(Nick Jurney)

FREDERICK – Chocolate frosted donuts.

That’s the breakfast that fueled a championship performance from Eaton High School’s Logan Moser, as the senior hurler helped guide his team to the Class 3A state baseball title Saturday at Frederick High School.

Moser pitched a complete game and racked up 13 strikeouts from the bump and also drove in a run to help the cause in Eaton’s 4-1 win over The Classical Academy. It was just one of those days where he woke up feeling like he had the sweet stuff.

“From the first pitch in the bullpen I knew it was going to be a good day,” Moser said. “Our team scoring runs really helps. You just calm down and focus, knowing you’re here for a reason and you’re doing a job.”

The championship represents the 12th in Eaton baseball’s storied history, and first since 2015, adding to the school’s state record. The team’s energy as they attempted to make that feat a reality was apparent.

Junior Jaden Stone led off the game with a single and scored the first run after a deep drive to center field by sophomore Walker Martin turned into an RBI triple.

Martin scored after the next batter, senior Ryan Ure – the star pitcher from Friday’s semifinal victory – drove him home on a fielder’s choice, making Eaton’s lead 2-0 early. Moser added to the insurance pot with an RBI single in the second, driving home junior Dirk Duncan after he reached base from a leadoff double.

“Our guys all year long, with the exception of the tournament actually, have done a great job of scoring in the first inning,” head coach Todd Hernandez said. “We talked about that as coaches, if we could get Logan two or three runs early and give him a cushion to let him go to work, we’d be in good shape.”

While it was ultimately a wire-to-wire victory for the champs, it certainly didn’t come without drama. A fifth-inning rain delay prolonged Eaton’s quest for their 12th title, but it didn’t damper anyone’s spirits. Moser came back from the delay and struck out six of the next eight batters he faced, and TCA’s lone run scored in the bottom of the seventh during a much-too-late rally attempt.

“That (rain delay) is one of those things where I just kept thinking, ‘Well we’ve waited this long, we can wait another half-hour’,” Hernandez said with a smile. “We knew all along that Logan wasn’t going to come out of the game. We knew we could finish it.”

LAKEWOOD — Fairview and Valor Christian shrugged off elimination to advance to the final day of the Class 5A state baseball tournament.

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Coverage:

• :Fairview and Valor Christian will play for a shot at Mountain Vista in 5A baseball title game
• : 5A baseball bracket

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Fairview 4, Mountain Vista 2

By Paul Shepardson

• Link to gallery

(Paul Shepardson)

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Valor Christian 10, Fort Collins 1

By Paul Shepardson and Paul DiSalvo

• Link to gallery

(Paul DiSalvo/PaulDiSalvoPhotography.com)

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

PUEBLO — The only thing better than having a chance to win a baseball state championship is having two.

That’s exactly what Ponderosa will have on Saturday as the Mustangs beat D’Evelyn 7-3 to advance to Saturday unbeaten. With Holy Family winning earlier in the day, it means that the Tigers will have to take down Ponderosa twice while the Mustangs need just one win to claim the Class 4A state baseball title.

“We’ve talked about this for years and we approached it as another game we had to win” Ponderosa coach Bob Maloney said. “It’s huge for us to go into tomorrow undefeated especially against a quality Holy Family team.”

The Mustangs (20-2 overall) have no desire to fix a game plan that isn’t broken. They advanced to the second weekend of the state tournament without a loss by being steady on the mound and powerfully opportunistic at the plate.

After falling behind 1-0 to the Jaguars (14-5) in the top of the second inning, Ponderosa strung together four quick runs to take control.

In the third, the Mustangs showed off some of the power they had last week in Pueblo as Dom Lopez blasted a solo home run, his third of the state tournament.

“When you’re playing with a lead, it’s so much easier,” Lopez said. “And when you know your sticks are hot, you know you can get away with things you can’t get away with in you’re not hitting as well.”

With plenty of offense in the bag, pitcher Cael Porter maintained a steady hand after entering the game with one out in the second inning. Knowing he would get the necessary run support, Porter was determined to do his job and put the Mustangs in firm control of the state tournament heading into the final day of play.

“I wasn’t sure how our offense was going to do today,” Porter said. “I knew we’d do alright but that run support definitely helped a lot. I was nervous coming in and that made me feel a lot better.”

