Chaparral battles past Arapahoe in Class 5A baseball

PARKER???While warming up Thursday, Riley O'Brien could sense that he didn't have his good stuff. It was verified when he immediately got into trouble in the first inning and gave up two runs.

But O'Brien settled in, pitched six innings and benefited from the Chaparral Wolverines scratching, clawing and manufacturing a 9-5 home victory over the Arapahoe Warriors in a Class 5A nonleague game at Eaton Field.

"That was good," coach Tony Persichina said after his Wolverines, ranked No. 6 in The Denver Post's 5A coaches poll, improved to 5-2. "It wasn't a pretty baseball game, but it's the way these guys play and a tribute to them."

It started with O'Brien, a 6-foot-4, 189-pound left-hander. He wasn't overpowering, but mixed some heat and movement. Most important, he battled. In addition to giving up the two runs early in the game, he squandered a 4-2 lead. But he closed the door on Arapahoe.

"After that first inning, I knew it was going to be one of those where we had to hit the ball and play defense," said O'Brien, a senior bound for Bethune-Cookman. "I had to be smart and knew we could get runners on base and play defense."

Chaparral was resourceful with its chances. It plated three runs in the second inning on only two hits, taking advantage of a hit batter, an error and a wild pitch. Leadoff man Scott Kaley contributed an RBI single. In the fifth, the Wolverines batted around on only two hits ? they added three walks, took advantage of thee Arapahoe errors and a balk, and scored two runs on an infield hit to second base by No. 9 hitter Zac Guy.

"It's high school baseball and we're trying to produce above-average high school baseball players," Persichina said. "These guys are a scrappy bunch. They've been around each other a long time."

No. 8-ranked Arapahoe struggled even when staying within range. Five errors, using three pitchers and stranding seven runners made it a long game, one that began 20 minutes late because there were no umpires at the ballpark.

O'Brien said he and his teammates won't blink, because "the mental approach is huge for us. We know we have to move on to the next pitch."

Neil H. Devlin: 303-954-1714, ndevlin@denverpost.com or twitter.com/neildevlin

Source: http://www.denverpost.com/preps/ci_22958246/chaparral-defeats-arapahoe-9-5-class-5a-baseball?source=rss

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