Valor Christian won the 4A boys golf team title. More photos. (Aislyn Carrillo/CHSAANow.com)
LONGMONT — Valor Christian came into Tuesday’s Class 4A boys golf state tournament feeling good, and left feeling great — taking the team title.
The team finished the tournament five-over-par with a combined total score of 425, out performing the runner-up team, Silver Creek (453) by a long stretch of 28 strokes.
Valor’s Coby Welch (even par, second overall), Philip Lee (2-over, tied for third), and Tim Amundson (3-over, tied for fifth) helped the Eagles win the title. David Leede also finished in a tie for 11th at 10-over.
Silver Creek’s Jackson Solem won the individual title by shooting 1-under, including a 69 on Tuesday. (Find complete results here.)
Coach Jason Preeo said a majority of his players in the tournament have not had the chance to play in an intense environment like state, and he is proud that they came and performed well under pressure.
After building such an impressive lead in Round 1 — 18 strokes — Valor Christian came in to Round 2 feeling extremely comfortable. Preeo was pleased with his team’s “putting and consistency of hitting in the fairway.”
Preeo recognized one of his seniors in particular, Welch, a Northern Colorado commit who played incredibly well during this tournament.
“He has had a chance at winning state every year,” said Preeo. “I’m proud of him and the growth he has made but I know he is disappointed to have finished second.”
Welch finished Round 1 just one stroke behind Solem and the two ended Round 2 with an identical score of 69.
“I wanted to go out, be calm and make a couple birdies and see what happened,” said Welch. “I did that other than one hole where I didn’t play very good and that was the deciding factor.”
Silver Creek’s Jackson Solem. More photos. (Aislyn Carrillo/CHSAANow.com)
Solem came into Tuesday knowing that from the Round 1 results, he was in close competition with the athletes from Valor and Windsor’s Cole Krantz, who finished in a tie for third at 2-over. Solem started off behind Krantz and Lee but throughout the day, he managed to work his way up.
Going in to the seventh hole, all three of their scores were 1-under across the board. After a few more holes, Solem took the lead with a a 2-under on the 13th hole.
It all came down to the final hole. The three anxiously walked to the hole anticipating the outcome with Solem at 1-under, Krantz at 1-over, and Lee at 2-over.
The well-sported crowd calmly applauded all of the players at the 18th green. Solem’s eager fan section awaited his final putt that put him in the position to take the state title.
“Winning state has been a goal of mine since I even knew what high school golf was,” Solem said. “It’s something really nice to have under the belt.”
Hunter Paugh won the 5A boys golf tournament on Tuesday. More photos. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
FORT COLLINS — Hunter Paugh had been here before.
Last season, the Fort Collins golfer was leading Class 5A’s boys golf state tournament after the first day. But, after holding a one-stroke lead with a score of 69, he shot 77 on Day 2, and finished third.
On Tuesday, Paugh was in the same position — leading after Round 1 — although his 67 was a more comfortable four-stroke lead over teammate AJ Ott and three others. And yet, Paugh felt the pressure early and had a double-bogey on the seventh hole. Soon after, his lead was only one stroke over Ott and Regis Jesuit’s Andrew McCormick — 2-under to 1-under — through 10 holes.
That’s when the senior, poised and seasoned, rose to the occasion. He birdied the 11th and 12th holes, giving him a three-shot lead, then he played sound the rest of the way.
It was enough to clinch his first state championship with an even 71 round, giving him 138 total, four-under, and a three-stroke victory over Ott. (Find complete results here.)
“Last year I posted a really good first round,” Paugh said. “I started off pretty solid, but the rest of the second day I just didn’t do what I needed to do. But that gave me good experience going into today. I knew I wasn’t going to let it go this time.”
After his early nerves faded, Paugh was right in his comfort zone and it’s easy to see why as he was playing at his home course, the Fort Collins Country Club.
“There came pressure with knowing the course, but I feel like it was an advantage knowing the greens, knowing where to hit the ball and where not to hit the ball,” he said.
“He knew where he needed to land the ball, he knew where he wanted it to be for his next shot, his putts, and how the greens would roll,” Fort Collins coach Kyle Tregoning said. “He played the course today and he didn’t worry about the other guys that were out there.”
