3A baseball: Eaton tops University to claim second consecutive title
GREELEY – Eaton junior Walker Martin held the Class 3A championship trophy in the air and brought it to his lips, kissing the prize for a culmination of a hard-fought season that ended the same way it did a year ago for the top-seeded Reds.
With their fourth victory over No. 2 seed University this season – and second in the state tournament – Martin and the Reds claimed their second consecutive state title with a 10-4 victory over the Lions on Saturday at Butch Butler Field.
A week after handing the Lions their first loss in the tournament, the Reds – led by Martin at the plate and junior pitcher Tate Smith on the mound – jumped out to a big early lead and held on for a six-run victory.
“It’s hard to talk right now,” Martin said. “I am just kind of speechless. I know our guys were going to get ready to play today. University was ready to play. They hit us hard sometimes. I knew it was a big one, so I am just super excited. There were a lot of people here and it was just a lot of fun playing with the boys for one last time that are seniors. I couldn’t ask for a better way to go out with them.”
Eaton wasted little time taking the lead. Three batters in, Martin got his first hit and drove in the first run of the game for the Reds. Martin ended up going 4 for 4 and drove in four runs. Two batters after Martin, Smith helped his own cause with a two-run single. That gave the Reds a 3-0 lead and they would add two more in the first inning to take a 5-0 lead.
“You couldn’t script that part any better,” Eaton head coach Todd Hernandez said. “To come out and get guys on base with nobody out and drive in a run and we were disciplined at the plate and did everything we needed. To score five runs really takes some of the pressure off, gives you some wiggle room because you know they were going to make a run at us.”
Martin’s second at-bat came with one out in the second and his solo home run gave the Reds a 6-0 lead after an inning and a half.
University responded in the bottom of the inning, but it was the only frame where the Bulldogs were able to get to Smith. River Jackson’s two-run home run was part of a three-run inning as University cut the Eaton lead in half at 6-3 going to the third.
The Bulldogs got a run in the third on an error and at 6-4, that would be as close to the Reds as they would get.
An RBI single by Smith in the fourth gave Eaton a 7-4 lead and Walker drew a bases-loaded walk in the fourth to plate a run to make it 8-4. The Reds added a pair of insurance runs in the top of the seventh on RBI singles by Martin and Smith to account for the final 10-4 margin.
On the mound, Smith allowed five hits over seven innings and struck out 11. He only had nine pitches left going into the bottom of the seventh and retired the Bulldogs in order for the second time in the game.
University got a pair of runners on in both the fourth and sixth innings, but Smith was able to keep the Bulldogs from scoring any more runs after the third.
“I didn’t feel my best, but I didn’t care,” Smith said. “I knew I had the best defense in the state behind me. I had nine pitches left in that last inning and it was just get a ground ball and I knew they were going to make the play. I put all my trust in my teammates who I have been working so hard with for so long.”
The title was the 12th for the Reds since 1995 as they ended the season with a 28-2 record and an undefeated run through the state tournament.
University ended its season at 24-6.
“It is indescribable,” Hernandez said. “It’s just a great group of kids and they competed all year long. Winning back-to-back state titles is extremely difficult because you are going to have a target on your back all year long. Coming off the highs of winning one last year and playing a regular season where the stakes aren’t as high each game takes some getting used to. When playoff time rolled around, they were awesome.”
