COLORADO SPRINGS - Holy Family head coach Marc Cowell was a bit difficult to find following the Tigers’ 13-6 triumph over Pueblo County. While the team members were frolicking in left field between congratulatory hugs, taking pictures, and hoisting the trophy, Cowell quietly slipped 30 or 40 meters away, identifiable only to those who already knew him. He was busily engaged in the kind of conversations with parents that rarely happen under normal circumstances.
The message was clear; the moment belonged to the 20 or so members of the team, not to Cowell.
It’s impossible not to admire that in a coach.
Through two innings, the score was knotted at 2-2, but the Tigers unleashed a fury of offense in the top of the third that set the tone for the remainder of the contest. Pueblo County starter Jonah Chavira fanned Holy Family’s Rylan Cooney to open the inning. But, next up, Britain Fox drew a walk, followed by a double off the bat of Logan Seifarth. With runners at second and third and one out, County coach Matt Eades pulled Cohen Glenn from center field to take over on the mound.
But what was already in motion could not be stopped by a change of pitchers. A passed ball scored Fox from third. Cole Kuszak boarded the bases on a walk. It was then that first baseman Jayden Watts flung the floodgates open with a single to left field. That stroke of the bat scored Seifarth from third and marked Watts’ second opposite-field hit of the game, boosting his RBI total to three.
Pueblo County would scrap and battle the rest of the way, but they could never close the gap opened by Holy Family in the third. Taking his cue from the Tigers’ big lead, Holy Family pitcher Cole Kuszak turned up his aggressiveness on the mound and kept the Hornet batters on their heels.
“It gives me so much confidence," reflected Kuszak on the leverage afforded by pitching with a large lead. "I can go up there and throw however I want. I have a strong defense behind me; I have strong bats behind me. I don’t have to worry about little loops landing in right field in the third inning.”
Kuszak would remain on the mound through the middle of the sixth, with his pitch count nearing the limit. Cowell walked to the mound for a conference with Kuszak with one out in the inning and sent Dutch Van Dale in to finish the game with two outs.
Speaking to a sequence of events that puzzled many of those watching, Cowell explained, “When I can, I try to let pitchers know, ‘Hey, I want you to finish on your terms.’ I gave him the opportunity to get that big out and walk off the field after that batter.”
Kuszak wrapped up his day on the mound with a 10-3 lead and the decision of record.
Both teams added three runs to their total in the seventh inning, but the Tiger lead never came into jeopardy.
Cementing his status of enjoying a game for the ages, Watts added another single—once again to left field—that pushed two more Tiger runners across the plate, bringing his RBI total for the day to five. For Watts, it was more than a little redemption for missing out on a state basketball title in March.
“Honestly, this really does make up for it," Watts said. "Winning this one was 100% my mindset the whole time."
The ear-to-ear smile across his face made it clear there wasn’t so much as a flicker of a doubt in his mind about what the win had accomplished.
Going undefeated in what was widely regarded as a remarkably balanced 4A bracket was a crowning accomplishment for more than just Watts. Asked to pick a defining moment that pushed #5-seeded Holy Family to the top, Coach Cowell was quick with his answer.
“If you’re going to win it, somewhere you’re going to have to count on somebody you didn’t think you would have to," Cowell said. "Brendan Ward came in and threw that complete game against Windsor, allowing us to bring our ace—Brady Hudson—back for Falcon. That just set everything up for this weekend.”
The win for Holy Family comes as the school’s fourth state title in baseball, but the first since 2014. It's also the Tigers' first at the 4A level, as their previous three were in 3A.
For Pueblo County, a second-place finish marks a solid improvement over the team’s back-to-back losses in the quarterfinal and consolation rounds of last year’s tourney. The Hornets won twice on Friday to make it to today’s championship game, but those critical wins were also costly in terms of the toll they took on the arms of the pitching staff.