No. 3 Golden clinches back-to-back 4A Jeffco League titles
GOLDEN — On Senior Day for Golden’s baseball team it was only appropriate to have Anders Page-Roth throw the final inning for the Demons.
“I never thought he (Page-Roth) would play baseball again,” Golden coach Jackie McBroom said after the Demons’ 11-1 home victory over rival Wheat Ridge on Thursday. “I have to remind him of that as well. He is such a competitive kid. He holds himself to a really high standard. I have to remind him that he is lucky to even be out on the mound now.”
McBroom’s plan was to have Page-Roth be Golden’s starting shortstop and hitting in the three-hole this spring. That all changed on Jan. 2. During winter break he went sledding on a half-pipe. A serious crash nearly ended his playing career and even worse.
“I woke up and felt pain throughout my whole body,” Page-Roth said after he woke up after blacking out.
Page-Roth shattered his L2 vertebrate, had a collapsed lung, along with a lacerated spleen and kidney. The senior still isn’t able to play in the field or swing a bat, but he has conditioned his arm to be able to pitch.
“He worked his butt off to even have a chance to be out on the field,” McBroom said. “He is the leader on this team.”
Page-Roth has made a total of five appearance pitching seven innings. He walked three, struck out two batters while giving up a run on a throwing error in his one inning of work against Wheat Ridge.
“Up until about three months ago I really didn’t think I’d be able to play,” Page-Roth said. “I’ve been doing physical therapy almost the day after the accident.”
Junior Laif Palmer threw the first four innings for the Demons (18-4 record, 14-1 in Class 4A Jeffco League play). Palmer gave up just an infield single while striking out seven to pick up the victory on the mound.
“It’s been awesome,” Page-Roth said of the season. “I just try to be a positive guy in the dugout. A guy who can look to for advice or help. Kind of be another coach in the dugout.”
Golden — No. 3 in the CHSAANow.com 4A baseball rankings — got a 2-run home run from sophomore Braeden McCarroll in the bottom of the first inning to open up an early lead.
“We didn’t want to let (Wheat Ridge) think they had a chance,” McBroom said of McCarroll’s 2-run home run.
The Demons poured it on against the Farmers (4-17, 3-12) in the bottom of the third inning scoring 8 runs in the frame. Golden had just three hits, but took advantage of three errors and five walks by the Farmers.
Wheat Ridge junior Jimmy Young broke-up the shutout when he scored on a throwing error in the top of the fifth inning.
However, Golden closed the deal in a hurry in the bottom of the frame. Junior Hayden Carbone doubled to lead-off the inning. He then stole third and on a throwing error scored to induce the 10-run mercy rule to end the game.
The victory wrapped up the 4A Jeffco League title for the Demons for the second straight season.
“It’s awesome. You definitely can’t have any bad games along the way,” McBroom said of winning the conference title on the day the Demons extended their winning streak to 13 games. “We slipped up early on, but honestly it was probably the best thing for us at that time. It made us realize we can’t take any days off.”
Golden’s lone conference loss came against D’Evelyn (14-8, 12-3) in the second game of the 16-game league schedule. The Jaguars are 2-games behind the Demons in the league standings with 1-game to go.
“We’ve talked about it all season,” McBroom said of Golden never winning back-to-back baseball league titles. “We told them they had the chance to change that.”
Golden and Wheat Ridge closes out conference play Saturday on the Farmers’ home field. It’s nearly a lock that the Demons — No. 2 in the RPI standings — will get a top-8 seed for the 32-team postseason tournament and host a regional next weekend.
“Ultimately our goal right now is to get guys back on track. Get guys healthy and be playing our best baseball on May 21,” McBroom said.
While making history with the back-to-back league titles is nice, the Demons’ leader wants more.
“This isn’t it. We have a long way to go,” Page-Roth said. “We are focused on the future.”
