3A baseball: Eaton & University to meet for state title
GREELEY – As the only unbeaten team remaining in the 3A state tournament, the Eaton Reds are a win away from back-to-back state championships.
Eaton (27-2) avenged a regular-season loss to Lutheran with a 5-2 victory over the Lions on Friday at Butch Butler Field. The loss eliminated Lutheran (26-3) and sent Eaton to the championship game at 11 a.m. Saturday against University. The Reds defeated the Lions in the tournament last Saturday, 12-2.
Despite having less pressure than the other remaining three teams that played Friday, the Reds went into their game with Lutheran with a mindset to win and think about the championship game once they reached it.
“They didn’t mention the fact that we were playing tomorrow no matter what one time,” Eaton head coach Todd Hernandez said. “It was all about coming out today and playing a complete game and putting the ball in play. Their mindset all week long was about today. They just want to win the next game.”
Eaton starting pitcher Jared McCormack scattered four hits and allowed just two runs, which came in a shaky fourth inning for the senior, who improved to 7-0 this season.
He hit a couple of batters and a run scored on a Reds error in the frame, but he had allowed only three base runners and given up one hit in the first three innings.
He recovered from the fourth inning and retired the Reds in order in the fifth and sixth. After retiring the first two batters, he was relieved by Garrett Garrison, who gave up a single before striking out the last batter of the game.
“I just kind of lost it a little bit out there,” McCormack said. “They weren’t hitting it too hard, but they were getting the holes and I wasn’t throwing a lot of strikes. I think I hit two batters that inning. I just had to get through that inning so we could go hit again. I had to reset. I went into the dugout and just focused on what I was doing right earlier and reset from there. I got back out there and it felt like a new game.”
Offensively, the Bulldogs didn’t score until the third inning as Lutheran starting pitcher Brayden Stork only allowed two Reds base runners in the first two innings.
Eaton scored a pair in the third, both coming on a two-run double by Ryder True to put the Reds up 2-0. The Reds added one in the bottom of the fourth after Lutheran had tied the game in the top of the inning. Garrison scored on a sacrifice fly by Ben Richter to give the Reds the lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Reds added a pair of insurance runs on an RBI triple by Tate Smith and an RBI single by Dirk Duncan.
“Momentum in any sport is huge,” Hernandez said. “They got the two runs to tie it up and then I honestly think the strikeout to end the fourth for them carried over into our dugout. We’ve been very fortunate this year to respond when teams score and so we came out and put together some good at-bats. And we were able to tack on the fifth. Those runs were huge as well.”
(2) University 10, (4) Sterling 7
University is back in the state championship game for the first time since winning back-to-back titles in 2018 and 2019 after eliminating Sterling, 10-7.
The Bulldogs (24-5) will look to keep Eaton from winning back-to-back titles itself, but will need two wins today over the Reds to do so.
First, the Bulldogs had to get past Sterling (22-7), which was no easy feat in itself. University had to rally from a 6-4 deficit after watching a 4-0 lead disappear when the Tigers scored six runs in the bottom of the fourth inning.
In the top of the fifth, the Bulldogs answered with six of their own to go ahead 10-6 and never trailed again.
“After Sterling put up that six spot, which was a huge inning for them, just hit after hit after hit, a lot of teams would fold, especially in the semifinals,” University head coach Casey Miller said. “That’s pressure-packed baseball right there. For our guys to go get six right after that, that lets everyone breathe a little bit easier and got us back on track to where we started.”
University took a 3-0 lead in the first on RBI singles by Connor Weber, Dalton Yaste and RIver Jackson. The Bulldogs added another run in the third on an RBI single by Kanon Padilla.
Meanwhile, University starting pitcher Logan Getting didn’t give up a hit through the first three innings.
Getting was relieved by Kaleb Tejada to start the fourth and gave up six runs to the Tigers. Cast Combs and Dylan DiOrio each had a two-run double in the inning as Sterling tied the game and then took the lead all in one inning.
University went to pitcher Parker Disparti, who finished the fourth and then pitched the rest of the game, allowing only one more run to the Tigers.
“I was really happy that I got the rock,” Disparti said. “I really wanted it, so I just knew that I had to prove it to myself in that moment. It was really exciting. It was really fun to be up there.”
Disparti had a two-run double in the fifth inning, helping fuel the Bulldogs’ six-run answer to the Tigers’ six-run fourth. Six walks by the Bulldogs in the inning helped their cause as well as they turned a 6-4 deficit into a 10-6 lead.
Now the Bulldogs will have to do something they haven’t done this year – twice. In two regular-season games and in the tournament last weekend, they have lost to Eaton.
“We realize that we belong here,” Miller said. “Our backs are up against the wall and we have to be perfect tomorrow. We’re not finished, but we have to be pretty dang good tomorrow.”
