Arvada West baseball walks it off versus Pine Creek to reach 5A state championship

LAKEWOOD — Arvada West will play in its first baseball championship game in more than 30 years thanks to a dramatic walk-off victory Friday at Keli McGregor Field at Blue Sky All-Star Park.

“I’m very excited for it. I think we can do well,” A-West senior Brayden Reiner said of having to beat Regis Jesuit twice coming up on Saturday back at All-Star Park to win the Wildcats’ first baseball state title since 1994. “We are hot now and have a lot of energy going into those next two. This will help carry us through it tomorrow.”

A-West was the 5A state runner-up in 1995 and hasn’t reached the title game since.

With two strikes in an elimination game against Pine Creek on Friday, A-West senior Levi Lueck hit a hard ground ball through Pine Creek’s pulled in field with the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh inning. Junior Cooper Vais easily scored from third base for the walk-off 2-1 win to put the Wildcats into the Class 5A state championship game scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday.

“I was ready for the moment,” said Lueck, who had A-West’s only other RBI in the game with a run-scoring single in the third inning to put the Wildcats up 1-0. “It felt great.”

Reiner started the inning grounding out to shortstop, but Vais provided the Wildcats’ first hit since the fourth inning off Pine Creek starting pitcher Jake Holm. 

“First thing I said to him after I grounded out was, ‘Pick me up,’” said Reiner, who pitched a complete-game victory for A-West giving up one run on five hits. “That is what we do as a team. We pick each other up. Cooper did an amazing job of doing that. He got us in the situation where we could win the ballgame.”

The junior ripped a triple down the left field line with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning with the scored tied 1-1.

“I knew I just needed to get on base, not try to do too much. I wanted to pass the bat to the next player,” Vais said. “I saw a slider and pulled it right down the line. I was going for two, but I saw the ball ricochet off the wall. Then I was like, I’m going for three no matter what.”

Vais just got in before the tag at third base to set the stage for the walk-off victory. The Eagles walked seniors Beau Friesen and Luke Alonso to set up force outs at every base, along with bringing in the infield.

“Coach Garrett Carson told me the first two pitches were mine. I swung out of my shoes, tried to lift the ball and get a sac fly,” Lueck said of going down 0-2. “That last pitch, I just put the bat on ball and get the ball in play for the team.”

Lueck hard hit ball broke past the infield. After Vais stepped on home plate the entire A-West team mobbed Lueck out in right field, dumping the water jug on him for good measure.

It was a must-win for A-West (25-4 record) after having its 22-game winning streak snapped last Saturday by Regis (22-6). The Raiders went 3-0 in the first week of the double-elimination state tournament to take the pole position. Regis didn’t have to play Friday and A-West will have to defeat the Raiders twice tomorrow. 

“It was a pretty big blow last Saturday,” Lueck said of the 14-8 loss to Regis last Saturday. “We showed up just the same today. We came out with all the confidence that we’ve had all season. I think we are ready.”

Vais will take the hill against Regis in the first of hopefully two games for the Wildcats. The junior ace has a 12-0 record on the mound with a 0.57 ERA.

“We just have to play it bit-by-bit, pitch-by-pitch,” Vais said of the potential of two games against Regis. “You can’t look ahead because karma is real and it will bite you. I’m just going to go out on the mound, pound the zone and trust my defense. I’ll just do what I do and trust my stuff.”

A-West will still be without its head coach Danny Vais — Cooper’s father — in the dugout for the first game against Regis. Coach Vais was ejected from the game in the loss to Regis last Saturday and has to serve a 2-game suspension. 

If A-West defeats Regis in the 10 a.m. game, Coach Vais would be able to coach the winner-take-all game that would be played around 12:30 p.m.

“We all have a plan and it’s the same plan for everyone,” Cooper Vais said. “Get the job and do whatever the team needs.”