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

Holy Family’s championship hopes remain alive after battling back to beat Cheyenne Mountain 5-4 in the day’s first game. The Tigers (19-2) were up 3-0 after the first inning and Izaak Siefken kept the Cheyenne Mountain hitters at bay for most of the game. A three-run pad felt good enough to win as the game reached the later innings.

“I thought it was,” Siefken said. “Cheyenne Mountain fought hard and came back. They beat me in that last inning.”

Trailing 3-1 heading to the 7th, Cheyenne Mountain (17-4) got the tying run across the plate to force the game into extra innings, where it took a 4-3 lead in the top of the 8th.

A base hit and a hit batter put runners on first and second for the Tigers and Ryan Chacon brought them home with a hard hit double, keeping the Tigers in the mix.

It was the kind of win that the Tigers saw Ponderosa get last week and now there is hope a walk-off win could ignite a championship run.

“It could be,” Holy Family coach John Ray said. “Brad Helton threw a heck of a game against us, for all intents and purposes it just came out Holy Family.”

The Tigers and the Mustangs will play at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday at Hobbs Field following the conclusion of the 2A state championship game. Should Holy Family win, the second game will begin at 3 p.m.

(Alex McIntyre/Greeley Tribune)

Even though Eaton’s game today technically didn’t have the inherit pressure of an elimination game, the Reds still played with all the desperation one would expect from a team whose season is on the line.

Eaton — the second seed in the eight-team Class 3A state baseball tournament — grinded its way to a 2-1 win against top-seeded Lutheran in a semifinal game today at Frederick High School.

The Reds (20-1) will face No. 4 The Classical Academy (13-7) in the first of possibly two finals games at 10 a.m. Saturday in Frederick.

After today’s win against Lutheran (19-2), Eaton improved to 4-0 in the double-elimination tournament. With the Reds being the only team still unbeaten in the tournament, The Classical Academy would have to defeat Eaton twice Saturday — including in a second finals game at 12:30 p.m. — to wrestle the title from the Reds’ firm grasp.

Eaton needs to win just once Saturday to add on to their state record 11 state baseball championships.

And, just like the approach toward today’s semifinals game, the Reds will look to secure that one win in just one game Saturday.

“It’s been the same intensity all year; we ramped it up this game,” said Eaton senior pitcher Ryan Ure, who will pitch for Oklahoma State University next year. “We came out here wanting to win. We never want to lose. So, we were ready.”

Ure’s focus level on the mound showed signs from the get-go of the Reds’ intention to play today’s game as if it were must-win.

In a 113-pitch, six-inning outing, he allowed just one earned run on three hits, striking out 10 and walking three.

Arguably the biggest surprise of the state tournament’s final four kept its Cinderella story alive for at least another game, as fourth-seeded The Classical Academy edged No. 3 Faith Christian 5-4 today in the other semifinal game.

The Titans upset top-seeded Lutheran 12-2 in the second round of the tournament June 18 before taking a late lead but faltering in the last 1 1/2 innings to lose to second-seeded Eaton 11-10 in the third round this past Sunday.

TCA didn’t allow today’s semifinals game to slip away in similar fashion, despite some tense moments late in the game.

The Titans erased an early 2-0 deficit with three runs in the bottom of the third. TCA then tacked on a pair of runs in the sixth. Those insurance runs would prove critical moments later.

Trailing 5-2 heading into the final inning, Faith Christian scored a pair of runs to pull within 1 but was ultimately denied the late-game comeback.

(Max Potter)

LAKEWOOD – Fairview knocked off Mountain Vista, 4-2, behind a stellar outing from Finley Daecher in the first game of the day at All-Star Park in Lakewood. An offensive outburst from Valor Christian gave the Eagles all they needed to take care of Fort Collins, 10-1, in Game 2.

Fairview and Valor Christian will square off at 10 a.m. on Friday for the right to play Mountain Vista in the 5A championship game, which is slated for 1 p.m.

Finley Daecher was the story for the Knights, as the left-handed pitcher kept the Golden Eagles off balance all morning from the sidearm slot. The senior went 6 2/3 innings and only allowed two runs while striking out three.

“Our defense is amazing and they just backed me up all game. I was able to work both sides of the zone and that was our game plan, to keep them on their toes,” Daecher said. “It was great to go through a lot of innings so we can keep some arms fresh for tomorrow and I’m glad I could come through for my guys.”

Vista had some terrific chances to strike, loading the bases in the fifth and putting the tying run on base again in the seventh, but could not scratch anything across. Coach Castillo turned to his bullpen with two outs in the seventh and gave the ball to freshman Anton Keith, who came in and got a ground out to shortstop to nail down his first career save.

