Regis Jesuit walked away with a win over Arapahoe in a No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown on Saturday. Monday, the Raiders are the unanimous pick to lead CHSAANow.com’s Class 5A boys lacrosse poll.
Cherry Creek moved up one spot to No. 2, Kent Denver jumped two places to No. 3 and Arapahoe fell to fourth. Mountain Vista rounds out the top five.
Chaparral (No. 8) and Columbine (No. 10) joined the 5A ranking this week.
Wheat Ridge extended its stay at No. 1 in 4A.
Behind the Farmers, Ponderosa moved up four spots to No. 2. Likewise, Steamboat Springs went from No. 7 to No. 3. Aspen is fourth and Thompson Valley rounds out the top five.
Air Academy is the lone newcomer this week at No. 10.
AURORA — Regis Jesuit and Rocky Mountain both scored second-half goals en route to a 1-1 tie on Saturday.
Kara Boldt scored for Rocky Mountain, while Kelsi Lidge scored for Regis. Rocky’s Taylor Guzzardo made nine saves, while Kylie Chisholm had five for Regis.
Fairview shortstop Cameron Frazier (3) keeps his focus on the ball as Arvada West sophomore Luke Lastoczy slides back to second base during the fourth inning Friday at Arvada West High School. The Knights took a 9-1 road victory in the non-league game. (Dennis Pleuss)
ARVADA — Fairview’s bats wasted no time in getting an early lead and the efficient work of Knights’ junior Ryan Madden on the mound was too much for Arvada West on Friday.
Fairview, No. 10 in the latest CHSAANow.com Class 5A baseball poll, touched up A-West senior pitcher Brody Hagel-Pitt for seven runs on eight hits in the first two innings on the Wildcats’ home field. The Knights (6-1) cruised to an eventual 9-1 victory.
Fairview senior Cannon Casey, right, slides into home during the sixth inning as Arvada West catcher Jesse Klene waits for a throw. (Dennis Pleuss)
“We put 30 pitches or so on his (Hagel-Pitt) arm early. He is a good arm,” Fairview coach Rick Harig said of forcing the Wildcats’ starter to throw more than 30 pitches to get out of the top of the first inning. “Getting four runs set the tone for us. Madden set the tone the other way coming at batters, throwing early strikes and getting ahead. That’s a good combination.”
Senior Jeff Clarke was a main cog for the Knights’ fast offensive start. Clarke began the scoring with an RBI single in the top of the first. He added a two-run double in Fairview’s three-run second inning. Clarke finished the game 3-for-4 with four RBIs.
Madden also had a three-hit game going 3-for-4 with two runs batted in. However, the junior was even more impressive on the mound, allowing just one run and four hits in six innings pitched to pick up his second win this season. Senior Mike Vlasity retired all three batters he faced in the bottom of the seventh inning to close out the victory.
Fairview junior Ryan Madden picked up the win on the mound for the Knights on Friday. Madden allowed one run on four hits while striking out seven in six innings of work against Arvada West. (Dennis Pleuss)
“Jumping on (A-West) with four runs in the first was really big momentum for us,” Madden said. “We kept it rolling through the game.”
After giving up a leadoff double to A-West senior Allen Martin in the bottom of the first inning, Madden retired the next 10 Wildcat batters. Madden had a few innings where he threw single digit pitches and worked extremely fast.
“That’s kind of what I’ve always done,” Madden said of not wasting time between pitches. “It usually works well.”
A-West (5-4) broke up the shutout with an RBI single by junior Shane Hoyer in the sixth inning that drove home Martin. Hoyer and Martin combined to produce the four hits off Madden.
Hoyer was 2-for-2 from the dish. Martin was 2-for-3 from the plate in the loss that ended a three-game winning streak for A-West.
“I think we just have to take this as a learning game,” Martin said. “We started off slow. We need to jump on it from the beginning. We can’t let their pitcher (Madden) do what he did. He just mowed us down.”
