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McLavey keeps Eaton on fast track in Class 3A tourney

By Alan Pearce, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published May 17, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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Brush outfielder Daniel Rubalcaba makes a catch as center fielder Sam Guzman looks on Friday in Greeley.

Photo by Eric Bellamy / Greeley Tribune

Brush outfielder Daniel Rubalcaba makes a catch as center fielder Sam Guzman looks on Friday in Greeley.

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Already a leg up on the rest of the Class 3A state tournament field, Eaton baseball got an extra kick Friday from senior Bo McLavey.

The Reds pitcher threw a complete game in a 6-2 victory against Brush at Butler Field.

Eaton (22-3) already was assured of an appearance in the championship game today, but McLavey's four-hitter kept the momentum going.

"It was OK," McLavey said of his performance. "I was just working my spots. The defense had a good day. Give credit to them."

McLavey's spots mostly were nibbling the outside corner, especially against left- handed batters. He had only four strikeouts but showed much better control than his Brush counterpart, Arturo Maltos-Garcia.

McLavey's hitting was just as much of a key. He struck the big blow in the game, a two-run double in the fourth.

Eaton will face Lamar at 10 a.m. today and will clinch the state championship with a victory. If Lamar wins, the teams will play again at 1 p.m. in the deciding game.

Eaton scored in the first inning against Brush (13-12), with Adam Geisick plating the run. Geisick, the right fielder, did his job to near-perfection by getting on base in his first three at-bats and scoring each time.

Eaton had only six hits in the game but merely had to wait on Maltos-Garcia in order to reach base. He surrendered eight walks overall before giving way to John Hirschfeld in the fourth inning.

"I still think he's one of the three best pitchers in the state, in 3A," Brush coach Mark Muniz said. "When he's on, he's tough to beat."

In the afternoon game, Lamar edged Erie 2-1. Winning pitcher Tyler Blain also went the distance, although his outing was much more dramatic than McLavey's. Blain piled up the strikeouts, but he also issued seven walks.

"I don't usually have that many walks, but I pitched pretty well and had 11 strikeouts," Blain said. "I didn't even worry about the walks, just about us getting out of each inning."

Only one of Blain's walks ended up hurting Lamar (19-6). In the second inning, Erie catcher Ryan Carlson led off with a walk on four straight pitches. He stole second and was brought in easily on a triple from third baseman Justin Coots.

Blain struck out Ty Barkell looking on a full count to strand Coots, and Lamar still was alive.

"I kept telling them, 'Guys, get two runs and we'll win this thing,' " Lamar coach Dave Fassiotto said. "The bottom line is there where they had three errors and we had one. The guys have knuckled up and played hard."

Leonel Aguilar won the game for the Savages in the fifth inning with a two-run triple that scored Alex Peacock and Garret Harper.

"It was an outside pitch and I looked at it and let (my swing) go," Aguilar said. "I was just ready for it. I was pretty excited."

Eaton130 200 0 - 6 6 3

Brush000 002 0 - 2 4 0

E (ab-r-h-rbi) - Adam Geisick rf 2-3-1-0, Logan Hall cf 3-1-1-1, Tyler Wallace 3B 3-0-1-1, Bo McLavey 3-0-1-3, Kyle Ottoson dh 3-0-0-0, Seth Jackson 2b 4-0-2-0, Bennett Picker c 3-1-0-0, Sterling Monfort 1B 2-1-0-0, Bryce Ruff 2-0-0-0. Pitching - McLavey (W) 7-2-2-3-4.

B - Brad Bass rf 3-0-1-0, Derek Lynch ss 3-0-0-0, Roy Grauberger 2-0-0-0, Arturo Maltos-Garcia p-ss 3-1-1-0, Sam Guzman 2-1-0-0, Kyle Lynch 3b 3-0-1-1, Daniel Rubalcaba 3-0-1-0, Kolby Wahlert 2B 1-0-0-0, John Hirschfeld p 2-0-0-0, C.J. Kukus 1b 3-0-0-0. Pitching - Maltos- Garcia (L) 42/3-6-6-2-8.

E - Wallace, Rosas, Picker. LOB - E 7, B 4. 2B - Rubalcaba, McLavey. SB - Bass.

Erie001 000 0 - 1 3 3

Lamar000 020 x - 2 6 1

E (ab-r-h-rbi) - David Bote ss 3-0-0-0, Jared Baros cf 3-0-1-0, Ryan Carlson c-3b 2-0-0-0, Alex Ortega cr 0-1-0-0, Shane Wade p-c 4-0-0-0, Cody Fulton rf-p 2-0-0-0, Justin Coots 3b 2-0-1-1, Ty Barkell 1b 3-0-1-0, Kody Crescentini lf 2-0-0-0, Mike Chambers ph 1-0-0-0, Jet Mosqueda 2b 2-0-0-0. Pitching - Tyler Blain (W 7-2) 7-1-1-11-7. Pitching - Shane Wade 3-0-0-5-3, Cody Fulton (L) 4-2-1-0-2.

L - Dylan Walker 4-0-1-0, Alex Peacock 2-0-1-0, Garret Harper rf 4-1-1-0, Tyler Blain P 3-0-0-0, Ryan Choate cr 0-1-0-0, Leonel Aguilar lf 2-0-2-2, Kelby Repp 3b 2-0-0-0, Clint Straily ss 2-0-1-0, Cory Fassiotto 1b 1-0-0-0, Alex Aguilera c 3-0-0-0. Pitching - Tyler Blain (W 7-2) 7-1-1-11-7.

E - Baros, Bote, Coots, Straily, LOB - E 8, L 9. 2B - Peacock. 3B - Aguilar, Coots. SB - Ortega, Walker. Balk - Wade 2.

Comments

  • May 18, 2008

    5:25 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    BalltownIA7 writes:

    Kyle, do you throw that knuckle curve with two fingers and force it out with very tight rotation? Just curious. Burt Hooton threw that type of knuckle curve and I did as well in high school, it was a great strikeout pitch.