CLASS 2A BASEBALL WEEKLY DIGEST by Kerry Sherman

CLASS 2A BASEBALL WEEKLY DIGEST

BY: KERRY SHERMAN

Only two teams in Class 2A has reached this point in the season without a loss, #1 Limon and #15 Sanford. The Badgers sit atop the field in the most recent CHSAA Selection and Seeding Index, as they are first in both the CHSAA RPI and MaxPreps rankings, while Sanford is closer to the middle of the pack in both. Along with most of the other top-20 teams, they have some strong challenges in the coming week.

THURSDAY

Limon puts its 10-game winning streak on the line in a contest at #3 Yuma on Thursday. The Badgers have outscored their opponents 109-20 this season, while the Outlaws, winners of five straight since dropping their opener to Merino, have a 68-48 edge so far. They have scored at least 11 runs in four of the five games in their winning streak. That includes 13 and 20 in their sweep of #14 Sedgwick County on Tuesday. Yuma’s freshman, Lennox Huwa, leads the team with a .591 average and 10 stolen bases. Jordan Rockwell leads Limon at .667 and is one of four Badgers with at least 10 steals on the year. Cale Bennett is tops with 17.

Peyton (#4) hosts #29 Byers, having suffered its first loss of the season in the opener of a doubleheaders against #16 St. Mary’s last Saturday. The Panthers have had an interesting start to the season, winning four times by double figures, and three times by two runs or less. Bryce Love has gone 3-0 with an ERA just over two, striking out 28 in 13 innings. The sophomore also owns a save. Byers is on its third losing streak of at least two games, coming in at 3-7 overall. Chase Long and Gabe Price put a lot of pressure on the opposing defenses, with 17 and 15 stolen bases, respectively.

After splitting a doubleheader at #11 Burlington on Tuesday, #6 Holyoke travels to Flatirons Academy to challenge the #4 team in Class 1A in what shapes up to be one of the better cross-classification match-ups of the week. Wyatt Sprague tossed a five-hit shutout in the second game of that doubleheader in Burlington, striking out 14 Cougars in the 10-0 win. Flatirons Academy has won five straight since opening the season 0-2. The Bison have scored at least nine in each victory. They blasted Clear Creek 20-0 on Tuesday, with Micah Doughty and Rex Beck each homering.

Thursday has another tasty cross-classification match-up on tap as #9 Fowler visits 1A #5 McClave. The Grizzlies dropped both ends of a doubleheaders at #2 Las Animas last Saturday, 3-1 in both games. They bounced back on Tuesday to drill Calhan 24-0. Wyatt Bates and Harrison Proctor each had three RBI in that win. Joe Salvo struck out seven and allowed just one hit in three innings on the mound. McClave has scored at least 10 runs in all seven games this season, including Tuesday’s 14-1 win over Granada. Lawton Annen is hitting close to .700 on the season, and is slugging 1.045 to lead the Cardinals.

Lyons (#7) hosts #15 Dawson School in a match-up of one-loss teams. The Lions are averaging close to 12 runs a game, and have scored at least 11 in each of their last four games. Zack LaCrosse went 5-6 with a homer and five RBI in a 17-11 win at Estes Park on Tuesday. Davis Abernathy tripled and drove in six in the win. After a scoreless first, Dawson School scored three runs in each of the next five innings on Wednesday to beat Arupe Jesuit 15-5.

FRIDAY

Highlighting the Friday slate is a doubleheader between #2 Las Animas and #5 Swink. The Trojans scored six in the first and five in the second on Tuesday to beat Center 17-7. It was their sixth straight win. Swink has won three in a row, the last two in shutouts. However, the Lions have not played in the month of April, so knocking off the rust early will be key.

Limon hosts 1A #9 Stratton in a Union Pacific clash, with the visiting Eagles coming off a 22-0 win at Manzanola on Tuesday. That snapped two-game slide for Stratton, who is looking to beat the Badgers for the first time since 2014, a span of eight straight losses in the series.

St. Mary’s steps up to face 3A #20 Lamar on the road. It’s a doubleheader for the Pirates, who have lost two of their last three. Adam Jolicouer had the lone extra base hit for the team in a 6-3 loss to Manitou Springs on Tuesday. Ryan Strub drove in two of the three runs. Lamar hasn’t played in 10 days, with the last work for the Thunder coming in an 11-3 loss to Pueblo County.

SATURDAY

Saturday has a busy schedule, with 20 games set to be played. One of the top match-ups has Peyton hosting #20 Buena Vista. The Demons snapped a four-game skid by beating Meeker and Calhan last weekend in a home tournament. Buena Vista scored 28 runs in those wins after only scoring seven in the four losses. Elio Rizzi drove in four runs in the 18-4 win over Calhan. The Demons trailed that game 4-0.

Burlington hosts #22 Wray in one of the two big doubleheaders scheduled for the day. The Cougars went through a stretch with four straight losses, starting with a doubleheader sweep by Fowler. They scored a total of three runs in the slide. But, they responded by winning two straight, 9-2 over Byers and 2-1 against Holyoke. Pitching was the key in those wins, as Rowdy Humrich and Zack Foose each tossed complete games with 12 strikeouts apiece. Wray has three losses by one or two runs and enters the double dip having split with Wiggins on Tuesday. After taking a 4-3 win in the first game, the Eagles surrender seven runs in the sixth to drop the nightcap 12-8. Daken Torrence collected three hits and two RBI in that loss.

The other key doubleheader on the day has #25 Crowley County hosting #28 Rye. Crowley County begins the stretch tied with Las Animas atop the Santa Fe standings, and the Thunderbolts are just one game back. The Chargers had won four of five before falling 10-0 to Ellicott on Tuesday. They were held to just one hit and committed five errors in that contest. Rye opened the season 0-4, but won four straight ahead of Wednesday’s game with Salida. The T-bolts outscored the opposition 68-3 in those four wins.

MONDAY

Leading off the Monday calendar is a huge Southern Peaks contest between #15 Sanford and #21 Monte Vista. Those teams are tied with #26 Trinidad atop the league standings. The Mustangs have scored at least 15 runs in each of their first six games, with a 17-8 win over Sargent on Tuesday as their most recent outing. They had one extra base hit in that contest and stole 32 bases. Trason Gartrell had six and Travis Canty added five. Monte Vista had its five-game winning streak snapped by Meeker on Saturday, falling 6-5 in the Buena Vista tournament. The Pirates scored three times in the top of the seventh to take a 5-4 lead, but gave up two in the bottom of the frame to lose in walk-off fashion.