Jordan Sena shakes off errors as Lamar beats Brush in 3A baseball to stay alive

GREELEY???In a span of a little more than an hour Friday afternoon, Lamar High baseball coach Dave Fassiotto watched his team transform from the Bad News Bears to the Bronx Bombers.

The Savages, who were facing elimination in the Class 3A championship series at Butch Butler Field, committed four early errors and spotted tournament unbeaten Brush a 2-0 lead.

"Oh, God! It's been our Achilles heel up here," said Fassiotto about his team's defense. "Finally the bats broke out and we started getting some hits in the right places."

Did they ever. The Savages stayed alive with a 13-3 pasting of the Beetdiggers thanks to a 10-run sixth inning, which ultimately enforced the mercy rule.

Lamar (19-5) will play another elimination game this morning at 10 a.m. against Eaton for the right to play Brush at 2:30 p.m. The Beetdiggers (18-7), by virtue of going 3-0 last weekend, were assured a spot in the state title game.

Lamar senior pitcher Jordan Sena, whom Fassiotto said was "on a mission," never blinked at the shoddy defense behind him. He settled down and retired 14 consecutive batters.

"Everyone has errors every once in a while," Sena said. "We just battled back and did a good job."

At the plate for the Savages, Tyler Jara did a ton a damage with doubles in the fifth and sixth innings that drove in two runs each time. Jara, Branson Jennings and Kelby Fassiotto each had three hits for Lamar.

Brush coach Mark Muniz knows his Beetdiggers will have to shake this one off quickly.

"We've got to get rid of it out of our mind," he said, "and know that we are still going to play (today) for a state championship."

Jon E. Yunt: 303-954-1354, jyunt@denverpost.com or twitter.com/JonEYunt

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