BROOMFIELD - The Legacy high school baseball team came up with a big victory in the Front Range League Saturday, but not without controversy.
The No. 6 Lightning rallied from a 4-run deficit to beat Prairie View 5-4 in a heated contest between the two league rivals.
The controversy occurred in the bottom of the seventh with the Thunderhawks nursing a 4-3 advantage with two outs and Legacy had the bases loaded. A Legacy runner was tagged out after running into Prairie View's second-baseman Romani Perez, who had the ball, and what looked like a Thunderhawk victory with the final out. However, the call was reversed, and Perez was called for obstruction of the runner and Legacy's tying run crossed the plate to force extra innings.
The call caused chaos in a highly contentious game, with shouting matches ensuing from both teams before the coaches were able to calm the situation down.
The Lightning didn't let the opportunity go to waste and Ethan Sanchez hit a home run in the eighth to seal the victory for Lightning.
“I'm proud of how they battled, and proud of how they came back.” Legacy coach Ty Giordano said. “Obviously it was heated. There are a lot of things I don't like to see on the baseball field. A lot of anger, a lot of language and fighting. There is no place for that. But I like to see the competitiveness.”
Prairie View started strong with three runs in the first inning and then adding another run in the third.
Pitcher Favi Gaeta was dominating the game on the mound and at the plate for the Thunderhawks. The sophomore went 2-for-4 at the plate, with 2 runs and 2 RBIs.
Gaeta was just as solid pitching. He pitched 5.1 innings - allowed one run and struck out five batters.
However, Legacy found timely hits throughout the game. Brandon Sanchez hit an RBI single in the fourth for Legacy's first run and senior Derek Olsen had a 2-RBI double in the seventh.
“Coming away with the win in an ugly game like that is big,” Giordano said. “(Prairie View) is a very good baseball team and are well coached. Hope our team can understand that every pitch matters. We made some unforced errors and (Prairie View) was able to take advantage and get runs off of it.”
Legacy improved to 10-2 in FRL and 14-4 overall and has a full schedule of games this week. Tuesday at Loveland, Wednesday against defending state-champion Broomfield and then at Poudre Thursday.
Prairie View (12-7 overall, 7-6 FRL) finishes the regular season with two home contests against Monarch Tuesday and Fairview Thursday.