Paugh, a University of South Dakota commit, felt overjoyed to put the finishing touches on a fantastic career for Fort Collins. He was a four-time state qualifier, on top of back-to-back top-3 finishes.
“Winning state is big for anyone, but after last year — having a chance at it, but I didn’t get it done,” he said. “Going into this year at my home course, I’ve been expected to play well. I filled those expectations. It’s a cool feeling.”
Fort Collins’ AJ Ott. More photos. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
His teammate, Ott, capped his career as a four-time top-10 finisher at the state tournament. He will continue his golf career as a Colorado State Ram.
“AJ, he’s one of the best players I’ve ever played with or played against and he’s a great friend, as well,” Paugh said. “I knew if anyone was going to get it done and have a shot at me, it was going to be him. It’s always fun playing against him and it’s cool to be one and two at state this year.”
The individual champion was, for the most part, decided long before a team was crowned.
The day began with a two-way tie atop the standings as Lakewood and Regis Jesuit both shot 6-over on Monday. Fossil Ridge was third at 8-over and Coronado, the defending team champions, was fourth at 10-over.
Pretty quickly the Cougars — who returned all four golfers from the 2014 title team — made a major push up the standings. They even took a commanding five-stroke lead over Regis at one point, but it was still early. The Raiders rallied to take a two-stroke lead through 10 holes with Coronado through 13. At that point Lakewood seemed out of it, down nine strokes, three behind Fossil Ridge.
Slowly but surely, Lakewood chipped away at the deficit until it was Coronado at 16-over, Regis 16-over, and the Tigers 17-over with three holes to play for Lakewood and Regis and Coronado on 18. After the next hole, there was a three-way tie.
That’s when one of Regis’ top players, Tyler Zhang, walked up to the 18th hole with virtually everything on the line.
“Tyler is the guy that broke the logjam, the three-way tie,” Regis coach Craig Rogers said. “He had a birdie on 18. I don’t know if I’ll ever see someone play a hole better than that, especially under the circumstances.
“He wasn’t sure if he wanted to hit driver or not, because we were tied, but he hit one of the best drives I’ve ever seen a high school kid hit. It was right down the middle. Then, he was 95 yards out. He placed it 7 feet away from the hole. The putt never left the cup the whole time. He absolutely drained it.”
In one of the closest finishes ever, Zhang’s birdie was the difference as the Raiders claimed their fifth state championship in six years with a score of 15-over. Coronado and Lakewood both went 16-over as Fossil Ridge was fourth in 19-over.
After a streak of four straight titles from 2010-2013, the Raiders were the runner-up last year.
Andrew McCormick was the top individual finished for team champion Regis Jesuit. More photos. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
“I’m just happy for these kids,” Rogers said. “I was thrilled with second, but it was tough on the boys to feel like they lost the run. It’s a little pressure and stress. In golf, you can get first place by winning it or someone else losing it. I’m just happy that somebody won it. Nobody gave it away.”
Andrew McCormick (tie for 3rd place, 1-over) and Zhang (tie for 5th place, 2-over) are the typical headliners of the team, but Rogers was equally proud of Cal McCoy (tie for 38th, 14-over) and Bennett Rogers (tie for 42nd, 15-over), his son. McCoy and Rogers both fought early adversity in their rounds before settling down and playing solid on the back nine.
In the end, it was enough for Regis to claim their sixth state championship overall in boys golf. They are now tied for third most in Colorado history with Mullen and Fort Collins. Cherry Creek and Kent Denver have both won eight.
Coach Rogers walked away overjoyed, but also relieved to have beaten teams the caliber of Lakewood and Coronado.
“Lakewood and Coronado were playing really, really well,” he said. “They are wonderful teams, very talented, and they did nothing wrong. We just happened to get a couple birdies at the end.”
Regis Jesuit won the 5A boys golf team title. (Bert Borgmann/CHSAANow.com)
Missy Franklin, the dynamic swimming standout who graduated from Regis Jesuit in 2013, was named the Best Female College Athlete at the 2015 ESPY Awards on Wednesday night.
