CLASS 1A BASEBALL DISTRICT TOURNAMENT REPORT – FRIDAY
BY: KERRY SHERMAN
After a two-day break, the Class 1A district tournaments resume today and will wrap up tomorrow. Districts one, three, and five will have their automatic qualifiers tabbed by the end of today, while two and four will play out their brackets tomorrow. All games are listed in bracket order, and rankings come from the Friday morning release of the CHSAA Selection and Seeding Index.

DISTRICT ONE (ALL GAMES AT IGNACIO HS)

4 Antonito vs #1 Dove Creek

Antonito beat #5 seed Centennial 22-2 on Monday to advance to the semifinals, where the Trojans will
take on the top-seed in the bracket. That wasn’t the most recent game for Antonito, who lost a non-
conference game to 2A Center the following day, 7-6. Back to the Centennial game, Dylan Gray had a
pair of doubles and four RBI, while Rylan Trant added two doubles, a triple, and three RBI. Dove Creek enters the match-up having dropped its last nine games of the regular season. The Bulldogs did not meet Antonito during the regular season.

3 Nucla vs #2 Sierra Grande

Nucla wrapped up the regular season by winning four of its final six games, including a 12-9 decision
over 2A Rangely last Friday. Steele Arnold, Paxtin Caruso, Owen Tackett, Jake Hulst, and Hemmy
O’Brien each had two RBI in that win. Unlike the three other teams left in the bracket, Sierra Grande has a good shot at reaching the regional tournament without making the district finals. The Panthers started the day at 13th in the Seeding Index, while none of the others were inside the top-20. They won their final three games of the season, beating Center 14-1 on Tuesday. Derek Martinez and Rolando Najera had three RBI apiece, backing Brian Ontiveros, who picked up the win after scattering eight hits over five innings
of work.

DISTRICT THREE (AT NORTHWEST OPEN SPACES PARK)

2 Rocky Mountain Lutheran vs #1 Flatirons Academy

With the district not having the required five teams, only the winner is guaranteed a spot in regionals.
Rocky Mountain Lutheran has an outside shot at a wildcard berth, as the Eagles began the day at #15 in the Seeding Index, but most likely needs to pull off the upset to snag the automatic qualifier. Flatirons is in the bracket, win or lose, as the Bison were third in the Seeding Index at the beginning of the day. The Eagles won their final three games of the regular season, but were just 5-5 over their final ten. Blake Harris drove in three runs at the plate, and tossed 1.1 innings of scoreless relief in an 8-2 victory over SkyView Academy on Monday. After suffering a tough 4-2 loss to 2A #3 Denver Christian last Thursday, Flatirons Academy bounced back on Monday to beat #10 Elbert 10-0. It was the fifth win in the last six outings for the Bison. Jayden Martinez and Micah Doughty combined to twirl a two-hit shutout. The Bison won the regular season meeting with Rocky Mountain Lutheran 19-2 back on April 4th, with Parker Wilson homering and driving in three runs. Rex Beck had three doubles and three RBI, while Doughty and Aidan Lambrecht also had three RBI apiece. Jones Stephenson doubled and scored a run for the Eagles in that defeat.

DISTRICT FIVE (ALL GAMES AT FORT MORGAN HS)

4 Otis vs #1 Akron

With both teams sitting in the top-five of the Seeding Index, even the loser of the first semifinal in the bracket will still punch its ticket into the regional bracket. Otis (#5) trailed the #5 seed, Caliche, 5-0 and 8-2 in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. But, the Bulldogs scored 13 runs in a three inning stretch to power away with a 15-10 victory. Kaleb Jones and Paxton Davis both had three RBI, and Davis added three stolen bases. Gavin Price swiped five. After watching #8 Briggsdale pound out a 24-2 win over #9 Weldon Valley in the pigtail contest, Akron used a six-run fourth to pull away from the Falcons and advance with a 13-3 victory. Tucker Stahn went 3-4 at the dish, driving in four and scoring two. The regular season meeting between the Bulldogs and Rams was an interesting one to be sure. First, the game had to be moved from Otis to Akron, and then the Rams took advantage of a slew of Otis miscues to steal a 9-8 victory. The Bulldogs committed seven errors, walked eight batters, hit two, and threw three wild pitches. And still nearly won the contest. Caleb Poss got the win for Akron, allowing three runs (one earned) in four innings. Akron’s defense committed five errors, leading to seven unearned runs by the Bulldogs. Tayte Smith led the Bulldogs with three RBI, and Erick Thorn smacked a pair of doubles.

3 Merino vs #2 Haxtun

A six-run fourth inning proved to be the difference for Merino in its quarterfinal contest with #6 Peetz.
The Rams won the contest 10-4, thanks in part to Coen Schmidt’s three RBI. Josiah Mackintosh earned
the win by allowing two runs in three innings, while striking out six. Kaden Piel also worked three
innings, allowing one earned run. Haxtun did its work early and often in the quarterfinals against #7
Prairie, as the Fightin’ Bulldogs won 20-6. Colin Cone and Ryan Davis spearheaded the attack with three RBI apiece. Keegan Colglazier allowed all six runs in 3.1 innings, but was on the winning end of the decision. Like the other semifinal, both teams know that they are in the regional bracket, regardless of the outcome of their contest. Merino was fourth in the Seeding Index at the start of play, and Haxtun was second. They split a doubleheader back on April 13th, with the Rams taking a 6-5 walk-off in the opener and Haxtun grabbing a 9-6 win in the nightcap.