The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“Every team knows we
can beat them”
Coach Dave McGuire has been preaching it from the beginning about his Blue Jackets baseball team: “We can beat anybody.”
Last Wednesday, they proved it, winning the front end of a doubleheader against the top team in the league, Delta I.
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Furthermore, it was a comeback win.
The Blue Jackets headed over to Delta aware of the challenge ahead of them.
“We went into it anticipating they were the top team,” says McGuire.
After the first five innings, it appeared the game was playing out as anticipated as Delta took a 9-1 lead, scoring runs off a combination of walks and base hits.
But the Blue Jackets refused to fold, pulling off an eight-run rally in the top of sixth inning, led by the Blue Jackets veterans.
Ian Kelly started it off with a single and scored. Troy Pike followed suit, as did Nolan Blunck and Ryan Costello. The young hitters proved patient at the plate and fast on the base path, taking walks and stealing bases to join in the Blue Jackets offensive outburst and further rattling the seemingly disciplined Delta squad.
“They started getting frazzled,” says McGuire of the Delta defense.
Ian Dethloff added in another base hit and Pike, who would go three-for-four that game, and Kelly both stepped back up to the plate to crack RBI hits, tying the game 9-9 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning.
Blunck took over on the mound and did what any coach could ask of a Babe Ruth pitcher.
“He came in and threw strikes and let our defense work,” says McGuire.
The Crested Butte defense retired the side and the Blue Jackets returned to the plate to tack on five more runs and emerge with a 14-11 win.
“That was a really good game for us,” says McGuire. “They didn’t give up and won the game.”
The Blue Jackets showed similar fire in the second game of the double header. After falling behind 3-0, Crested Butte came back to tie it up 3-3 after four innings.
Delta returned with some offensive power of their own scoring seven runs in the top of the fifth to rebuild a 10-3 lead.
The Blue Jackets threatened another rally in each of the last three at-bats, getting runners on with one out but every time the inning ended with line- drive double plays by the Delta defense to hold on for the 12-3 win.
The Blue Jackets record now stands at 4-3 with one week left of regular season play and the playoffs on the near horizon.
“We’re right where we want to be,” says McGuire. “Every team knows we can beat them.”
