Rocky Mountain senior Nathan Elsheimer (5) doesn’t hold back showing his excitement after hitting a two-run home run in the second inning Saturday afternoon at All-City Field. The Lobos defeated Mountain Vista 17-7 in the final game of the weekend in the double-elimination Class 5A baseball state championship series. (Dennis Pleuss)
DENVER — Rocky Mountain picked a good time to score a season-high 17 runs Saturday afternoon at All-City Field.
The Lobos cranked out 17 hits, including grand slam home run by senior Nathan Elsheimer in an eight-run top of the seventh inning, to take a 17-7 victory over Mountain Vista in the final game of the weekend in the Class 5A baseball championship series.
“We were just trying to finish it off really,” Elsheimer said of Rocky Mountain’s huge seventh inning. “We knew (Cory) Richer was going to shut them down, but it’s nice to get those insurance runs to take the load off the pitcher.”
Rocky Mountain senior Dean Lawson crosses home plate in the first inning. The Lobos put up a season-high 17 runs in the 17-7 victory against Mountain Vista. (Dennis Pleuss)
Rocky Mountain sent 13 batters to the plate in its half of the seventh. Mountain Vista used four different pitchers in the inning before finally recording the third out.
“When we get going offensively we can do some damage,” said Rocky Mountain coach Scott Bullock, who guided the Lobos to four straight 5A state baseball titles from 2007 to 2010. “We are pretty tough one through nine. There aren’t a lot of holes in our line-up. When we get going it’s exciting to watch.”
Rocky Mountain junior Cody Richer relieved starter Marc Bachman on the mound in the bottom of the fifth inning with two outs. Richer gave up two runs on five hits, but the Golden Eagles couldn’t erase the big deficit heading into the bottom of the seventh inning.
Richer was able to induce a game-ending double play to allow the Lobos to celebrate under a rainbow that formed over All-City Field. The victory guarantees Rocky Mountain — lone undefeated team with a 3-0 record in the championship series — will be playing in the state championship next Saturday, May 24, at All-City.
“It’s a ton of stress off our backs,” Rocky Mountain senior Nathan Elsheimer said. “We are just going to go into this next week of practice really relaxed, go for the win on Friday and see what happens Saturday.”
The Lobos’ next game will be noon Friday, May 23, against Cherry Creek at All-City. The Bruins took wins over Chaparral and ThunderRidge on Saturday at Machebeuf High School to advance to the final four.
“I don’t think we know very much about Creek at this point,” Stajduhar said. “Obviously they are going to be a good team making it to this point. We are going to have to go out and play our best baseball.”
Rocky Mountain (19-5) did find itself in a hole early against Mountain Vista (20-4). The Golden Eagles batted around in the bottom of the first inning, plating four runs to take a 4-1 lead.
However, the Lobos quickly answered with a four-run top of the second inning to regain the lead. The big hit was a two-run home run by Elsheimer.
“To be honest I didn’t think it would be going out,” Elsheimer said. “I rounded first thinking it was just a double. Then I heard everyone behind me cheering. Hitting a home run is the best feeling in the world.”
Mountain Vista shortstop Jack Strunc shows the ball to the umpire after tagging Rocky Mountain junior Garrett Hammer (18) at second base. Hammer was attempt to stretch a single into a double, but was called out at second base. (Dennis Pleuss)
Mountain Vista tied the game at 5-5 in the bottom of the fourth inning on an RBI double by senior Jack Strunc. Rocky Mountain answered again. The Lobos took advance of a pair of Golden Eagle error to take a 7-5 lead.
Rocky Mountain scored another pair of runs in the sixth inning to extend the lead to 9-5 before the huge eight-run seventh.
“It’s always a hitter’s day,” Bullock said of the second day of the championship series where teams have likely already had their top two pitchers throw.
Mountain Vista is far from out of the state championship picture despite the loss Saturday. The Golden Eagles will face Regis Jesuit in an elimination game at 2:30 p.m. May 23, at All-City. The Raiders took victories over Fairview and Chatfield earlier in the day at All-City to stay in the tournament.
“Playoff baseball is fun. Especially when you are playing teams like Rocky, Creek and Regis,” Mountain Vista coach Ron Quintana said. “Those are good programs and normally here in the final four. You have to be able to come in here and compete with them.”
Mountain Vista will lean on starting pitchers Will Dixon and Nick Leonard next week in the hopes to get another shot against Rocky Mountain in the championship game.
Rocky Mountain senior Marc Bachman fires to the plate in the first inning Saturday against Mountain Vista. Bachman picked up the victory on the mound as the Lobos went 3-0 in the first week of the state championship series. (Dennis Pleuss)