She was unable to attend the award ceremony, but posted a video thanking for her award on Twitter:
Wish more than anything I could have been at the ESPY's tonight. This is what was happening instead!😫🚘 Broken car! pic.twitter.com/yonQRlHVxq
— Missy Franklin Johnson (@missyfranklin) July 16, 2015
Franklin just finished her sophomore season at Cal, where she won three individual NCAA titles — the 200-yard individual medley, 200-yard freestle and 200-yard backstroke — and helped the Bears to the NCAA title. After the season, Franklin was named the Pac-12 Swimmer of the Year, NCAA Swimmer of the Year, and also won the Honda Cup as the top female collegiate athlete.
Franklin has since turned pro.
This is Franklin’s second ESPY. After her performance at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London — where she won four gold medals and a bronze as a junior in high school — she won the 2013 ESPY for Best Female Olympic Athlete.
At Regis, she led the Raiders to state titles as a sophomore and a senior, and runner-up finishes as a freshman and junior. She broke numerous state records, and still holds individual state records for the 50 free, 100 free, 200 free, 500 free, 200 IM and 100 backstroke, as well as a team records in the 400 freestyle relay.
Mark Melancon, a 2003 graduate of Golden, made his second appearance in the MLB All-Star Game on Tuesday night in Cincinnati.
Melancon, a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates, came on in the top of the eighth inning with the National League trailing 6-2.
He struck out the Yankees Brett Gardner, and the Blue Jays’ Russell Martin, before giving up a home run to Brian Dozier of the Twins. Melancon then got the Tigers’ Jose Iglesias to ground out to end the inning.
“It’s so neat. It gives me goosebumps just watching everybody and being a part of it. And, man, it’s — what talent. It’s just cool,” Melancon told MLB.com after the game. “(There were) just some special moments this time. It got to sink in. I really got to enjoy two days here. It still went extremely fast and busy, but good times all the way around.”
Melancon was also an All-Star in 2013, again with the Pirates, but did not appear in the game, which was hosted by the Mets in New York.
Only 12 products of Colorado high schools have ever been selected to play in the All-Star Game, according to Baseball-Reference.com. This season, Melancon became the seventh Colorado product to be selected to multiple All-Star Games.
Great American Ball Park, site of the 2015 MLB All-Star Game. (Photo: shan213/Flickr)
So far in 2015, he is 1-1 with a 1.47 ERA and also has 29 saves. Last season, Melancon had a career-high 33 saves, to go along with a 1.90 ERA.
At Golden, Melancon was a two-sport star in baseball and football. He helped the Demons win the 2003 baseball title in Class 4A. Out of high school, he was picked in the 30th round of the MLB Draft by the Dodgers.
But Melancon opted instead to play college baseball, and he went on to star at Arizona, where he set the school’s single-season record for saves.
He spent three seasons with the Wildcats, and the Yankees then drafted him in the ninth round of the 2006 MLB Draft. He debuted in New York during the 2009 season.
Melancon was traded to Houston during the 2010 season, and was an Astro through 2011, when he had 20 saves. He was traded to the Red Sox after 2011, and only saw five chances to save games in 2012.
The Red Sox traded Melancon to the Pirates prior to the 2013 season, where he has since flourished. Through two-and-a-half seasons in Pittsburgh, Melancon has 78 saves, and a 1.61 ERA in 185 innings pitched. He’s also struck out 172 batters to just 27 walks.
In seven MLB seasons, the 30-year-old Melancon has 99 saves with a 2.74 ERA. He has 311 career strikeouts to 83 walks, and is 17-15.
Devon Wills of Colorado Academy (2002) and Lucy Dikeou of Kent Denver (2012) both made the 36-player roster, which was formed out of a three-day, 108-player tryout at Johns Hopkins. They are the lone representatives to hail west of the Mississippi River.
The national team will prepare for the 2017 Lacrosse Women’s World Cup in England next July. Prior to that, the squad will be trimmed to 18 players.
Wills, a goalie, has played in two World Cups (2009 and 2013), and won two gold medals. She is considered one of the best goalies in the world, and is now an assistant coach at USC.
Wills, who went on to play and graduate from Dartmouth in 2006, was inducted into the Colorado Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2014.
