Golden baseball belts Falcon in Class 4A top-10 showdown

GOLDEN — It was a nice homecoming for Golden’s baseball team Monday.

After a 3-game spring break trip to Alabama last week where the Demons went 0-3 against some stiff competition, Golden returned home with a big 10-1 victory in an early-season Class 4A top-10 match-up.

Golden — No. 7 in the latest CHSAANow.com 4A baseball rankings — cruised past No. 5 Falcon (5-3 record).

“It was a fun trip. Glad to be home,” said Golden junior Jaydon Hord, who hit a pair of 2-run home runs in the victory against Falcon. “I think that trip really helped us. We saw some fast pitchers (in Alabama).”

Hord started things off with a no-doubter blast over the centerfield fence off Falcon freshman David Ada in the bottom of the first inning. After 2-run double by sophomore Kohei Shimada in the bottom of the third inning gave the Demons a 4-0 lead, Hord went deep again.

“Just going up there looking to hit the ball hard,” Hord said of his approach at the plate. “He gave me a fastball right down the middle on that first one and I took it deep. The second at-bat I was sitting on the slider a little bit at 3-2 (count). He went back to it and I took it over.”

Golden (3-3) scored eight runs in the bottom of the third inning on just three hits to take a commanding 10-0 lead. The Falcons issued five walks, hit a batter and had a costly 2-run throwing error on a pick-off attempt at first base as the Demons broke the game wide-open in the bottom of the third frame.

“I’m just happy that they executed and had a good approach at the plate,” Golden coach Jackie McBroom said. “We threw strikes. We made plays in the field. We were mentally ready for this baseball game.”

Golden senior Ethan Lewis got the start on the mound. Lewis went six innings, giving up just a single run while scattering six hits.

“I was feeling great. It was just a matter of settling in those first few innings,” Lewis said. “I’m confident in my stuff and know what I can do. Today we just showed out and played well.”

Falcon did get traffic on the bases in each of the first three innings, but Lewis was able to get a pair of groundouts and a fly-out to center field to escape any damage and strand five runners on base.

“No matter how good your stuff it people are going to hit you,” Lewis said. “You just have to keep your composure and focus on the next pitch.”

It looked like the Demons would be able to induce the 10-run mercy rule after five innings, but Falcon scratched out a run in the top of the fifth inning to prevent the shutout.

Lewis finished with seven strikeouts before giving way to senior Noah Wicks to close out the game in the seven inning. The Demons’ starting catcher came in to get the final three outs on the mound in the top of the seventh inning.

“This was a big game. I know these guys are good,” McBroom said of Falcon. “They have beat a lot of good teams and we played them in the Fall so I’m familiar with them.”

McBroom added that he didn’t want his Demons to have a letdown after the spring break trip. Golden is scheduled to get back into action against Denver North (4-1) on Friday back at Golden High School.

The Demons then jump right into 4A Jeffco League play against D’Evelyn with home and away series next week. The Jaguars were a 4A state semifinalist last Spring.

“If you talk to a lot of our guys our expectation is to win league,” Lewis said of 4A Jeffco. “I think that is completely possible, but I think our focus as a team has to be to just take one game at a time. Focus on the next opponent.”