CLASS 2A BASEBALL REPORT – STATE PREVIEW
BY: KERRY SHERMAN
The regional field of 32 teams was pared down to eight for the first round of the 2A state tournament. In the double elimination format, half of the eight will be knocked out this weekend. Forge Christian is back, looking to defend its title from last year. The Fury are the top seed, just in front of Monte Vista, who is the only unbeaten in the field. The first round will be played on Friday in Pueblo at the Runyon Complex, with the top half of the bracket taking Hobbs Field, and the bottom half on ‘Nuch Field. The second round of the championship bracket, as well as the first two rounds of the consolation bracket, will be played on Saturday.
#1 FORGE CHRISTIAN (23-2) VS #8 FRONT RANGE CHRISTIAN (13-10) 9:30AM HOBBS FIELD
Forge Christian ran its winning streak to eight with a pair of shutout victories in last weekend’s regional round. The Fury won the Region One semifinal over Platte Canyon 15-0. They held the Huskies to just one hit in the contest. Forge Christian followed that with a 14-0 blanking of SkyView Academy in the regional final. Ben Harhager gave up one hit in three innings, and Jake Stocker allowed one hit in two innings. Ben McLean smacked two triples and racked up five RBI. Owen Carlson drove in three runs, and Easton Wilde scored three.
Front Range Christian pulled off a pair of upsets in Region Four, vaulting the Falcons from the #20 seed for regionals to the #8 seed for state. The first of those came in the regional semifinal 13-1 over #13 Crowley County. Crowley County scored its lone run in the bottom of the first, and maintained that lead until the top of the fourth, where the Falcons erupted for nine runs. They would tack four more on in the fifth for the run rule victory. Haedan Morton tripled twice, and hit a double, while driving in three. Max Morton gave up one earned on two hits in five innings for the win. In the championship contest against #4 Estes Park, the Falcons plated two runs in second and third, gave up three in the fifth, and held on for a 4-3 win. H. Morton threw a complete game to get the win.
This will be the first meeting between the Fury and Falcons in the MaxPreps era.
#4 DENVER CHRISTIAN (17-8) VS #5 DAYSPRING CHRISTIAN (16-5) 12PM HOBBS FIELD
Last year’s runner-up, Denver Christian made its way back to the state tournament by winning Region Five last weekend. The Thunder got a well-pitched game from starter Drew Morris, who tossed six shutout innings and allowed two hits in a 5-1 semifinal victory over Dolores. Tanner McCoy had three hits, including a double, and drove in a run, while Nate Bovasso added a solo homer. Denver Christian had to come from behind in the championship game against Fowler. Fowler scored two in the fifth to go up 3-1, and the Grizzlies took a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the sixth. Denver Christian got rolling and plated eight to claim the 10-3 win. Bovasso allowed three earned on eight hits in the complete game victory.
Dayspring Christian only gave up one run in its two games in Region Six, with the Eagles taking a 10-0 shutout win over Byers in the semifinal. Cooper Smith gave up three hits in the five inning run rule victory. He added 11 strikeouts. Owen Steward hit two doubles, scored twice, and drove in two, and Gavin Bohl scored three runs and had two RBI. The Eagles faced a bit of a surprise opponent in the final, as #22 Olathe upset Buena Vista 20-2 earlier in the day. DCA got off to a fast 2-0 lead, but only led 2-1 going to the fourth. They scored four runs over the next three innings to take a 6-1 win. Steward picked up the victory with one earned run on five hits in seven innings. He recorded 11 punch outs.
Denver Christian and Dayspring Christian did not meet up this year, but they played in each of the last two postseasons, with the Thunder winning both match-ups.
Looking forward to potential second round contests, Forge Christian beat Dayspring Christian 12-1 on April 20th, with Carson Hughes recording three hits, three runs, and two RBI. Bohl had one of the three hits collected by the Eagles, and he scored their only run. Forge Christian swept two from Denver Christian, 9-8 and 11-0. In the first of those, the Fury scored twice in the bottom of the seventh for the walk-off. Carlson had two hits, including a home run, and three RBI in the second match-up. Sam Buerck threw a five inning no-hitter.
Denver Christian got a 14-3 victory over Front Range Christian three weeks ago. That was only 5-3 through five, but the Thunder blew it open with a nine-run sixth. McCoy had a double and three RBI for Denver Christian, M. Morton drove in two for the Falcons. Dayspring Christian beat Front Range Christian 13-0 back on April 16th. The Eagles did all of their scoring in the final three innings, two in the fifth, sixth in the six, and five in the seventh. Ethan Martinez and Steward each had five RBI. The Falcons only managed five hits in the loss, two by H. Morton.