At Colorado Academy, Wills helped the Mustangs win a state title in 2000. It was the Mustangs’ lone championship in the sport until this season, when they beat Cherry Creek.
Dikeou, meanwhile, was one of just nine current collegiate players to make the cut to the national team.
She’ll be a senior at Stanford in the fall. Last season, Dikeou led Stanford in goals (48), points (63), groundballs (34), draw controls (54), turnovers forced (24) and free-position goals (13). The Cardinal reached the NCAA tournament, but lost in the first round.
At Kent Denver, Dikeou was a standout in both field hockey and lacrosse. She helped the Sun Devils to two field hockey championships (2009 and 2011).
Fifteen more local products were picked on Wednesday as the MLB Draft concluded on its final day.
Though quiet for the first few rounds on Wednesday, things soon picked up. In consecutive picks in the 23rd round, locals were selected.
Monarch’s Logan Soole went to the Arizona Diamondbacks with the first pick in the 23rd round (No. 676 overall). One selection later, Palmer Ridge alum Steven Leonard was taken by the Colorado Rockies at No. 677 overall.
Mullen alum Sam Haggerty went in the 24th round to Cleveland. Then, Douglas County graduate Tyler Servais was picked by the Detroit Tigers in the 27th round.
Two more went in the 29th round: Mullen alum Seth Davis to the New York Mets at No. 869 overall, and then Ralston Valley graduate Ben Yokley at No. 881 to St. Louis.
A round later, the 30th, Valor Christian alum Greg Popylisen was taken by Minnesota. In the 33rd round, Legacy’s Wyatt Cross was selected by the Rockies. In that same round, Eaglecrest alum Braxton Lorenzini was picked by San Diego.
The Rockies also picked Fairview’s Ryan Madden in the 35th round. Later in that round, Chaparral alum Jordan Serena was selected by the Angels.
In the 37th round, Mountain Vista’s Marc Mumper was selected by the Rockies. Later in the 37th, Regis Jesuit’s Matt Schmidt was picked by the New York Yankees. Two rounds after that, Schmidt’s teammate, Brent Schwarz, was selected by the Rockies.
It brought the three-day draft total to 20 local selections, including five on Tuesday. Of those, six were picked by the Rockies.
Soole, the 2015 graduate who is committed to Southern Illinois, was picked as a center fielder. He hit .518 with 22 RBIs and two home runs last season. He helped lead Monarch to the Final 8.
But Soole didn’t only star at the plate. He was also 6-1 with a 0.77 ERA in 45 2/3 innings, striking out 73 against just 12 walks.
Soole is just the second Monarch player to be selected straight out of high school. John Ray was picked in the 41st round by the Braves in 2003.
Steven Leonard, Palmer Ridge (2011)
A pick after Soole, Leonard went to the Rockies. It was their second local selection of the draft — they also took Rocky Mountain center fielder Cole Anderson in the tenth round.
Leonard, a 2011 Palmer Ridge grad, is now a redshirt sophomore at Campbell University in North Carolina. He spent 2012 and 2013 at Iowa Western Community College, where he helped the Reivers win a national championship.
A catcher, Leonard hit .328 with two home runs and 22 RBIs at Campbell last season.
Sam Haggerty, Mullen (2012)
Haggerty, a second baseman now at New Mexico, went to Cleveland in the 24th round with the No. 724 overall selection.
Haggerty graduated from Mullen in 2012, where he also played basketball.
He just completed his junior season at New Mexico. He hit .311 with a home run and 13 RBI in 29 games, and also stole six bases.
Tyler Servais, Douglas County (2011)
Servais, the Douglas County product who graduated in 2011, was picked by the Tigers in the 27th round. He was also selected out of high school, going in the 36th round to the Rockies.
A senior catcher at Princeton, he hit .200 with a home run and three RBIs this season. Behind the plate, Servais caught 10 of 45 runners attempting to steal.
Seth Davis, Mullen (2011)
Davis, the Mets’ 29th-round pick, graduated from Mullen in 2011. A left-handed pitcher, he is now a senior at Augustana (Ill.).
