evelyn has one final non-league game 4 p.m. Thursday when it hosts Loveland. The Jaguars open their 4A Jeffco schedule noon on April 11 against Arvada at All Star Park in Lakewood.
Holy Family is making the jump to 4A this season after winning three 3A state baseball titles (2010, 2013 and 2014) already this decade. The Tigers’ record during their back-to-back championships the past two seasons was 46-5.
Nakayama has the task this season of not only playing in the always challenging 4A Tri-Valley League, but also replacing several players from last year’s senior-laden squad that finished with a 24-1 record in 2014.
Holy Family continues its conference schedule on the road against Roosevelt at 4 p.m. on April 6.
D’Evelyn senior Grant Witherspoon eyes a foul ball during an at-bat Tuesday. Witherspoon picked up the victory on the mound pitching the final two innings for the Jaguars against Holy Family. (Dennis Pleuss)
D’Evelyn junior Dylan Nelson (23) waits for the ball as Holy Family sophomore Cameron Miller (14) slides back into first base Tuesday afternoon in the Class 4A non-league game. (Dennis Pleuss)