“The goal was to play in the last game of the season and win it,” Fairview head coach David Castillo said. “Obviously, to do that we are going to need everybody. Looking at matchups to find the best way to win, we saw that (Finley) was our guy and in order to get to tomorrow we needed something, and he did it today.”

Fairview was clutch when it got into a jam, stranding 11 Golden Eagles on base.

“They hit some balls hard, but we made key plays when we needed to,” Castillo continued. “The defense has been there for us all year and we have been practicing all week on our football field to get used to playing on turf. The guys stayed calm and minimized damage when they needed to, especially in that first inning and that was huge for our success today.”

The second game of the day started with a bang, as starting pitcher Brant Kragel tripled to the gap in left center. Blake Wilson was key to the Valor Christian offense, roping a double off the wall in left center in the first then scoring the next batter. An inning later, he hit a fly ball just left of the 390 sign in center field that plated three runs and put him on third base.

“Blake (Wilson) is one of the most underrated players in the state,” Valor coach Keith Wahl said. “He is a middle infielder whose got pop, has a great work ethic and throws 90 mph across the diamond. We are so blessed to have him.”

Every hitter for the Valor Christian side reached base and that is exactly what coach Wahl preaches.

“We talk about quality at bats all the time,” Wahl said. “Hit the ball with maximum velocity, have a plan at the plate and execute that plan. These guys never chase outside the zone and do a great job at the dish. These guys are dialed in right now.”

Kragel was tremendous both on the bump and at the plate, throwing a complete game and only allowing six hits. He reached base safely in four of five at-bats and started the game with a triple on the first pitch

“I tried to come out and be aggressive and put myself in a spot to help the team get the win,” Kragel said. “Starting the day with a triple, I felt like it was going to be a pretty good day. We are going to have a great chance tomorrow and I am excited for the chance to compete.”

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

GREELEY — Less than 20 days ago, Holly baseball coach Dayne Eaton made a crucial decision that would greatly shape the ending of his team’s season.

Flatirons Academy was on its way to Holly for a doubleheader and Eaton had to decide whether or not a regular season win was more important than gambling on a pitching matchup for a potential state championship showdown. By the time the decision was made, Eaton had decided that Brigden Parker, the team’s ace, wouldn’t pitch in that regular season doubleheader.

He wanted to save him for state.

The gamble paid off in a big way as Parker threw a complete game shutout and Holly beat the Bison 1-0 to win the program’s second Class 1A state baseball crown and first since 2016.

“Our strength is our depth in pitching,” Eaton said. “So I left (the regular season games) up to those other guys and we were going to save Brigden. The Limon coach (Rocky Rockwell) told me we were on a collision course with them for the state title. Limon beat them by one and beat us by one and both games could have gone either way.”

It was a much bigger gamble considering that Eaton was determined not to throw Parker until the state title game and left the semifinal showdown up to his son, Dakota.

The Wildcats (16-4 overall) helped him out in a big way. Home runs from Parker and Jose Magallanes led the way to a 9-1 win, setting up that showdown between Holly and Flatirons Academy.

That collision course came to a head and right in the middle of it was a pitchers duel. Both Parker and Bison (12-3) starter Trenton Rowan were fantastic throughout the day.

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

In seven innings, Rowan allowed just four hits and walked one hitter. He struck out 13 batters that he faced. He made just one mistake. He left a pitch over the plate enough that Magallanes blasted it over the left field fence to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead in the sixth inning.

“He told me it was an inside changeup and he wondered how I got it,” Magallanes said. “He was really confused with how I got it.”

It didn’t matter. A 1-0 lead with the way Rowan and Parker were throwing might as well have been a 10-0 lead. When he saw the ball disappear over the fence, Parker accepted the challenge of finishing the game with a one-run lead.

“I knew it was up to me to shut it down,” Parker said. “Once he hit that, I knew. We got this one.”

His pitch count was creeping up there and his goal was to finish the game. Evan Moll reached base on a throwing error by Parker, but he responded by striking out the next two hitters with a combined 10 pitches.

He needed just one pitch to induce a groundout from Blake Swearingen that gave the Wildcats the state title. He finished the day with 13 strikeouts and worked ahead of hitters very often. Of the 26 batters he faced, he threw 19 first pitch strikes. Overall, he can’t remember a better performance he’s ever had on the mound.