Last season, he was 5-2 with a 3.70 ERA in 65 2/3 innings. Davis struck out 92 against 12 walks.
Ben Yokley, Ralston Valley (2011)
Yokley also went in the 29th round, to the St. Louis Cardinals. He is a 2011 graduate of Ralston Valley.
The right-handed pitcher just finished his senior season at Air Force, where he was 2-0 with a 3.97 ERA in 34 innings spread out over 27 appearances. Yokley had 45 strikeouts to 25 walks.
Greg Popylisen, Valor Christian (2013)
Popylisen was a 30th-round pick of the Twins. He graduated from Valor Christian in 2013, and has been at El Paso Community College. The sophomore is committed to New Mexico State.
He is the first graduate of Valor Christian to be selected in the MLB Draft.
At Valor, Popylisen starred in both baseball and track. In fact, there was a day during the 4A baseball tournament where he had to hustle from the state track meet, which was going on at the same time a few blocks away, to one of Valor’s games.
Popylisen hit .364 with and 16 RBIs at El Paso last season, and also had 23 steals along with 38 runs scored.
Wyatt Cross, Legacy (2015)
Cross, the Legacy catcher who graduate this spring, became the third local product to be selected by the Rockies in the 33rd round. He is a North Carolina commit.
Though he played behind the plate, Cross didn’t hit at all last season due to a back injury. As a junior, he hit .302 with three home runs and 14 RBIs.
Cross is the third Legacy product to be drafted straight out of high school, following Lucas Gilbreath last season (36th round to the Rockies), and Kevin Walter in 2010 (26th round to the Phillies).
Braxton Lorenzini, Eaglecrest (2013)
Lorenzini, the 2013 Eaglecrest graduate, went to the San Diego Padres in the 33rd round. He is a right-handed pitcher at West Hills (Calif.) who spent a medical redshirt year at Central Christian in Kansas in 2014.
Lorenzini was 1-7 with a save and a 4.30 ERA at West Hills last season.
Ryan Madden, Fairview (2015)
Ryan Madden, left. (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Madden, a 2015 graduate, added to the long line of draftees for Fairview when the Rockies took him in the 35th round. He became the fifth Knight to be selected straight out of high school.
An Oklahoma commit, Madden starred this season. He was 7-2 with a 1.41 ERA and struck out 65 batters to 10 walks this season.
But Madden also tied for the Class 5A lead with seven home runs at the plate, and hit .446 with 29 RBIs.
Madden had his season end in the district rounds when he took a scary comebacker to his face. He has recovered well, and is pitching again in a summer league.
Jordan Serena, Chaparral (2011)
Serena, the 2011 Chaparral grad, also went in the 35th round. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim selected him.
Last season, Serena, a senior center fielder, hit .319 with two home runs and 23 RBIs. He also stole 21 bases.
Marc Mumper, Mountain Vista (2015)
Mumper, a shortstop who is committed to Grand Canyon (Ariz.), led the Golden Eagles to the 5A Final 4 this season.
The 2015 graduate hit .356 with two home runs and 22 RBIs this season, and was a key figure for Mountain Vista.
Matt Schmidt, Regis Jesuit (2015)
Schmidt graduated from Regis Jesuit this spring. A Texas commit, he was picked by the Yankees in the 37th round.
The third baseman hit .257 with four home runs and 17 RBIs this season.
He was the 13th Raider to be selected straight out of high school.
Brent Schwarz, Regis Jesuit (2015)
Schwarz, a right-handed pitcher, is also a 2015 graduate of Regis Jesuit.
He is committed to Rice. Schwarz was 3-4 with a 1.48 ERA in 52 innings this season. He struck out 65 against 26 walks.
On the heels of Schmidt’s selection, Schwarz became Regis Jesuit’s 14th selection straight from high school. It was the third consecutive draft that Regis has had two players selected.
Ryan Burr, a 2012 graduate of Highlands Ranch, became the first local player selected in this year’s MLB Draft on Tuesday.
Burr, now a junior standout at Arizona State, was taken by the Arizona Diamondbacks with the first pick in the fifth round on Tuesday.
“Couldn’t be happier!” Burr tweeted on Tuesday. “I am going to be a @Dbacks !!! Can’t wait to get after it!”
