Holy Family senior Matt Erb (1) slaps the hand of fellow senior Conor Stanley after both scored on a grand slam by Zach Dedin in the top of the first inning Monday at Golden High School. The defending Class 3A state champions defeated Golden 22-3 in a non-league game. (Dennis Pleuss)
GOLDEN — The defending Class 3A baseball state champion started its season with a significant statement Monday afternoon at Golden High School.
A grand slam in the top of the first inning to dead centerfield by Holy Family senior Zach Dedin was an early reminder that the Tigers are well equipped to defend their championship.
Holy Family senior Zack Trombley fires to the plate Monday afternoon at Golden High School. (Dennis Pleuss)
“Golden is no pushover. They are a great team,” Dedin said after Holy Family took a 22-3 victory on the Demons’ home field. “We just decided to show up today. It was a great win all the way around.”
Holy Family had eight returning seniors in its starting lineup. The Tigers sent double-digit batters to the plate in each of the first three innings in taking a commanding 18-2 lead.
Dedin, along with seniors Matt Erb and Zack Trombley each belted home runs in the non-league against the Class 4A’s Golden Demons. Trombley picked up the win on the mound and senior Conor Stanley went 4-for-6 from the plate with three runs scored from his leadoff spot.
“We’ve been putting a lot of work in since the end of November,” Dedin said. “We’ve been hitting the weight room hard and hitting every Thursday and Saturday.”
Golden was able to manage two runs in the bottom of the second inning to get on the scoreboard. Juniors Logan Hinkle and Wylie Borden singled and eventually scored. The Demons added a third run on an RBI single by senior Will Lowry in the bottom of the fourth, but Holy Family’s firepower at the plate was just too much to overcome.
“They are a good hitting team. They are a good pitching team and have a pretty good defense as well,” said Golden coach Bill Brady of Holy Family. “It’s early in the season. We’ll make some improvements. We’ll be OK.”
Brady had five different players take the mound against the Tigers (1-0). Borden and junior Paul Richy had the most success on the mound for the Demons (0-1). Each had a pair of strikeouts while combining to pitch the final two innings before the 10-run mercy rule ended the game after five innings.
“We just need to get our mindset on it. We didn’t really come into the game as prepared as we thought we were,” Borden said. “Holy Family is a really good team.”
Golden will head to Arizona for spring break next week before starting 4A Jeffco League play April 2 against Alameda at All Star Park in Lakewood.
Golden junior Paul Richy delivers a pitch during the fifth inning Monday afternoon against Holy Family. The Demons will head to Arizona next week to play four game before returning to start Class 4A Jeffco League play in early April. (Dennis Pleuss)
“Of course you want to win them all, but my focus is really on league play and see what we can do there,” Brady said.
Holy Family’s next game will be back on the road against Platte Valley at 3 p.m. Thursday. The Tigers’ home opener will be a doubleheader (10 a.m. and noon) Saturday against Peak to Peak.
One change this season for the Tigers is its new coach. Eric Nakayama took over for Marc Cowell. However, Nakayama was a long-time assistant with the baseball program at Holy Family.
“It was good that he (Nakayama) took over,” Dedin said. “He knows our program and didn’t have to change very much.”
Another thing the Tigers hope not to change is how they finished the 2013 season hoisting the state trophy. Holy Family, ranked No. 1 in this week’s CHSAANow.com 3A baseball poll, does have a target on its back of trying to defend that title.
Nakayama is looking forward to getting some of his basketball players back out to the diamond. Holy Family just won its first boys hoops state title since 1998 last Saturday in Colorado Springs.
“There is a lot of excitement in the athletic program at Holy Family,” Nakayama said referring to the success already this school year. “We are just going to try to keep it going.”
Holy Family senior Alex Comeaux (10) slides safely into home plate as the ball gets away from Golden catcher Logan Hinkle on Monday afternoon at Golden High School. Holy Family took a 22-3 victory in both teams’ season opener. (Dennis Pleuss)