GREELEY — Sterling High School reserve Caysen Bamford knew going into the CHSAA Class 3A Baseball State Championships’ second-round eliminator Saturday, he’d probably be doing little more than cheering on his teammates.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, with SHS trailing 5-2, he got his chance.
Frozen by a borderline Jackson Queen called third strike, SHS catcher Wyatt Buckley was ejected for criticizing the umpire’s decision. And though Jake Gordon scored from third base via a Jackson Keil grounder bobbled by BHS shortstop Isaac Ross, the pressure was on Bamford as the seventh began.
Not so much offensively, but definitely defensively with the Wolverines eager to get on base and test the backup backstop.
Bayfield came into the game energized into hyperdrive after an 11-4 ouster of Manitou Springs in the preceding contest, and BHS managed to put across one more run – Austin Twedt, via a Caden Wood sacrifice fly – to increase its advantage to 6-3. But fortunately for Sterling, Bamford not only ably received pitcher Trenton Allen’s deliveries, but also caught Lance Mazur’s foul pop-up with the bases loaded and zero outs.
Bamford, batting eighth in SHS’ order, then punctuated a momentum-stealing three-run rally with a soft single into shallow right, scoring Gordon and tying the game at 6.
“I came up looking to do a job for my team, do some damage,” he said afterward. “And … that’s exactly what I did. It only took a ground ball … in play, to score him!”
“Coming off the bench, our main guys are struggling, and he ties the game up for us? What a moment for a freshman,” Sterling head coach Mike Mendenhall said.
“That’s just what baseball’s all about: Making the simple plays and getting it done,” Mazur said.
And in the end, the Tigers did just a little more of each.
Allen worked fast in the top of the bonus eighth, striking out Devin Avery and Dante Candelaria, then getting leadoff hitter Nic Twedt to fly out to left.
Sterling then secured victory in the home half of the eighth inning.
Cast Combs led off with a walk against Queen, who’d relieved Mazur with one out in the Tigers’ sixth, and then stole second. Dylan DiOrio then zipped a fielder’s-choice grounder to Ross, who elected to try retiring Combs at third but threw off target to give SHS runners at third and second as DiOrio had hustled forward on the error.
Bayfield skipper Bert Miller chose to intentionally walk Andrew Meick – who’d doubled and stolen home in the Tigers’ improbable seventh – to create possible force-outs at every base. At first the strategy worked; Sterling’s Noah Soper grounded to Ross, who threw a perfect dart to catcher Nic Twedt to retire Combs.
But with the sacks still packed, the designated guests’ luck ran out when the patient Gordon – who’d drawn four walks in four previous plate appearances – flared a single over a drawn-in infield, scoring DiOrio and ending the Wolverines’ 2022 season.
“It’s definitely a sigh of relief, honestly,” said DiOrio (0-5, FC, R, RBI). “After a game like that especially, the ups and downs all day, it was big.”
Gordon ended up 1-for-1 with two runs and the game-winning RBI. Combs was 2-3 with two walks and a run. Meick went 1-3. Able to reach on two errors, Keil ended up 1-5 with a run, as did Soper in support of Steven Seghi (ND; 4 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 2 BB, HB, 4 K) and Allen (W; 4 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 2 K).
“We started off very slow; our bats started off slow, and they scored some runs early,” said Mendenhall, alluding to Bayfield scratching out two runs in the first and another two in the third to take a swift 4-0 lead. “It was anxiety-ridden, but we just kept battling back and … somehow came out with a ‘W.’ You know, at this time of year you take ’em how you get ’em.”
Still in the state championship hunt, Sterling (22-6 overall) will return to Butch Butler on Friday to face Greeley University (23-5). Eaton (26-2) will play Parker Lutheran (26-2) in the other semifinal.
The grand finale is set for 11 a.m. Saturday.
“Sterling, they never gave up,” Miller said. “We kicked their butt for six-and-a-half innings, then they kicked our butt for a half-inning! But that’s baseball; my hat’s off to ’em, and I wish ’em well in the final four.”
