WHEAT RIDGE — Less than two weeks ago it would be hard to image Wheat Ridge baseball would be in the position it is now.
An improbable 6-5 come-from-behind victory Wednesday afternoon against rival Golden, ranked No. 8 in the CHSAANow.com Class 4A baseball poll, put the Farmers with a legitimate shot of winning the 4A Jeffco League title.
“If you looked at this team two or three weeks ago you would say we were done for,” Wheat Ridge senior Payton Dietrich said. “We don’t give up. We have a lot of young guys who want to win.”
Wheat Ridge junior Aaron Arcilise picked up the victory on the mound nearly pitching a complete-game for the Farmers against rival Golden. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
A 4-game winning streak over eight days for Wheat Ridge (5-7-1 record, 4-1 in 4A Jeffco) has given the Farmers hope for a postseason berth and possibility a conference title. Wheat Ridge started the season with a 1-7-1 record, but league victories over Standley Lake, Evergreen, Green Mountain and Golden has put the Farmers alone in second place in 4A Jeffco.
No. 2 Valor Christian (10-2, 5-0) is leading the pack in the conference. Wheat Ridge is scheduled to face the two-time defending 4A state champions at 11 a.m. Saturday, April 21, in Highlands Ranch.
“I love this group of kids. They are so resilient,” said Wheat Ridge coach Adam Miller, who admitted he didn’t believe a few weeks ago that the Farmers had a chance at a conference title. “We just want a push to have a chance to get in (to the postseason). The stakes are now a little bit bigger.”
Golden (10-4, 3-2) looked to be primed to stay in the league title hunt holding a 5-1 lead on the Farmers’ home field Wednesday. Senior Jack McLaughlin was cruising on the mound for the Demons and Golden’s 4-run three inning was holding up.
However, Wheat Ridge batted around in the bottom of the sixth inning scoring five times to suddenly grab a 6-5 lead heading the seventh inning.
“We got a bad hop and a bad throw,” Miller said of the 5-run sixth inning. “We made it work. The key was we put the ball in play. We’ll take it for sure.”
The two key plays that went the Farmers’ way was a ground ball that looked like a possible inning-ending double play, but the grounder by freshman Westin Miller took a bad hop and hit Jack McLaughlin, who had just moved from pitcher to shortstop, in the neck.
Golden senior Ethan Whitson loses the ball in the sun in right field. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
“We just have to make a play,” Golden coach Jackie McBroom said. “They (Wheat Ridge) put the ball into play and we didn’t make the plays. We had a good lead going into the sixth inning. We need to put teams away and we didn’t do that.”
The other error came with two outs. A slow ground ball by sophomore Ethan Sitzman was thrown wide of first base, allowing the Farmers to score the game-tying and eventual game-winning run on the play.
“Putting it in play is what helped us. They did kick it around a little bit,” said Dietrich, who started off the Farmers’ big inning with the only base hit in the sixth for Wheat Ridge. “Once one of us did something we all jumped in. The outcome was a 6-5 win.”
Wheat Ridge junior Aaron Arcilise picked up the win on the hill. Arcilise had to be taken off the mound with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning due to his pitch count. Junior Anthony Tate closed out the game with a strike out to get the save.
Wheat Ridge hosts D’Evelyn on Monday, April 23, after the showdown with Valor.
“We have matured a lot,” Dietrich said. “We are going to give it a shot. Come on Valor.”
There is a 3-game league tournament to close out the regular season, however those games will not count in the conference standings. Golden is scheduled to finish off its conference schedule at Standley Lake (Saturday, April 21) and at home against Evergreen (Monday, April 23).
The Demons just made the postseason last year, but took full advantage of their opportunity getting upset regional victories over Canon City and Longmont to make the 8-team state tournament. McBroom would like to see the Demons get back to the basics heading down the home stretch of the regular season.
“This program since I’ve been here has been built on fundamentally sound baseball,” McBroom said. “All of the sudden we have a lot of seniors and they are more talented now. We’ve got to get back to fundamentally sound baseball.”
Wheat Ridge sophomore Ethan Sitzman, left, forces out Golden senior Noah Mitchell out at second base during the Farmers’ 6-5 victory Wednesday. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)