“That has to be No. 1,” he said.

And it all goes back to that June 5 decision from Eaton. He could’ve thrown Parker that day and given his team a mental edge should they play each other for state. But he decided he would save Parker’s best performance for the last game of the year.

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

PUEBLO — Peyton is a well-balanced baseball team and if there was any doubt about that, the Panthers erased them all on Saturday at the Runyon baseball complex in Pueblo.

In the two games they played, Peyton showed strength in both pitching and on offense as it grabbed a 15-0 win over Denver Christian and an 8-1 win over Buena Vista to advance to the Class 2A championship game next Saturday.

In the first game, as strong as the Panthers (17-1) overall were offensively, it was the arm of CJ Lashley that was perhaps the most impressive part of their game. Lashley threw a four-inning no-hitter which gave his team a huge mental boost not just for their second game of the day but for the remainder of the 2A state baseball tournament.

“We’re an all-around team,” Lashley said. “Throwing that no-hitter definitely gave us a lot of confidence and helped us save some arms for the next game. It shows that it’s not one player on the team, we have balance throughout the whole roster.”

Lashley helped his own cause early in the first game as he ripped a 3-RBI triple in the second that pushed the Peyton lead to 6-0 over Denver Christian. They added nine more runs to finish off the game in the bottom of the 4th, just before Runyon went into a lightning delay for close to an hour.

When they took the field against Buena Vista, the Panthers showed no sign of slowing down. They again jumped on the board early and Brennen Meyers pitched five solid innings.

The Panthers will have a chance at avenging their only loss of the season as they’ll head back to Pueblo next Saturday to face No. 1 Limon. The Badgers beat St. Mary’s 8-1 then rallied in a big way to beat Rye 16-6 to advance to the state championship game.

A four-run first inning for Rye put Limon (19-0) in an early hole, but they responded in a big way in the bottom of the 2nd. Kory Tacha tied the game with a 2-RBI single and then the Badgers added five more in the inning to take firm control.

“We’ve been down like that before,” Tacha said. “We had to battle back in games earlier in the season and we’re good at that. We’re a team that can battle through adversity and come out on top.”

Limon and Peyton met earlier in the year, back on May 21, when the Badgers got a 4-2 win. That game featured a pitching matchup of Lashley and Tacha and it wouldn’t be shocking to see the same matchup in a week’s time.

The 2A baseball state championship game will begin at 9:30 a.m. on June 26 at Hobbs Field.

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

PUEBLO — If there is a way to battle back in the seventh inning, Ponderosa is going to find it. The Mustangs trailed 5-0 after the first couple of innings before rallying back to beat Evergreen with a walk-off home run on the first day of the Class 4A baseball tournament.

They followed that win up with another walk-off blast, this one against Cheyenne Mountain to enter the second day of the tournament unbeaten.

In Saturday’s marquee game, the winner of Holy Family and Ponderosa would automatically advance to the state championship series. And Holy Family looked like it wanted that advancement early as it jumped out to a 5-0 lead over the Mustangs in the first inning.

But even on a different day, the Mustangs had same grit and heart that they’ve shown in the postseason. They scored 11 of their 14 runs in the sixth and seventh innings to get a 14-11 win over the Tigers.

“It’s incredible,” coach Bob Maloney said. “We have so much senior leadership. In 30 years, I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s unmatched.”

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

It’s been quite the remarkable three-game stretch for the Mustangs (18-2 overall). Tied with Evergreen in the seventh inning on Friday, Dom Lopez blasted a walk-off home run to beat the Cougars. He hit another home run later in the day against Cheyenne Mountain which proved crucial in that win as well.

When Lopez got into the batter’s box in the top of the seventh against the Tigers (18-2), the Mustangs were down two with the bases loaded and one out. He couldn’t help but think of how things transpired on Friday.

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t,” Lopez said. “But really, I just had the same mentality, just put the ball in play.”

He let loose on a monster hack on a 1-2 count and for a brief moment, it looked like the ball would carry out of Hobbs Field. It landed on the warning track and Lopez ended up at second. The rest of the runners scored and for the first time in the game, Ponderosa took the lead.

Parker Dennis got hit by a pitch then Skyler Ahern ripped a ball to left-center – the same area where Lopez had hit his double two batters earlier – but with more pop.

His ball carried over the wall to make it a 14-10 game. It was Ahern’s first home run of the season and it came at the best possible time.

