Advance to regional competition Saturday in Pueblo
ALAMOSA– The La Veta Redskins are one step closer to fulfilling the goal of a state championship. They demolished Antonito in the first round of the District Tournament, 21-5; then went on to defeat the Sargent Farmers, 4-2, to take the district title and a first seed at the Regional Tournament.
The Skins opened up with a barrage of hits and an eight-run first inning to set the pace in the game. The pitching talents of Jon Brunelli and Dakota Mason allowed only one hit as they shut down the Tiger bats. John Arnold had a homerun in the second driving in a run while Jesse Pacheco also put one over the fence in the third, driving home a run.
The championship game was more of a pitcher’s battle, and the Redskins red hot bats cooled off some. Clancy Kreutzer pitched five solid innings, allowing one run off two hits. Mason came in to close the game and complete the victory.
With the win, La Veta will travel to the Runyon Sports Complex in Pueblo Saturday for the first game of regional play. They will face the Swink Lions at 10 am. The Lions enter tournament play sporting a 14-4 regular season record, winning District 6 with a 6-1 record. The Lions lost to Las Animas in their district finals and are the second seed at Regionals.
On paper, the teams are evenly matched. The Lions’ hot hitter is Shane Lavoto who has a .509 batting average including 6 home runs. La Veta hosts a stable of hot bats including seniors Trey Price with a .458 average, Dakota Mason .407, and Dalton Mason .500. John Arnold comes into the tournament with an average .411 and leads the team in home runs with 4. On the mound for the Redskins will be Clancy Kreutzer with an earned run average of 2.76 and Dakota Mason with a 2.10 ERA.
The Redskins will face the winner of the Sargent Farmer- Las Animas Trojans game. Should the Farmers defeat the Trojans, the championship game will be a rematch of the district championship game. La Veta has already soundly defeated Sargent three times this season.
