Golden baseball continues to dominate in 4A/3A Jeffco League play

GOLDEN — On paper it looked like Thursday’s Class 4A/3A Jeffco League baseball game would be close.

Conifer came in just 1-game behind five-time defending conference champion Golden in the current league standings. However, the Demons (19-2, 7-0) burned that paper taking a dominating 11-1 victory in six innings over the Lobos (12-8, 5-2) at Golden High School.

Golden won its 14th straight game and has now outscored its league opponents 82-5 in seven conference games. 

“It seems like teams don’t want to pitch their ace against us because they just know they won’t win,” said Golden senior Gunnar Hetrick after he went 3-for-4 from the plate with a pair of RBIs. 

Conifer came in having won 5 of 6 league games. The Lobos threw six different pitchers coming off five days of not playing due to the snowstorm that postponed league games scheduled for Tuesday. 

Golden tagged Conifer’s pitchers for 11 runs on 15 hits. Junior Dylan Paulson went 3-for-4 from the plate for the Demons, including a 2-run triple during Golden’s 6-run fourth inning that extended the lead to 10-0.

“I can’t think of a team that we’ve had that has had this kind of offensive output since I’ve been here,” Golden coach Jackie McBroom said of the Demons averaging 11 runs per game. “You look at our line-up and we don’t have anyone hitting double-digit home runs or one with a ridiculous average. It’s just all of them. That has been very satisfying.” 

Seniors Brody McBroom and Charlie Thompson both a pair of hits each as the Demons’ offensive continued to pile up the runs. Golden had run-ruled every league opponent except for D’Evelyn so far this season.

“We just need to continue to get hits, score runs and run-rule teams,” Hetrick said after the Demons scored double-digit runs for the seventh straight conference game. 

Teams facing Golden’s pitching staff appear to be looking for small victories, like scoring a run. Conifer managed that in the fifth inning with senior Parker VanDuyn’s lead-off single and scoring on an error to prevent the shutout win for Golden.

Golden has five league shutout wins. Only D’Evelyn and now Conifer has scored against the Demons in league play.

Golden sophomore pitcher Austin Bittner got the start on the hill for the Demons on Thursday. He didn’t give up a hit through three innings. A walk to senior Romey Hayden in the third inning was the Lobos’ lone base runner. 

Bittner threw just 37 pitches and Coach McBroom lifted the lefty after the third inning with the Demons playing three games in three days coming up.

“We’ve got to save our pitchers and keep low pitch counts,” Hetrick said. 

Hetrick took the mound in the fourth inning and it only took him eight pitches to record three outs. Brody McBroom took over on the mound in the fifth inning with a combined no-hitter going, but the single by VanDuyn ended the no-no.

Coach McBroom disclosed that his son — Brody — separated his shoulder about a month ago. He missed about a week of action and just got to pitching from the mound less than a week ago. Brody McBroom has been in the closer role for the Demons last year and at the start of this season.

Golden junior Darren Johnson came off the bench for an RBI single for the Demons in the top of the sixth inning to put the lead back to 10 runs. Conifer got a couple of soft singles off Brody McBroom in the bottom of the sixth inning, but the senior was able to get a flyout and strikeout to end the game with the 10-run mercy rule.

Getting work on the mound for Hetrick and McBroom will help Golden in what is expected to be a long postseason run. The Demons are currently No. 4 in the 4A baseball CHSAA Selection & Seeding Index.

Coach McBroom admitted he hasn’t thought too much about regionals coming up in a few weekends.

“We are just trying to focus on getting these last three (league) games wrapped up and put ourself into a position that helps us in the playoffs,” Coach McBroom said. “Once you get into playoff you have to play back-to-back games. I don’t think we’ll necessarily struggle with that. I think they are good at stuff like that.”

Golden is scheduled to host rival Green Mountain at 4 p.m. Friday. The Demons’ regular-season finale is scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday on the road against Dakota Ridge. The Eagles (11-9, 5-1) are the only team that could prevent Golden from winning a sixth straight league title.