Boulder Creek’s run comes to abrupt end, Jags fall in semis
MARC BUCKHOUT ~ MANAGING EDITOR ~ 5/19/2010


A program best 26-15 season for the Boulder Creek Jaguars baseball team came up one win short of a state championship game berth as the No. 7 seeded Jaguars fell to No. 3 Desert Mountain (22-13) at Peoria Sports Complex on Thursday.
In winning their first three games in state tournament action the Jaguars headed into the semifinals of the double elimination event needing one win over the Wolves, to advance to the program’s first state championship.
Instead their bid to become the lowest seed to advance to the 5A Div-II state title game since No. 12 Marcos de Niza won the title in 2007 unraveled at the hands of the Wolves. Following a 10-8 opening game win, that forced a deciding game, the Wolves rode the wave of momentum in overwhelming the team from Anthem with a 9-run first inning on their way to an 18-6, 5-inning victory that brought an end to the Jaguars season.
“It’s hard,” Boulder Creek coach Joe McDonald said. “You have to make the team understand that what happened out there was not remotely a reflection on what this team is or what they accomplished this year. My main message was how proud I was of them.”
In each of the two games the Jaguars were forced to play catch up as Desert Mountain scored 11 runs in the first inning of the two games.
In the opener McDonald went with senior Cody Jones. Assuming Jones, who earned a win earlier in the state tournament with a victory over No. 15 Millennium, could pitch the team to victory the Jaguars would have been set up to hand the ball to staff ace Bryce Eisenbart in Saturday’s 5A Div-II state championship game.
Immediately out of the gate the Jaguars were put on their heels. A week removed from being 1-hit by Eisenbart, in the Jaguars 6-1 win over Desert Mountain at Surprise Stadium, the Wolves first four hitters of the game all reached with hits, the last of which was a comebacker that drilled Jones.
Jones was able to continue, but Desert Mountain scored two runs in each of the first two innings, jumping to a 4-1 lead.
Eventually the Boulder Creek right hander would settle down, giving the Jaguars offense a chance to crawl back into the game.
“With this team, we never felt we were out of a game,” said McDonald, of a squad that broke Desert Vista’s 11-year old state record for hits in a season, besting their 470 total with 485. “That never say die attitude allowed us to have some dramatic come-from-behind wins this season,” McDonald said.
A solo home run by senior Braylon Cox in the second got the Jaguars on the board and the team added two more in the bottom of the third as aggressive base running by Jonny Pawling, who took third with a head first slide on a single to left, then tagged and scored on a shallow foul out down the left field line.
Both teams tallied two runs in the fifth. After a scoreless sixth the game went to the seventh with Boulder Creek down only one, at 6-5.
In the top of the seventh Drew McLaughlin would give Desert Mountain an insurance run on a one-out triple to center field, but Cox got the second out of the inning on a strikeout, bringing his team within an out of going to the bottom of the seventh down only two runs.
Instead the two-out rally would see three more runs cross the plate as a walk, two-run triple and an error gave Desert Mountain a five-run advantage.
Boulder Creek had one more rally left in them as Cox hit his second home run of the game, this time a three-run homer, once again deep over the left field wall, which measures 340 feet.
With only one out and a 10-8 deficit senior Andy Felton drew a walk, followed by a single by junior Andrew Parrott. With the tying runs on base Desert Mountain’s Cam Teich finally closed the doors, striking out the final two Jaguars hitters to end the game.
Despite the game one loss McDonald said his team was ready for the second game.
“We had all the confidence we needed going into that final game,” he said. “We felt good about that situation with the lineup we have and with Bryce pitching, but it just wasn’t meant to be. It’s hard to accept, hard to swallow knowing you came one game short of playing for a state title.”
Just five days after Eisenbart threw a complete game against Desert Mountain, a 1-hitter in which he took a no hitter into the seventh inning, the Wolves got revenge.
In a nine-run top of the first the Wolves had eight hits, including five consecutive two-out knocks, as the score grew from 3-0 to 9-0.
During the sequence a pair of normally routine fly balls turned into four runs as the balls were lost in the twilight or the stadium lights, falling untouched without a Jaguars outfielder any where near either ball. The second of the two bizarre plays ended up as an inside-the-park home run by senior Taylor Lesley.
“Not in a state playoff game have I ever seen an inning like that,” McDonald said. “Crazy things happened. Baseball is a humbling game. That first inning certainly put us in a big hole and it was tough to overcome that type of deficit.”
To their credit the Jaguars responded with four runs in the bottom of the first inning to put a glimmer of hope back in their dugout, with Jones coming up with an RBI single to left that drove in two and Cox continuing his hot hitting with a double to left.
Having chased Eisenbart after one inning, Desert Mountain continued to pour it on offensively as they scored five in the second against the Jaguars bullpen. Desert Mountain would score at least one run in all five innings of the game.
“Baseball is a game of momentum and clearly they took the momentum with that first game win,” McDonald said. “We had a hard time slowing them down.”
Despite the loss McDonald’s praise of the team was evident.
“This was a special group of seniors,” he said. “They made going to the field a joy. Our coaching staff was exciting to get to work with them each day and their leadership has laid a foundation for future years. We’re going to miss them.”
Along with their character the talent was unmistakable. Eisenbart set the state’s single season record for hits in a season with 73, going 4-for-6 with an RBI and four runs scored during the season-ending double header. He also set the state record for doubles in a season, tallying 24. Senior Austin Trujillo, who will join Eisenbart at Paradise Valley Community College, also tied a state record with three home runs in a game, an accomplishment that came against La Joya.