He led five locals who were selected on Tuesday, the second day of the draft. Joining him were Highlands Ranch shortstop Nick Shumpert (seventh round), Legend outfield Greg Pickett (eighth round), Cheyenne Mountain alum Bret Helton (ninth round) and Rocky Mountain outfielder Cole Anderson (tenth round).
Former Highlands Ranch star Ryan Burr, pictured during his senior season in 2012. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)
At ASU, Burr developed into a shutdown closer, and set the school record with 38 saves. It was a record that had stood since 1967.
He was a first-team all-Pac-12 pick this season after going 8-2 with 14 saves to go along with a 2.91 ERA in 46 1/3 innings. He struck out 74 batters to just 25 walks, thanks in large part to a fastball which hits 97 mph, according to a scouting report on MLB.com.
Burr was also selected out of high school, going in the 33rd round to the Texas Rangers. He opted not to sign then, and moved on to Arizona State.
The first local 2015 graduate to go in this year’s draft was another Highlands Ranch product: Shumpert, a 6-foot, 180-pound shortstop, was picked by the Detroit Tigers in the seventh round, No. 220 overall.
Shumpert, who is committed to Kentucky, is the son of former big-leaguer Terry Shumpert, who spent 14 seasons in the MLB, including 1998-2002 with the Colorado Rockies.
During his senior season this spring, Shumpert hit .600 with five home runs and 14 RBIs. He also stole 33 bases. In addition, he drew 20 walks for an eye-popping .722 on-base percentage.
Shumpert led Class 5A in batting average, steals and on-base percentage in 2015.
“I want to thank the @tigers for giving me the opportunity to start my professional career,” Shumpert tweeted on Tuesday.
A round after Shumpert, Legend’s Pickett went No. 234 overall to the Philadelphia Phillies.
Pickett, a 6-foot-4, 215-pound outfield who is committed to Mississippi State, hit .420 with six home runs and 22 RBIs this spring.
Pickett is the first player from Legend — which was established in 2008 — to be selected in the MLB Draft.
Helton, the Cheyenne Mountain alum, was picked by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the ninth round. He was taken No. 277 overall.
Now a junior at Utah, Helton was 2-8 with a 5.72 ERA in 61 1/3 innings this season.
In the tenth round, the Colorado Rockies picked Anderson, the outfielder from Rocky Mountain. He was the No. 287 pick in the draft.
Anderson batted .405 with 25 RBIs this season, and led 5A with seven home runs. He also stole six bases.
The MLB Draft started on Monday, but there were no local selections in the first 75 picks — which spanned the first round, compensation round, both competitive balance rounds, and the second round.
It actually marked the first time since 2011 that no Colorado products were selected in the first round. Last season, Thomas Jefferson alum Kyle Freeland went No. 8 overall.
The draft’s third-through-tenth rounds are Tuesday, and rounds 11-40 are Wednesday.
Last season, 23 players who played high school baseball in Colorado were selected in the MLB Draft, including 12 who graduated in 2014.
Grandview’s four girls championships were the most in the state for that gender, while Creek’s four boys championships led the way.
Eaton, Colorado Academy, Lyons and Valor Christian all won three total team championships.
In all, 65 teams won at least one team title in 2014-15, with 17 winning at least two.
