Pine Creek handles windy conditions for victory at Fountain-Fort Carson

Never mind what the wind was doing to Ryan Warner pitches once they were released, it was hard enough for the 6-foot-7 righty just to stay still enough to complete his delivery.

Despite losing his balance on the mound several times, Warner and Pikes Peak No. 4 Pine Creek minimized their mistakes and pulled away from No. 7 Fountain-Fort Carson late for a 6-2 road victory Thursday that gave the Ealges (7-2, 5-0 5A Metro) an early two-game lead in the league.

See photos from the game

“That was just a really hard wind,” Pine Creek coach Glenn Millhauser said. “We were pretty sure was going to come down to which team played the cleaner game.”

The wind played havoc with the pitchers, as the monstrous gusts from left field added velocity to every pitch but made control a constant issue. There were a combined 16 walks and four wild pitches. Of the eight runners who came around to score, six reached on walks and another was on board via an error.

Fountain-Fort Carson (5-4, 3-2) starter Josh Frausto dodged jams in the first and second before Pine Creek scored three runs in the third without a hit.

“I’m kind of wild anyway, so if I don’t hit my targets I’m going to have problems,” said Frausto, who walked three in the third and had two errors behind him. “I’ve just got to keep the ball down.”

Despite the struggles, the Trojans were never out of the game. They trailed 3-1 and had the bases loaded in the sixth before the rally was thwarted by a bizarre fielder’s choice force out at home on what looked like it would be a single to center – again, the wind factored into everything – and a groundout.

To that point, Fountain-Fort Carson had trouble mounting much against Warner. The right-handed throwing, left-handed hitting junior was overpowering with seven strikeouts – including four in a row – as he worked into the sixth inning before Millhauser pulled him as he approached 90 pitches.

“It was kind of nice throwing with the wind,” said Warner, who was 1-for-2 with a pair of walks and two runs scored. “It kind of made the off-speed stuff tough. But I was just mixing it up and (catcher) Grant (Kraus) called a good game.”

Pine Creek padded its lead with three unorthodox runs in the sixth. The first came on a wild pitch, the second as part of a double steal and the rally was capped by an RBI single from Brian Skrdlant and all scored with two outs.