Chatfield baseball looking dangerous as spring break closes
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Chatfield may not be sitting inside the Class 5A top 10 as of now, but from what the Chargers have done on the baseball field thus far, it’s a question of when, not if, the team will start garnering some respect.
With just two games against Colorado opponents, the Chargers (4-4-overall) have already made waves. Their loss to No. 1 Mountain Vista to open the season came by just one run. They followed that up with a 7-4 win over Pine Creek who sits at No. 6 in the poll this week.
Then came the Arizona trip to play in the Pride Classic. The Chargers remained competitive all week and ended the tournament with a 3-3 record. This could be trouble for teams looking to take the field against Chatfield for the rest of the season.
“It gives us a confidence boost,” senior Luke LaChance said. “It shows that we can hang with anyone. That was shown when we were hanging with Mountain Vista. I think we still have to get to work and put all the pieces of the puzzle back together when we get back to Colorado.”
There are certainly strong pieces in place. The Chargers jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead over Desert Mountain (Ariz.) High School on Friday. They eventually dropped the game 10-7 but were never out of the game despite the firepower coming from the other dugout.
At times, Chatfield started rattling off a who’s who of Arizona schools and which players for Desert Mountain were going where.
“That shortstop is going to Central Arizona and that center fielder? He’s a sophomore but he’s going to Arizona State,” they said.
But a win against the team from Colorado was not easy for Desert Mountain. And that’s been the case all year. Even against Mountain Vista, there was no guarantee that it was the defending 5A champion that would come away with a win.
“Where we’re at (as a team) you have to put together seven inning against us,” coach Daniel Medina said. “The fight in these kids is unreal and we’ve been in some tough ball games, even at home.”
The fight was on full display on Friday. After the Desert Mountain hitters knocked starting pitcher Logan Carlisle out of the game after the first inning, sophomore Quinton Low battled in relief and limited any further damage.
The Chargers were within a run heading into the bottom of the sixth, but Desert Mountain scored twice in that inning to put the game out of reach.
But the Chargers never felt out of it. And they plan on taking the lessons learned on this trip and using them to make noise for the remainder of the season.
“Energy wins ball games,” LaChance said. “We came out super energetic at the beginning and through the week as we started winding down, we lost some energy for sure. We’ll get it back up when we get back to Colorado.”
Chatfield jumps right back into action on Tuesday when it plays host to Erie.