Rank
School
Girls
Boys
Total
1
Cherry Creek
1
4
5
2
Grandview
4
0
4
2
Cheyenne Mountain
3
1
4
4
Eaton
2
1
3
4
Colorado Academy
3
0
3
4
Lyons
0
3
3
4
Valor Christian
2
1
3
8
Rock Canyon
1
1
2
8
Mountain Vista
1
1
2
8
Fossil Ridge
1
1
2
8
Palmer Ridge
0
2
2
8
Paonia
1
1
2
8
Overland
1
1
2
8
Air Academy
0
2
2
8
Broomfield
1
1
2
8
Kent Denver
0
2
2
8
Alamosa
0
2
2
18
Cheyenne Wells
1
0
1
18
Vail Christian
1
0
1
18
Bishop Machebeuf
1
0
1
18
Manitou Springs
1
0
1
18
Bennett
1
0
1
18
Glenwood Springs
1
0
1
18
Ponderosa
1
0
1
18
Castle View
1
0
1
18
Chaparral
1
0
1
18
Green Mountain
0
1
1
18
Rye
0
1
1
18
Dove Creek
0
1
1
18
Regis Jesuit
1
0
1
18
Aspen
0
1
1
18
Vail Mountain
1
0
1
18
Fountain-Fort Carson
0
1
1
18
Lutheran
0
1
1
18
Springfield
0
1
1
18
Cherokee Trail
1
0
1
18
Niwot
1
0
1
18
Heritage Christian
1
0
1
18
Colorado Springs Christian
0
1
1
18
Sanford
0
1
1
18
Holly
0
1
1
18
Pagosa Springs
1
0
1
18
Akron
1
0
1
18
Idalia
1
0
1
18
Arvada West
0
1
1
18
Thompson Valley
0
1
1
18
Valley
0
1
1
18
Rocky Ford
0
1
1
18
Battle Mountain
0
1
1
18
Summit
1
0
1
18
Evergreen
1
0
1
18
Pine Creek
0
1
1
18
Pueblo East
0
1
1
18
Brush
0
1
1
18
Caliche
0
1
1
18
Arickaree/Woodlin
0
1
1
18
Lewis-Palmer
1
0
1
18
Resurrection Christian
1
0
1
18
Fleming
1
0
1
18
Standley Lake
1
0
1
18
Mountain View
0
1
1
18
Fort Collins
0
1
1
18
Coronado
0
1
1
18
Sterling
0
1
1
18
La Junta
1
0
1
[divider]
Individual titles
Thompson Valley totaled 14 individual championships in 2014-15, including five wrestlers. (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Thompson Valley had eight boys and six girls win individual championships in 2014-15 to account for its state-best total of 14.
Cherry Creek was second with 13, and Pomona was third with 10. Lyons won eight, while Air Academy and Cheyenne Mountain each captured seven individual crowns.
A total of 131 schools had at least one individual win a championship. Of those, 73 schools had at least two champions, and 10 had as many as five.
Below is a complete breakdown of individual championships this season.
Rock Canyon won the school’s first baseball championship by beating Chatfield in the 5A finale on Wednesday. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
DENVER — After losing their first game of the state tournament, the Rock Canyon is the Class 5A baseball state champions.
The Jaguars rattled off five-straight wins, including a 9-2 win over Chatfield in the 5A state championship game to hoist the school’s first baseball championship.
The Jaguars topped Mountain Vista 2-1 in the first game of the day to earn the right to face the Chatfield Chargers in the state title game. After taking a 8-2 lead in that championship game, a lightning delay suspended play for an hour, but Rock Canyon had the game well in control and the title well in hand.
“Every game was delayed and pushed back so why not do this one the same way?” Rock Canyon coach Tyler Munro said afterward. “It’s a culmination. I feel it as a coach where it’s like, ‘We are going to win this game.’ It was even there in the first game today. There was never a doubt.”
The Jaguars were able to draw first blood, but not without some help from the Chargers’ defense. Chris Givin reached base on an error by Chatfield second baseman Jack Winkler. He was able to swipe second base before being sacrificed over to third.
A slight twitch by Chargers pitcher Sean O’Dell was noticed by the umpires, prompting a balk call that scored Givin to give Rock Canyon an early 1-0 lead.
O’Dell made up for his blunder, leading off the Chatfield half of the first with a double. He, too, was advanced over on a bunt before scoring on a sacrifice fly to tie the game.
Rock Canyon greatly shifted the game in their favor in the top of the third. Another Chargers error put Ben Sneider on first base.
The small ball trend continued as Adam Schiller sacrificed Sneider to second before Quinn O’Neil drove him home on with an RBI single. O’Neil crossed home plate shortly after on a Daryl Myers double. After the third inning, the Jaguars held a 3-1 lead.
“It’s a special way to end my senior year,” O’Neil said of his performance. “It was so surreal to finish off like that; with a bang.”
