CLASS 2A BASEBALL REGIONAL PREVIEW – FRIDAY
BY: KERRY SHERMAN
With the regular season in the books, Class 2A’s postseason begins on Friday, with one of the eight regions getting a 24-hour jump on the remaining seven. Region 4, hosted by Peyton, will crown the first state quarterfinalist by mid-afternoon.
REGION FOUR (FRIDAY AT PEYTON)
#4 PEYTON (15-5) VS #29 SKYVIEW ACADEMY (8-11) 9AM
Peyton spent the entire regular season inside the top-five of the CHSAA Selection and Seeding Index and didn’t lose consecutive games until dropping both ends of a doubleheader to #1 Limon two weeks ago. The Panthers went 3-3 in games decided by fewer than three runs. Toby Redmond (.492), Bryce Love (.490), and AJ Kranz (.440) have raked all season. That trio has combined to score 91 runs and drive in 76. Love leads the team with six home runs, while Redmond has three, and Kranz, two. They also have 18 doubles and six triples between them. On the mound, Love has posted a 6-1 record with a 3.09 ERA in 34 innings. He’s punched out 59 and walked 20. Noah Martin is 5-0 with a 2.85 ERA in 27 innings. The junior has struck out 35 and walked 22.
SkyView Academy won its first two games of the season, but only accomplished that feat one more time the rest of the way. The Hawks lost four of their last six, including a pair by just one run. They had a 5-1 lead over #10 Dawson School on Tuesday, but gave up five in the bottom of the sixth to lose by a single tally. Two sophomores lead the Hawks at the plate, with Logen Meyers hitting .470 and Clay Cosart batting .370 on the season. Cosart has scored 23 times this year, while Gage Baumann has a team-leading 29 RBI. Tucker Corazzari is 5-4 with a 4.20 ERA in a team-high 35 innings, while Baumann has a mark of 1.97 in 32 innings. They’ve struck out 62 and 40, respectively.
#13 SWINK (15-7) VS #20 YUMA (8-13) 11:30AM
Swink set the tone for the campaign early, winning six of seven and 10 of 13 to begin the year. The Lions avoided the big skid, never losing more than two games in a row. They ended one of those slides by beating Rocky Ford 13-1 in the regular season finale on Tuesday. Nate Cabrera (.544), Landon Mills (.508), Conner Clodfelter (.450), and Hunter Bauserman (.438) have hurt opposing pitchers all season, but it’s Nick Paolucci who leads the Lions with 33 runs scored. Mills has a team-leading five HR and 39 RBI, while Bauserman has driven in 37. Cabrera owns three homers. Paolucci has been one of the workhorses for the Swink pitching staff, throwing 40.1 innings, and posting a 7-2 record with an ERA of 3.61. Cabrera is 3-5 in 38 innings, sporting a 2.95 ERA. They have 63 and 62 Ks, respectively.
Youth is being served at Yuma, with six of the main players either freshmen or sophomores. As one might expect, there have been some growing pains for the Outlaws. After opening the season 5-1, they finished 3-12 the rest of the way. There were several close defeats in that stretch, including a 4-3 loss to 1A finalist Akron, and a pair of 4-3 walk-off losses to #6 Burlington last Saturday. As a junior, Silas Baucke is one of the greybeards on the roster, and he’s leading by action, hitting .386 with 16 RBI, eight doubles, and two home runs. Freshman Lennox Huwa’s 24 runs scored are tops on the squad, and his seven doubles match Reyli Trejo for second behind Baucke. Trejo and Baucke have shouldered a large portion of the pitching load, with Trejo throwing 40.2 innings, and Baucke notching 35.1 so far. Both have three wins and sub-4.00 ERAs.
The only potential championship game match-up (slated for 2PM) that would be a regular season rematch is Peyton and Swink. The Panthers picked up a 17-0 win over Swink back on March 23rd. Love threw a four-inning one-hitter, striking out nine and walking none. Cabrera had the hit for the Lions.
MileHigh Prep Report 