Rally cap is now a crown
CHEROKEE TRAIL 9, ROCKY MTN. 4
It wasn’t happening for Cherokee Trail, so coach Allan Dyer figured he would address it.
He had seen his Cougars respond to adversity throughout the 2016 season, and after being shut out by Rocky Mountain in an earlier game that forced another Sunday at All-City Stadium, he knew it was time.
“I asked them, ‘Did you expect Rocky Mountain not to show up and play today?’ ” Dyer said.
It worked. Dyers’ guys just needed a spark, he said, and they got it when Eric Cox ripped a tworun homer in the third inning to ignite a rally and a 9-4 victory over the Lobos to claim the Class 5A state championship.
“What defined us was our resiliency,” Dyer said, and the Cougars needed it when they began the season 2-3, had their out-of-state trip in March canceled and finally Sunday, when Rocky Mountain won the first game 2-0 and led 3-0 after two innings in the second game.
But Cox’s blast preceded two three-run innings, headed by two large doubles by Cougars No. 8 hitter John-Michael Osley that plated three runs, a double and a single by Ryan Sullivan, and a
two-run single off the second-base bag by pitcher Jerome Bohannon, who hits No. 9 in the order.
Cherokee Trail (22-5), which began districts seeded No. 13, won its first 5A title — it was runner-up in 4A in 2006, then won it a year later — and finished the season on a 20-2 roll.
“We just needed to stick to our game and believe in ourselves,” Bohannon said. “We knew no team could really beat us twice. We just persevered.”
They had to: The Lobos (19-8) won the opener on a seven-hit shutout by John Sorensen that was fueled by a two-run double by Kadin Breeze.
However, the Cougars, who received a two-hit gem by pitcher Conner Nantkes in the opener and still lost, finally got it going, pounded out 10 hits in the finale and watched Bohannon take command. He walked four but struck out six, pitched out of early trouble and shut the door until late. At one point, the Metro State signee retired 11 of 12 Lobos in allowing his offense to get started.
“I just had to settle in,” Bohannon said.
Rocky Mountain couldn’t keep up. In their seventh final since winning five titles beginning in 2007, the Lobos missed out on a couple of momentum changers, had to use five pitchers and managed only two hits after the third. Coach Scott Bullock knew his Lobos had their chances but could only congratulate the Cougars. Heading the program, he said, “has been awesome, and I’m just proud I get to be a part of that.”
Said Dyer: “I thought (the Lobos) played flawless baseball, for the most part. … Our best had to be better than their best. That’s what it came down to.”