The Chargers were able to get one back in the bottom of the fourth, but Rock Canyon responded with two in the top of the fifth, with O’Neil and Myers each getting their second RBIs of the day. The Chargers committed six errors on Wednesday, a day after fielding woes contributed to their first loss of the tournament.
“Any given day, any given day, you never know,” Chatfield coach Matt Johnson said. “This is a mental game and you have to be able to handle failure. It’s how you bounce back from failure that defines you as a baseball player.”
(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
The Jaguars added three more runs in the top of the seventh before a lightning delay halted play for over an hour. Once the players returned to the field, the 9-2 lead was more than enough for Josh White, who able to cruise through the final inning. He finished the complete game by giving up only five hits and walking two Chargers.
“It feels good (to have that cushion),” White said. “At that point you’re ready to go and ready to get the job done.”
In the first game of the day, they were able to get past Mountain Vista with a 2-1 win, thanks to a 2-run single from Sneider. Chris Givin stayed strong on the mound, going all seven innings with six strikeouts. He only allowed four hits and didn’t give up a single walk.
The state championship for Rock Canyon comes after it lost the first game of the state tournament in a 3-2 battle to Mountain Vista. The Jaguars then rattled off wins against Pine Creek and Cherry Creek in order to face the then-undefeated Chargers Tuesday.
Eaton baseball won the 11th state championship in its program history on Wednesday. (Brock Laue/CHSAANow.com)
GREELEY — Well, no one was just going to hand Eaton baseball another state championship.
Even with a 25-0 record entering Wednesday, a run of success matched by only a few programs in any sport at any school, and the winningest-active coach in the nation (at more than 800 victories) in Jim Danley, the Reds still had to prove their worth at Butch Butler Field to win the Class 3A title.
They lost Game 1 to Brush 4-3 after a gem by Kyle Rosenbrock, but Eaton (26-1) turned around to beat the Beetdiggers 7-1 in the evening. The victory earned the program its 11th state title in the sport.
The Reds have now claimed more championships in baseball than any other program in Colorado.
“It means a lot to this community,” Eaton’s Ryan Koehler said of title No. 11. “We have a lot of love for our fans.”
An undefeated record in a double-elimination bracket gave Eaton the advantage of having to win just one game, while their Patriot League rivals had to win two to earn the crown.
The Beetdiggers, riding its ace in Rosenbrock, put the pressure on the Reds, though. The senior gave up 10 hits and eight walks, but was masterful in the clutch as he struck out 12 and stranded 13 Eaton runners. And the all-sport star — who was named the 2A football player of the year and plays basketball, wrestles and runs track — threw 159 pitches.
He even started Game 2.
But the Beetdiggers made a pitching change after one inning, going with BJ Hirshfeld. Then, they made another change, then another, then another.
After fighting past University on Tuesday in the semis and then coming back for a doubleheader against the Reds, Brush (19-7) seemed to run out of gas.
(Brock Laue/CHSAANow.com)
In 2013, Holy Family beat Eaton back-to-back to earn the crown. 2014, the Tigers prevailed over the Reds again. But this year, the squad in white and red had the depth and the grit to win its first championship since 2012, a season when the Reds took out Brush again.
More than anything Wednesday — depth prevailed.
From Ryan Koehler’s six-hit, one-run performance on the mound; to Brady Tedesco’s pair of two-out, two-run hits; to Lane Greiman’s fantastic fielding and relief pitching, Eaton just had too much firepower in Game 2.
The trio of seniors, and their many talented teammates up and down the lineup, snatched the Reds another baseball championship to bring back to their proud community.
“The luxury of being able to save Ryan Koehler was one we thought might result in a championship, because very few teams have the ability to save that kind of quality pitcher,” Danley said. “We were fortunate to be able to do that. We have a deep staff and they worked hard to put us in that position.”
“We’re blessed with pitching and we’re blessed with guys who love to be on the mound,” said Tedesco, who started Game 1. “We trust anyone to go out there.”
As for the value of Danley’s seniors?
“They pitched, they hit, and they are great leaders,” the veteran coach said. “They know how to rally a ballclub.”
Eaton is used to excellence, but that doesn’t mean they took another title for granted. The fact it was a record No. 11 just added a little something extra.
