Mountain View, Rocky Mountain stage pitchers’ duel to begin district title series
When the pressure rose Tuesday, so did the Mountain View Mavericks baseball team.
In the first game of the 5A District 3 tournament championship series, Mountain View and rival Rocky Mountain were locked in a pitchers’ duel, the sort where one well-timed hit could make all the difference.
Enter Riley Harrison.
With the Grizzlies’ Gabe Hughes dealing and holding a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning, the Mavericks got a walk and an infield single, then moved the runners to second and third on a wild pitch.
Harrison worked a full count, then delivered a two-out single up the middle to drive in a pair of runs — it was all his team needed in a 2-1 win at Mountain View. Two innings earlier, Harrison had come up with the bases loaded, but he flew out on a well-hit ball to right field.
“I just had to get on base. Our pitchers were doing work all night. I had to help any way I could,” said Harrison, whose hit was just the Mavericks’ fifth of the night. “We’re scrappy, and I had to think that way.”
Hughes struck out five and yielded the five hits, while Mountain View’s Devon Sharts struck out seven in six innings, allowing three hits. Rocky Mountain got on the board in the first thanks in part to a leadoff double by Ethan Jones, but Sharts and closer Carson Smith were clutch.
Smith inherited a runner in the seventh, and the Grizzlies (19-5) had the bases loaded three batters later with one out. But Smith struck out Hughes and Conor Christiansen to seal the win. The two teams will face off again at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Rocky Mountain. Mountain View (23-2), which also beat Rocky Mountain in both regular-season games, would take the district crown with a victory, and both teams already have qualified for state.
“We’ve been getting that big hit all season long, and it was Riley’s night to get it,” Mountain View coach Matt Rasmussen said. “One thing I love about this team is they don’t quit. ... They always believe they have a chance. They know someone will come through.”
EX-MAVERICK HONORED: Augie Francis, a 2015 Mountain View graduate, was named the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Co-Player of the Year on Tuesday. Francis is a centerfielder for New Mexico Highlands, which plays at the Division II level. He is first in the RMAC in batting average (.434), on-base percentage (.524), runs (70) and hits (82). He also earned a conference Gold Glove and was named the Baseball Academic Player of the Year.
This story was originally published May 7, 2019 at 10:01 PM.
