(Bert Borgmann/CHSAANow.com)
DENVER — The bus showed up late Saturday morning to pick up the Caliche Buffaloes (11-10) for their trip to the Class 1A Regional/Semifinal Tournament at Denver’s All-City Stadium. And then it had to stop for fuel before starting the 151-mile trek.
Not really an auspicious beginning to a trip that would prove hugely successful. In fact, for coach J.P. Lambrecht it was cause for worry — but for his team, not so much.
“For showing up late, the kids really responded well,” he said. “We have an experienced crew and they came out and did what they needed to do.”
The team showed up at 9:25, just enough time to get a little loose and take a quick infield before lining up against Cornerstone Christian (10-6) for the 10:00 a.m. first pitch.
That “experienced” crew pounded out nine hits and took advantage of five CCA errors to take an 11-1 win.
In the second regional game, last year’s state runner-up Holly (8-7) slipped in two runs in the top of the seventh to get past Stratton. Holly’s battery featured two freshmen, Yadiel Vidal at catcher and Ricardo Juarez on the mound.
In the semifinal game, though, Caliche’s athleticism really showed. Many of the players had already played on the Buffalo’s second place 8-man football team and state championship basketball team. In fact, the group of players on this year’s team have multiple state titles in basketball.
“This is an athletic crew and they’ve been together since kindergarten. They know each other well — maybe too well,” he noted with a laugh. “We don’t have a lot of ‘baseball’ players per se, but we have a lot of good athletes. Only a couple of them play any summer ball.”
Pitcher Mitch Davison scattered four hits and the offense belted out 11 hits, as the Buffaloes will move on to face Dove Creek (7-14) on Thursday at 11:00 a.m. at Coca-Cola All-Star Park in Lakewood for the 1A title.
Dove Creek got past Peetz 9-7 and then, in a typical 1A baseball game, downed Eads 23-18 in a two-hour, 45-minute affair. Eads (9-9) had beaten Elbert (9-5) 3-1 in the regional game.
“These kids are fun to coach,” Lambrecht noted. “They have been playing with each other on the high school teams since they were freshmen. We have several four-year starters.”