Manitou, CSCS advance; St. Mary's edged out

FLORENCE - Manitou Springs split a pair of baseball games Saturday at Babitz Field, winning the more important one 13-2 against an emotionally drained St. Mary's team.

The victory in the third-place game of the Class 3A Tri-Peaks District tournament put the Mustangs (13-8) into the regional playoffs and ended the season for St. Mary's.

St. Mary's (11-10) had to bounce back and play the Mustangs immediately after a 4-hour slugfest with Colorado Springs Christian.

The final score, 22-16, reflected a roller-coaster game that found the Lions up 16-3 at the top of the fifth inning. St. Mary's rallied for nine runs in the bottom of the inning, thus avoiding the 10-run mercy rule and postponing the next game - and Manitou Springs' prom evening - for about 2 hours.

Mustang catcher J.J. Gregg didn't seem to mind.

"Baseball is more important," he said. "It takes first priority."

The length of the CSCS-St. Mary's game also resulted in the postponement of the district title game between CSCS (15-5) and Buena Vista (15-3), which beat Manitou Springs in the other semifinal 7-6. That game will be played Monday; both teams have already qualified for the 16-team regionals.

CSCS, which won the regular-season league championship, built a 13- run lead over St. Mary's in the fourth inning with two inside-the- park home runs by Josh Carver and Alec Shepherd. Shepherd was 4-for- 5 in the game and scored five times.

With the score at 16-3 in the fifth inning, Manitou players stood at the gate to the home team dugout ready to play for the third- place spot. But the Pirates hadn't given up.

They jumped all over CSCS starter Doodle Collura with six hits in their first seven batters. CSCS coach R.G. Carver put ace J.D. Dravecky in, but the momentum had already turned to the Pirates' side. They scored nine runs in the fifth and four in the sixth to tie the game at 16.

Although allowing for some drama, CSCS' offense took control once again in the bottom of the sixth and scored six more runs to put them up for good.

Finally Manitou would get its chance.

Against St. Mary's, Josh Hegg and Ryan Cordova provided the power and the runs to jump ahead. Hegg had a home run in each game and was 2-for-3 in the third-place game. Cordova, the winning pitcher, was 4- for-4 with a double.

St. Mary's just couldn't come up with a rally like it did the game before.

Pirate coach Shannon Puckett said the team was "emotionally drained."

With only one senior on the team, he said it was especially hard for the "younger players."

St. Mary's scored two runs in the fifth, hinting at another comeback, but their hopes were short-lived as Manitou put out the flames.

Brian Cook may be reached at 636-0250 or gtsports@gazette.com

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