ARVADA – The Ignacio High School baseball team lost 12-11 on Saturday to No. 16 Wray in the 2A Region 1 regional. The final score doesn’t come close to telling the whole story.
Ignacio rallied for an improbable seven never-say-die runs, tying the teams’ thriller at 9-9 in the top of the seventh inning. Wray’s Broderick Kite could only watch as the 17th-seeded Bobcats’ rally Saturday continued against freshman Zolten Custer, ill-prepared to replace Kite with the top of IHS’ order coming up.
When the designated home team had to bat in the bottom of the seventh, the Eagles’ No. 9 hitter was due to lead off against junior Gabe Archuleta – energized after lashing a tying RBI-double and also scoring the go-ahead run moments later.
WHS, however, couldn’t have been better poised to counterstrike. For filling the 9-hole in boss Brett Vlasin’s order was starting pitcher (and closing catcher) Carson Rockwell, who’d given up only two runs in his four frames of work, and who’d already walked once and singled twice in his own support. He then singled again.
Junior catalyst Gage Waitman then followed, having already knocked four singles. He drew a walk, pressuring Vlasin into quickly pondering some strategy with 16th-seeded Wray, having lost a seemingly safe 9-2 lead, trailing 11-9.
Fortunately the solution presented itself when Archuleta bean-balled sophomore Gabe Kechter, filling the bags. Junior Brodie Riggleman then poked a grounder back through the box, and on the artificial infield, it had just enough speed to beat Ignacio shortstop Ambrose Valdez’s dive and roll into the natural-grass outfield. Running for himself for the first time all game, Rockwell (3-3, BB, RBI) scored easily with Waitman (4-4, BB, 2 R, 3 RBI) right behind – retying the contest at 11-all.
Kite, a freshman, then moved out into the on-deck circle, too aware the Eagles’ fate might again rest in his hands.
“He’s been dual-sporting track, so he hasn’t been at practice a little,” Rockwell noted. “Dual-sporting is tough on him, but he’s really clicked … put in some good effort this season.”
Ultimately, he could rest easy; Grady Godsey (2-5, R, RBI) beat him to the bat. The freshman shortstop flared an opposite-field single into shallow right-center and Kechter cruised across home plate, completing a two-hour, 39-minute epic and ending the Bobcats’ 2025 season at neutral Forge Christian High School.
“We knew we were still in control, though we might have had a bad inning,” said Godsey. “To get bases loaded with zero outs, that kind of sparked us, I feel. And, obviously, the people in front of me did their jobs and I felt comfortable out there.”
Custer (IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 0 HB) earned the win, while Archuleta (IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, HB, K), who’d retired three of the four Eagles he’d faced in the bottom of the sixth, after replacing initial reliever Stoney White Thunder (3 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 0 HB, 2 K), took the loss as Ignacio finished 15-6 overall.
“It’s going to be a big motivator,” said freshman second baseman Joe Atencio (1-3, BB, R, RBI), who’d scored the tying run via Archuleta’s double down the third-base line. “Hopefully next year we can get further and play harder … as a team overall.”
Including an RBI-triple punctuating IHS’ seventh-inning explosion, Valdez ended up 3-for-4 with a walk and a run. William Mendoza-Lechuga went 2-4 with a run and two batted in; White Thunder went 2-4 with a double, walk, two runs and one RBI; Sonny Flores went 2-5 with a run and an RBI.
“It was crazy – that’s about it. But it happened,” said senior left fielder Easton Smith (1-2, BB, ERR, 2 R). “They played good … had a couple good innings in the beginning, and we had a couple good innings toward the end of it. And it means a lot, just to know that I can play with some of these guys that I’ve known for a long time.”
A junior, Valdez (2+ IP, 5 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 K) started on the mound for IHS and received a no-decision, as did Rockwell (4 IP, 8 H, BB, 5 K) and Kite (2+ IP, 3 H, 7 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 4 K).
“I’m a senior, so I went out there with nothing to lose. And knowing it could be my last start, just left everything out there,” said Rockwell, replaced on the hill with Wray ahead 8-2 after a breakout five-run third against Valdez and White Thunder. “Everything kind of clicked for us.”
AFTERMATH: Pit against top-seeded Forge Christian in the afternoon finale, the Eagles generated little offensively and were eliminated 10-1. Hosting the four-team Region I action, the Fury, which had just blanked No. 32 Denver Manual 10-0 in six innings, improved to 21-4 overall while Wray dropped to 12-12.
