LAKEWOOD – The Haxtun Fightin’ Bulldogs capped an impressive Class 1A baseball tournament with their first-ever baseball championship in its program history.
The No. 6-seeded Bulldogs scored 10 runs in the fourth inning to beat No. 4 Flatirons Academy, 19-7, in five innings during a dreary and rainy day at the All-Star Park on Friday.
“It’s such a great feeling,” said Haxtun junior Kaiden Schelling, who had 4 RBIs in the victory. “It’s big for the community and just means so much to us. We knew what we needed to do, and we did it.”
The road wasn’t easy for No. 6 Haxtun (23-2 overall), the team advanced to the championship game after beating No. 2 Akron 2-1 in extra inning after waiting through a two-hour lightning delay Thursday.
“It was a well-deserved ending for these boys,” Haxtun coach Trenton Ham said. “We have been thinking about this since Day 1. They played so hard and never let up. They make it easy on me as a coach.”
The weather wasn’t better Friday, as both squads had to play through a steady stream of rain and sleet. The elements caused the balls to be slick, turf to be slippery and led to both teams to have a combined 10 errors.
“It’s part of the game,” Haxtun coach Trenton Ham said. “You have to battle through it. It was a fun game to be a part of and I’m proud of our guys for gutting it out.”
Haxtun came out of the gates early. Schelling got things started with a triple to center field and then scored on a throwing error to get the Bulldogs on the board in the opening inning. Jerron Turney drove in Keegan Colgazier to give Haxtun a 2-0 lead in the first inning.
Flatirons Academy (15-6-1) answered back in the bottom of the first when Noah Evans hit a 2-RBI double and then scored on a wild pitch to give the Bison a 3-2 advantage.
Schelling put the Bulldogs up in the third with a 2-RBI triple and then scored on an RBI single by Grant Statz to give Haxtun a one-run advantage.
Flatirons responded in the bottom of the third, Parker Wilson led off with a double to center and then scored on a 2-RBI single by Jude Myers that also scored Nolan Sheppard. Myers and Micah Doughty each scored an error to give the Bison a 6-5 advantage going into the fourth.
Haxtun took the game over from there. Using the weather to their advantage the Bulldogs were able to be patient with their pitch as they loaded the bases and took advantage of the Bisons struggles on the mound and in the field to push its lead to 15-6. Haxtun ended the inning with 10 runs on only two hits.
The Bulldogs added four more runs in the fifth to seal the victory.
“It’s so surreal,” Schelling said. “We are so tight, and I think that helped us out all year.”
Colin Cone earned the win for the Bulldogs on the mound, he also helped himself out at the plate with a pair of runs and two RBIs.