In defeat for Bayfield (19-8 overall), Austin Twedt went 3-for-3 with three runs scored, and was also hit by a Seghi pitch. Mazur (ND; 5.1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, ER, 3 BB, HB, 5 K) went 2-4 with one RBI, but was robbed of extra bases in the sixth inning by Combs’ diving catch in right.
Wood ended up 1-3 with a run and an RBI. Avery went 1-3 with a walk and an RBI-double to plate Wood in the sixth. Ross finished 2-2 with a walk and a sacrifice bunt, one run and two batted in. Noah Chamblee went 0-3 with a walk and one RBI. Nic Twedt went 0-4 with a walk and a run. Queen (L; 2 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 5 BB, 3 K) went 0-4 with a fielder’s-choice grounder to shortstop DiOrio to end BHS’ seventh.
“They came expecting a good game,” Nic Twedt said, “and we probably sent a message that we’re not easy to beat.”
“It’s fun when you’re playing competitively; we had a chance to win,” Miller said. “We had three runs to not let them have with three outs, and it just didn’t happen. The baseball gods weren’t on our side today.”
“Leaves a bad taste in your mouth,” Mazur said, “but it’s going to make us all stronger. I mean, it’s a hard way to go out, but in the end (state’s) a memory for the seniors and lets us know what we want to come back for next year.”
“It feels good knowing we’ve got the majority of our team coming back,” he noted. “We’ve got a strong six, seven dudes and some underclassmen coming up to fill some spots. We’ll come back here again … except go further next year.”
“We saw (Sterling) in La Junta — they’re a solid ballclub,” said Ross, referencing LJHS’ Hampton Inn Tiger Classic. “We’d have to have played our best game to beat them … but it was a lot easier to play today than yesterday. It was so hot – I felt bad for the pitchers out there!”
Tasked in Saturday’s 9 a.m. eliminator with keeping Bayfield’s season alive, Ross earned the win against Manitou Springs by working 6.1 innings, striking out five and scattering five hits, including a Canon Feist two-run homer off the left-field scoreboard in the seventh.
Given a chance to warm up his arm to face Sterling, Mazur relieved Ross – who inexplicably beaned six batters – and got Nathan Gentzel to bounce back to the mound, then Christian Cashdollar to end the game popping up to second baseman Queen.
Leading 4-2 after a mutually aggressive first inning, the Wolverines began pulling away with a three-run third highlighted by a two-run Chamblee home run to left off Feist (L; 2.2 IP, 7 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 3 K), and a Candelaria RBI single to right.
“Felt better than any other one I’ve hit all year because of where we are, you know?” said Chamblee (2-3, 2B, BB, 2 R, 4 RBI). “And after an off day yesterday, it felt amazing to be able to hit every ball on the barrel.”
Bayfield added another run in the fifth when Wood hit a home run off Manitou reliever Gentzel deep to left. BHS tacked on two more in the sixth via a Mazur single scoring Ross (2-4, 2 R), and a Wood double plating Chamblee.
“We finally showed what we can do,” said Wood (2-4, R, 3 RBI). “Got the monkey of yesterday off our back.”
“Last night we knew we just didn’t play our best game; our bats weren’t there and neither were our gloves,” Ross said, alluding to BHS’ 14-4 loss to Lutheran. “So it was good to get a win, and it was a team effort. We hit the ball well, made plays we didn’t yesterday.”
Andy Monger (1-3, BB) scored BHS’ 11th and last run in the top of the seventh. After cracking a one-out single to center, he advanced on a balk and a wild pitch and then scored on a sacrifice fly from Nic Twedt (0-2, 2 BB, R, RBI).
“When we’re not stressing and we’re having fun, that’s when we play our best,” Chamblee said.
Mazur ended up 2-4 with a run and an RBI. Candelaria went 1-3 before being replaced by Elyas Coleman (0-1) in the top of the seventh. Austin Twedt went 1-5 with a run. Queen went 1-4 with a run and one batted in.
Finishing a homer short of a cycle in defeat, Martinez – who’d started out in left – went 3-4 with a run for Manitou Springs (18-8-1 overall).
