RIFLE, Colorado – By the time Colorado River Valley Little League’s Junior All-Star team got its offensive motor turning, it was a little too late.

Eight runs in the final three innings weren’t quite enough to propel the Rifle-based squad to a win over Grand County in Saturday’s state tournament opener.

That doesn’t mean the season’s over for CRV, though, which will face Platte Canyon in an elimination game at 10 a.m. today back at Rifle’s Deerfield Park, the site of Saturday’s showdown, which Grand County won 11-8.

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CRV, which draws players from Rifle, Silt, New Castle, Parachute, Battlement Mesa and Meeker, fell behind early against Grand County, surrendering five second-inning runs. The blue-clad visitors fueled their outburst with two hits, two errors, two walks and a hit batter.

Grand County wasted little time adding to its lead, scratching out another run in the third and two more in the fourth to go up 8-0.

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Tall right-hander Ty Franek’s pitching kept CRV in check during his four-plus innings of work. He allowed just two hits and a walk before leaving the game early in the fifth inning.

Once Franek exited, CRV came alive, plating four runs to cut Grand County’s lead in half. Run-scoring singles by Jake Statler, Dylan Mobley and Clayton Cahill highlighted the breakthrough frame.

CRV, making its first state tournament appearance in the league’s three-year history, added two runs apiece in the sixth and seventh innings to make things interesting, but late insurance runs by Grand County put the game out of reach.

Grand County will face Colorado Springs in the second round at 1 p.m. today.

jcaspersen@postindependent.com