“With this team we fight and battle,” Ahern said. “It doesn’t matter how much we’re down. We’ll always scratch a couple of runs across and keep fighting until the game is over. We have seven innings so we need to make all seven count.”

That’s been the mindset all weekend and the Mustangs have every intention of carrying that over.

Even with the loss, Holy Family is still in the title picture as they only have one loss in the tournament. The Tigers play Cheyenne Mountain on Friday morning with Ponderosa set to play D’Evelyn. If the Mustangs beat the Jags, they’ll have to be beaten twice on Saturday.

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

PUEBLO — In two pitches, Ponderosa first baseman Dom Lopez had the best start to the Class 4A state baseball tournament of anyone that made the trip to Pueblo.

After trailing Evergreen 5-0 after just the second inning, the Mustangs had to battle back in their opening contest. They did just that and kept the Cougars off the board for the remainder of the game.

On the first pitch that Lopez saw in the bottom of the seventh inning, he decided it was time to end it. He ripped the first pitch he saw to centerfield and trotted around the bases ready to jump into the celebration of his awaiting teammates at home plate.

The next pitch he saw was his first at-bat in the Mustangs’ second game of the day. He hit it to nearly the same spot beyond the centerfield wall to make it a 2-0 lead for Pondo and the Mustangs went on to beat Cheyenne Mountain 10-8 as teammate Derek Lukes followed suit with a walk-off bomb of his own.

“I really like going after the first pitch,” Lopez said. “I think it’s the best pitch you’ll get the whole at-bat so I always go for that first one, no matter what.”

Bottom 7. Dom Lopez called game. Mustangs win 6-5. #copreps @PonderosaAthle1 @JaronCohen1 pic.twitter.com/Ejp6K0RtX0

— Daniel Mohrmann (@DanMohrmann) June 18, 2021

The Mustangs (17-2 overall) will get a bit of a breather before they head to Rawlings Field on the campus of CSU-Pueblo. They’ll take on Holy Family who flexed its muscles offensively with a 12-2 win over Lewis-Palmer to start the day then followed it up with a 12-3 win over D’Evelyn.

The winner of Holy Family and Ponderosa will be the lone unbeaten team in the 4A tournament heading into next weekend, which is ideal in this modified double-elimination bracket.

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

In the first day of a state baseball tournament in over two years, the actions between Hobbs Field and Andenucio Field at the Runyon complex couldn’t have been any different. The Tigers (17-1) showed dominance on the way to their two wins at Hobbs. In the second game of the day, Holy Family scored nine runs across three innings to take a big lead over the Jaguars. Brennan Bennett, Connor Cooney, Jared Delgado, Isaac Siefken and Jaden Delgado all scored twice through the course of the game.

D’Evelyn had taken down No. 1 Severance 11-4 earlier in the day.

The thrillers came from Andenucio. Down 5-0 to Evergreen after the first two innings, the Mustangs battled back to tie the game before Lopez ended it with a solo shot in the seventh.

Cheyenne Mountain shook off any homefield advantage that Pueblo County was getting to get a 7-3 win.

Ponderosa started its game with Cheyenne Mountain off with Lopez’s second home run of the day. Cheyenne Mountain tied the game at two then pulled even 8-8 heading into the bottom of the seventh. Lopez was walked to start the inning and then Lukes just saw his pitch and blasted it to left field.

“That’s always going through my mind,” Lukes said. “After what Dom did in the first game and the momentum we had, I kind of knew what was going to happen. There was no doubt in my mind that we were going to win it.”

Severance will play Lewis-Palmer in an elimination game at Rawlings Field at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday. Evergreen and Pueblo County will follow suit at noon. The game between Ponderosa and Holy Family will go off at 7: 30 p.m. with the winner taking control of the state tournament going into championship weekend.

The first day of the Class 5A baseball tournament saw Valor Christian and Mountain Vista win two games and advance to Saturday unbeaten.

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Valor Christian 10, Chatfield 4

By Paul DiSalvo

• Link to gallery

(Paul DiSalvo/PaulDiSalvoPhotography.com)

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Mountain Vista 11, Heritage 7

By Paul Shepardson

• Link to gallery

(Paul Shepardson)

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Mountain Vista 9, Legacy 2

By Paul Shepardson

• Link to gallery

(Paul Shepardson)

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Heritage 5, Fairview 1

By Paul Shepardson

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(Paul Shepardson)