Mountain Vista baseball beats Heritage in battle of top-10 teams
LITTLETON — A four-run fifth inning proved to be difference as Mountain Vista came away with a 7-5 win over league rival Heritage on Friday afternoon.
Second-ranked Mountain Vista (9-2 overall, 2-0 5A Continental League) was hanging on to a 2-0 lead over No. 9 Heritage as Will Dixon launched a three-run home run to give pitcher Marc Mumper some breathing room.
“To be honest, I haven’t hit the ball well all year,” Dixon said. “I got up there and knew he was going to throw me some curveballs so I moved up in the box and I just put the barrel on the ball and it went over the fence.”
Dixon also put his Eagles on the board in the first inning with an RBI single that brought home Cole Brook. The home run could not have come at a better time as fatigue began to set in for Mumper in the bottom half of the fifth inning.
Heritage (7-5, 0-3) started the inning off with three straight singles and scored their first run on a passed ball. Bill Moreland then connected for a two-RBI double, cutting the Vista lead to 6-3.
“I got a little tired and just lost focus a little bit,” Mumper said. “We got ahead with that lead and we lost focus and they just started hitting the ball a little bit. I didn’t throw it how I wanted to and I didn’t throw it where I wanted to , but that’s just how baseball is sometimes.”
Mumper was able to help his own cause a little bit in the top of the seventh. He reached base on a walk and got to third after stealing second, only to have the throw from Casey Opitz go into centerfield, allowing him to get to third. He then scored on passed ball, giving Mountain Vista a 7-3 going into the bottom of the seventh.
Vista coach Ron Quintana tried to let his senior pitcher go for the complete game win, but was forced to pull Mumper with one out and runners on first and third. Quintana went with Jalen Saiz out of the bullpen, whose first pitch found its way to the backstop, allowing Heritage to bring a run home.
Saiz then struck out Moreland and two batters later, struck out designated hitter Jack Brouillette to end the game. As much as Mumper would’ve liked the complete game, the first priority was for the team to get the win.
“Jalen came in and did a great job,” Mumper said. “I had 100 percent confidence with him in there so it wasn’t too big of a deal. We got a good win there.”
The win for Mountain Vista, currently sits at No. 2 in the CHSAANow.com rankings, is one that Quintana hopes his players can really use to build on as they get deeper into league play.
“Obviously you want to build off a game like this,” Quintana said. “I think every game in our league is a big game. It’s good to start 2-0 in our conference because as everyone in the state knows, our conference is tough.”
That sentiment was echoed by Heritage coach Scott Hormann. He would’ve liked for his Eagles to come away with a home win, but knows that when state playoffs roll around, playing in the Continental League will be a blessing.
“I’m really proud of our guys because we’ve had some rough (games) where we’ve been down,” Hormann said. “I think we’re going to win if we play a lot of games the way we did today against the No. 2 team in state.”
Neither team will get much of a breather as they both get back on the field Monday. Heritage travels to ThunderRidge while Mountain Vista hosts Regis Jesuit. Both games are schooled for 4:15 p.m. starts.