#3 YUMA (21-4) VS #6 LIMON (15-8) 12PM ‘NUCH FIELD
Yuma opened Region Three play against #30 Burlington last Saturday, having just swept the Cougars a in a doubleheader a week earlier. This time around, the game went to the bottom of the fourth scoreless, as both teams squandered opportunities to get on the board. Yuma plated four in its half of the inning, and tacked on three in the fifth to go up 7-0. Burlington scratched out a run in the sixth, but the Outlaws slammed the door on any potential rally and won 7-1. Reyli Trejo struck out 10 and only allowed the one earned run on three hits in six innings. Alex Pensado helped him with a double and three RBI. Yuma faced Lyons in the championship game, and trailed 4-1 going to the bottom of the fifth. The Outlaws took the lead for good with a four-spot and went on to a 5-4 victory. Pensado had another double and two more RBI.
Limon had some struggles in its Region Seven semifinal against #26 Sanford, but the Badgers pulled out a 6-4 win. They led 4-1 after three, and added an important insurance run in the fifth and another in the sixth, helping them hold off a rally by the Mustangs in the seventh. Aidan Kollath led the attack with three hits, three stolen bases, and two RBI. Dreison Davis also tallied two RBI. Limon faced #23 Platte Valley in the final, after the Broncos upset #10 Wray in the semis. The Badgers wasted little time in building a big lead, two in the first, one in the second, and one in the third. After Platte Valley got on the board with one in the top of the fourth, Limon closed out the scoring with three in the bottom half, and posted zeroes the rest of the way for a 7-1 win. Brooks Scherrer got the win by allowing one eared run in four inning of hit-less ball. Brody Scherrer worked three hit-less frames with seven strikeouts in relief, and also provided the offense with four runs driven in.
Yuma picked up a 4-1 victory over Limon on April 29th, thanks to a three-run second inning. The Outlaws only managed to collect two hits in the win, including a double by Stevie Seward, but Brodie Kallweit struck out 14 Badgers while allowing three unearned runs in the complete game victory. Kollath had a double and an RBI for Limon, and Quinten Blatnick added an RBI.
#2 MONTE VISTA (23-0) VS #7 PEYTON (18-5) 9:30AM ‘NUCH FIELD
The Pirates scored in each of the six innings in which they hit, including two in the first and two in the third, as they beat #31 Hoehne 8-2 in the Region Two semifinals. Landon Sanchez hit a triple and scored two runs for Monte Vista, and Kobe Jiron gave up two unearned runs on five hits in seven innings for the win. He also recorded 11 punch outs and did not walk any. The offense rolled early in the final against Dawson School, as the Pirates plated four in the first, five in the second, and six in the third, posting an early 15-4 lead in the process. They would win 15-5 in five innings. Monte Vista two home runs in the win, both by Judah Howe, who finished with eight RBI. Chase Bouet added three RBI and three runs scored.
Peyton eked out a pair of one-run wins to earn the state spot in Region Eight. Down 6-0 to Ignacio going to the bottom of the sixth, the Panthers went off for seven runs to grab the lead. They would make that stand up with a scoreless top of the seventh. Bryce Love and Trent Gregg had two RBI apiece, and Love got the win despite giving up six runs (three earned) on 10 hits in six frames, with 12 Ks. Zayden Ebbert worked a hit-less seventh to earn the save. The regional final had the Panthers facing #8 Las Animas, who needed a five-run fifth to get past Highland 10-8 in its semifinal. In a rematch of an early season match-up that Las Animas won 7-2, Peyton scored one in the first and one more in the fifth to go up 2-0, but the Trojans tried to rally in the seventh. They got one home, but that was it. Ebbert only allowed that one run on one hit in seven innings. He struck out nine and walked one.
There is only one other match-up between Monte Vista and Peyton in the MaxPreps era, a 16-0 win by the Pirates in the state bracket last year. Azariah Hurtado had a triple, two RBI, and three runs for Monte Vista. Peyton only had three hits in the loss, two by Love, including a double.
In potential regular season rematches for the second round, Peyton swept a doubleheader at Limon three weeks ago, 4-2 and 6-5. Gregg had a double and two RBI for the Panthers in game one, and Love allowed two earned on four hits in seven innings, with 14 strikeouts. Camdyn Tacha hit a pair of solo homers to account for the run production by the Badgers. In the nightcap, the Panthers built a 6-3 lead through five and a half innings, but had to hold on as Limon scored runs in the sixth and seventh. Ebbert had four hits, including a home run, and four RBI for Peyton, while Brooks Scherrer had an RBI and two stolen bases for the Badgers.
MileHigh Prep Report 