June 2, 2022
LOCAL
SPORTS
Brighton Standard Blade 7
Eighth-inning run finishes Brighton’s baseball season Bulldogs fall 1-0 to Chaparral in class 5A regional playoffs BY STEVE SMITH SSMITH@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
PARKER -- For the second straight season, Brighton High School’s baseball team made it to the championship game of the class 5A regional playoffs. And for the second straight year, BHS came up short in its bid to enter the state 5A baseball tournament. Brody Sprinkle’s eighth-inning single gave the Wolverines a 1-0 win over the Bulldogs on May 23 on Chaparral High School’s field. The loss ended Brighton’s season. The Bulldogs finished 18-7. “I don’t know how many we left on, but it had to be double digits,” said BHS coach Justin Stringer. “We had to be able to find a hole or a gap, hit by pitch or something? Man. We made tons of plays. Brok (pitcher Brok Eddy) had control of the game.” Eddy finished with an eighthitter and 10 strikeouts. “We couldn’t find a hit early in the game that would have put us on top,” Stringer said. Eddy wiggled his way out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth inning. That was Chaparral’s most serious threat until the game-winning rally in the eighth inning. Brighton had 11 base runners, including nine who reached on walks. Bryce Peterson, who was the winning pitcher in the opener (an 8-5 win over Loveland) had both of Brighton’s hits. Andrew
Brighton’s Brok Eddy offers a check swing at this pitch during the Bulldogs’ win over Loveland High School in the regional playoffs PHOTO BY STEVE SMITH May 23 in Parker. Loveland’s catcher is Carter Leben.
Schmeh and Garrett Chadwick reached on walks in the second inning. Walks to Eddy, Drai Wagner and Schmeh loaded the bases in the sixth inning. But BHS couldn’t get that key hit to drive anyone home. “One or two (hits) looked like a million, the way Brok throws,” Stringer said. “If we can figure out how to scratch one across, the game is different. Brok is the best pitcher in the state, and someone opposing teams find
it difficult to square up. I don’t think I’ve seen a better pitcher all year. I’m glad he plays for us.” In the Loveland game, Peterson lasted into the seventh inning and struck out seven. Anthony Treto came on in relief to pick up the save. Eddy drove home five runs, including a basesclearing triple in the second inning. “At the beginning of the game, my fastball out (outside) was working,” Peterson said. “They
were trying to go with that. So I tried to come back in on their hands, throw curve balls away when I was ahead in the counts. It depends on what kind of swings they are taking. “This team, they were really focused on trying to hit the ball the other way,” he continued. “So when I saw that, I came back in on their hands. When I was ahead, I would go down with the curve ball or up with the fast ball.”
Prairie View grad returns to college after Army stint Ben Meraz to play football at Austin College in Texas BY STEVE SMITH SSMITH@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Four years of service in the U.S. Army did little to tamp down former Prairie View High School quarterback Ben Meraz’s interest in playing college football. Meraz, who graduated from PVHS in 2016, chose Austin College, an NCAA Division III school in Sherman, Texas, for his next stop. He called it “the best of all possible worlds” for academics, athletics and being able to work for his father’s construction business. “It was close to home, they recruited me super hard and built a good rela-
Former Prairie View quarterback Ben COURTESY PHOTO Meraz.
tionship with me,” Meraz said. “And then academically, I felt like I could take advantage of a lot of good opportunities that wouldn’t be available elsewhere.” He will be able to play football, too., as he did at Mesa State University before entering the Army. The Kangaroos won one game in nine tries a season ago. Six to seven schools showed an interest. Meraz wants to study business finance, then pursue a master’s degree in construction management. The ongoing pandemic didn’t play a part in his recruiting process. But joining the NCAA’s transfer portal, which allows students to place their names in an online data base to indicate a desire to change schools, did. “I’d say things were different just because I obviously don’t have any recent film of me playing football,” he
said. “So, I’d send them videos of me doing workouts and drills to pair with my high-school stuff. “Things were different as well because I talked to way more schools this time than when I did in high school,” Meraz explained. “I definitely had to ask a lot more questions about stuff like about living in the town, going to school there, types of questions I didn’t think about in high school.” Meraz still has four years of eligibility. “I’m pretty excited and nervous. It’s been a long time since I last played,” Meraz said.“But after a couple practices, I feel like I’ll be like a normal player again. “I hope people can use situations like mine in that you can always chase a dream of yours,” he added. “Just because it doesn’t work out the first time doesn’t mean it’ll never work out.”
