Wild seventh inning
Mustangs ripped for 16 runs in lats inning, lose 23-9.
Baseball remains a funny game.
The latest episode occurred Tuesday at Bill Swift Field.
Entering the final inning trailing by two runs, Cherry Creek suddenly erupted for 16 runs in the top of the seventh inning to take a 23-9 victory over host Mullen to open the Centennial League.
Correct, the Mustangs were hit for 16 runs in the final inning. In addition, the Bruins had 16 hits in the seventh, batted around twice, sent 21 batters to the plate and had a player go 3-for-3 in the inning.
“I haven’t seen that,” Mullen coach Nick Arcuri said.
He has 42 years in the prep game. Cherry Creek boss Marc Johnson is in his 47th season leading the state’s largest school and he, too, was almost speechless.
“It was a pretty good seventh inning,” he said. “I was nervous. But all of a sudden everything we hit got through. We had to figure a way to tie it up, then everything went right.”
It kept going right when Bruins senior Alec Adolph led off the inning with a double. He came to bat a second time and singled. He also singled in his third at-bat.
“Never had a guy go 3-for-3 in an inning,” Johnson said. “Never have.”
The late collapse ruined what could have been a late victory for Mullen, which fought back from deficits of 1-0, 6-0, 6-2 and 7-2. The Mustangs also blew up for seven runs in the bottom of the fifth to take the lead and left-handed reliever Jayden Mayoral, who came on in relief of starter Will Miller, was getting outs.
However, the Bruins battered Mayoral and three other relievers in the seventh. They could do nothing to stop it.
“It’s crazy, crazy stuff,” Arcuri said.
While Miller struggled early, Mullen came alive in the fifth and grabbed a chance to win. Jack Vitry singled twice. Trevor Moore, Cameron Brickley and A.J. Naha doubled. Alek Elges, Evan Malloy and Nick Perri contributed singles. Brennen Nolte knocked in a run on a groundout.
All of a sudden, Mullen had a 9-7 lead and Mayoral entered the seventh having retired 10-of-11 Bruins.
“You tip your hat to them and say, ‘Great job!’” Arcuri said. “We couldn’t get it done.”
As usual, multiple Mustangs offered contributions after returning from Arizona 3-0 in a tournament in the Phoenix area and Mullen gets another shot at the Bruins on Thursday in Greenwood Village.
“We’ll be fine,” Arcuri said.
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