DENVER (5/1/12) — For five innings it was just a normal, non-league game Glenwood Springs picked up to fill a gap in its schedule… then things went south, literally, as Denver South committed six errors and five wild pitches in ONE INNING and the Demons scored 14 runs in the last inning to beat the Rebels, 21-12 Tuesday.
When Denver South, the last place team in the Denver Prep league with an 0-8 record (5-12 overall), scored three in the last of the fifth off reliever Caiden Sorensen to break a 5-5 tie and added another four runs in the sixth, taking a 12-7 lead into the final frame, it seemed the highlight of the three-hour trip would be the Rockies game the team was planning to take in after the game.
Then Chris Sarabia reached first on catcher\’s interference to lead off the seventh, and singles by Jon Forristall, Cody Derby, and Miguel Vega, added to a couple of throwing errors and a wild pitch closed the gap to 12-11 and yet another major comeback to add to the key league win at Eagle Valley last Saturday appeared to be possible. That was not even the half of it.
Another error and a failed fielder\’s choice put runners at second and third with one out and Cole Adams, with just one hit in four at bats and no runs batted in all season, stepping to the plate. Adams, a sophomore whose playing time has been mostly as a courtesy runner, lined the first pitch into right field, giving Glenwood a 13-12 lead. After Tim Burr made the second out, speculation as to whether coach Eric Nieslanik might turn to one of his regular starters to finish the game began to circulate.
Forristall threw the first four innings and did reasonably well, allowing five hits and five runs, but four came across due to misplays by the Demon defense and he left with the score tied. Glenwood made another three errors behind Sorensen and he also walked three and hit a batter in yielding five hits and seven runs (four earned) in two innings.
But the Demons made Nieslanik\’s decision easy by scoring another 8 runs after two were out in the seventh. It was a woeful picture of how the Rebel season has gone. Glenwood put together five straight hits by Sarabia, Forristall, Derby, Vega (who had four hits in the game, snapping an 0-for-12 drought) and Cole Ryan before South changed pitchers. Darian Lovato took the mound from his shortstop position and uncorked four wild pitches to go with four walks and Sarabia\’s second hit (in 3 at bats) before the inning finally ended with the Demons recording 10 hits in the 35-minute frame.
Sorensen hit the first batter in the home half of the seventh, but then recorded a strikeout and two ground-outs to finish the game. Meanwhile, the Dodgers were hitting two home runs in the top of the first inning at Coors Field and the three-and-a-half hour non-league contest finally came to a happy conclusion for Glenwood.
Vega raised his batting average from ,184 to .250 with his four hits. Derby and Ryan each had three hits and scored seven runs between them. Sarabia snapped an 0-for-21 stretch with his two seventh inning singles and Forristall also went 2-for-3 in the half-hour inning.
The win improves the Demons\’ overall record to 8-9 and sets up the final doubleheader at last-place Moffat County this Saturday. Glenwood, with a 6-4 mark, currently has the third and final Western Slope League playoff position. Fourth place Steamboat Springs (4-4, 8-7) has doubleheaders left with Moffat County (1-7, 2-9) and first place Palisade (10-0, 15-2).
