Dakota Ridge players celebrate after a walk-off RBI infield single by Greg McNulty on Saturday against Arvada West. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
LITTLETON — A high chopper over the mound for an infield single Saturday put Dakota Ridge baseball in prime position atop the standings of the wild Class 5A Jeffco League.
Senior Greg McNulty hammered a pitch from Arvada West pitcher Ethan Schmitz into the ground just in front of home plate in the bottom of the eighth inning on the Eagles’ home field. McNulty beat out the throw to first base, while junior Jake Collins scored from third base for a walk-off 3-2 victory against A-West.
“I was just shaking up there,” McNulty admitted. “I was ready to get the ball in play. I knew once I got the ball in play something would happen for me.”
It wasn’t the first time McNulty has managed a walk-off single this season for Dakota Ridge (8-7, 4-2 in 5A Jeffco).
“He (McNulty) had one in Arizona too where he dribbled it about 10 feet,” Dakota Ridge coach Jeff Legault said. “That’s two walk-off singles that probable went a total of 100 feet. I’ll take.”
A play at the plate Saturday at Dakota Ridge High School. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
The Eagles also took a share of the top spot in the conference with the victory. Ralston Valley defeated league-leading Chatfield (7-7, 4-2) earlier in the day to hand the Chargers their second straight conference loss. A-West (6-9, 2-4) actually edged Chatfield 5-4 two days earlier to help reel the Chargers back to the pack in the league standings.
Through six conference games, all eight 5A Jeffco teams are separated by just two games. Dakota Ridge players were well aware in the dugout of their opportunity to leap into a tie for lead in the conference.
“It’s huge,” Collins said. “With the league and everyone being so close together every game counts, especially with Ralston Valley defeating Chatfield today. This win puts us up at the top. We just have to go out Tuesday and beat Chatfield.”
Dakota Ridge hosts Chatfield at 4 p.m. Tuesday, April 25. The winner Tuesday will grab the No. 1 seed for the 5A Jeffco Tournament — May 2, 4 and 6 — that will count as league games.
“These last two weeks are going to be crazy,” Legault said. “Anybody can beat anybody on any given day. Everyone is in the thick of it. The league is wide open for anybody.”
A-West’s Raul Villarreal (24) touches home plate after a solo home run. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
Dakota Ridge received a strong pitching performances from Cooper Legault and Ryan Stohr. Legault, the coach’s son, went six innings. He gave up an RBI single by Ian Forbes in the top of the second inning and a solo home run by A-West’s Raul Villarreal in the top of the sixth inning that tied things up at 2-2.
Stohr picked up the win striking out three in two innings of work. A key strikeout of A-West’s Tony Cass stranded a Wildcat runner at third base in the top of the eighth inning.
“We are up and down right now,” A-West coach Matt McDougal said. “We are having a hard time driving in runs. Our kids are playing hard. We are just trying to figure that thing out.”
Jered Kennedy went the first five inning on the mound for the Wildcats. Schmitz took the loss on the hill for A-West. Dakota Ridge managed three singles in the bottom of the eighth inning to claw out the game-winning run.
“We’ve had our opportunities to be right there in the top of things. We haven’t got any breaks. You get a ball like that,” McDougal said of McNulty’s game-winning hit. “I’d rather have a guy hit a ball out to beat us then a little dribbler for a single.”
A-West hosts rival Ralston Valley (8-7, 3-3) at 4 p.m. Tuesday, April 25, before seeding gets set for the end of the regular season tournament.
Dakota Ridge’s Jake Starkey (8) forces out A-West’s Vinson Britton at second base on Saturday during the Eagles’ 3-2 win in extra innings. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)