Hoyer took over on the mound for the Wildcats in the fourth inning. He allowed two runs on three hits. Clarke and Madden knocked in a run each in the sixth inning to extend the Knights’ lead to 9-0.
A-West coach Matt McDougal was pleased with the work Hoyer did on the mound, but was realistic on where his team sits midway through the season.
Fairview senior Jeff Clarke eyes a foul ball Friday afternoon. Clarke had a big game at the plate going 3-for-4 with four RBIs in the Knights’ 9-1 victory. (Dennis Pleuss)
“We are the type of team right now if we don’t play well we aren’t good enough to win,” McDougal said. “We have to play well. We’ll compete in every game we play well in.”
A-West has two non-league games remaining before diving into its eight-game 5A Jeffco League schedule on April 15 at home against Standley Lake. The Wildcats’ next home game is scheduled for at 4 p.m. Monday against Fredrick.
“League is obviously important, but we don’t want to be playing poorly going into league,” McDougal said.
Fairview will get another taste of a 5A Jeffco team next week. The Knights travel to Bear Creek High School to face the Bears at 4 p.m. Monday before starting their 5A Front Range League schedule.
Fairview hosts Fossil Ridge at 4 p.m. Tuesday to start its conference play. The Knights close next week with league games against Rocky Mountain (Thursday) and Monarch (Saturday).
“Next week is a big week with four games,” Madden said. “It will be a good test.”
Arvada West senior Nick Priola fouls off a pitch Friday against Fairview. The Wildcats’ bats didn’t have much success against the Knights. A-West could only muster up four hits in the 9-1 loss that ended a three-game winning streak for the Wildcats. (Dennis Pleuss)
HIGHLANDS RANCH — Alec Womack had four goals and an assist, Christian Barker added three goals and three assists, and No. 6 Mountain Vista beat No. 9 Rock Canyon in a top-10 boys lacrosse showdown, 16-8.
Colin Munro added a goal and three assists for Mountain Vista. Shane McKenna had two goals and an assist. Paxton Boyer made 10 saves in net.
Evergreen’s Sam Hudd (5) is greeted at home plate by teammates Liam Daly and Ryan Hays after Hudd’s two-run home run in the sixth inning Saturday against Green Mountain. (Dennis Pleuss)
LAKEWOOD — Evergreen baseball might have found a gem on the mound Saturday afternoon at Green Mountain High School.
Alec Moens got his first start on the hill this spring for the Cougars in a key Class 4A Jeffco League game against the Rams. Moens was solid, giving up only one run on five hits in six innings pitched.
Evergreen pitcher Alec Moens fires to the plate Saturday afternoon at Green Mountain High School. Moens pitched six innings and to pick up the victory in his first start on the mound this season. The Cougars beat Green Mountain 7-3. (Dennis Pleuss)
“I felt good. I didn’t expect to go that long, but it was good for my first start this season,” Moens said after Evergreen’s 7-3 victory. “It definitely helped to get seven runs.”
The Cougars (4-2, 1-1 in league) jumped on the Rams (5-2, 1-1) early with a three-run top of the first inning. The first five batters of the game reached safely for Evergreen. Josh Bellatti drove in Daniel Gibbins to give the Cougars an early 1-0 lead. Eli Ausman delivered a two-run single to put the Cougars up 3-0.
Ausman singled and eventually scored on a throwing error in the third inning to give Evergreen a 3-0 lead. He finished 3-for-4 from the plate to lead the Cougars’ offensive attack.
“It’s a real confidence booster for the whole team,” Ausman said of Evergreen’s early lead. “We got the energy flowing right away.”
Evergreen turned to the long ball to score its final three runs. Gibbins belted a solo home run in the top of the fourth inning. The Cougars’ eight-hole hitter Sam Hudd ripped a two-run home run in the sixth for the final two Evergreen runs.
“A couple of guys stepped up big with the bats,” Evergreen coach Dale Hutchings said. “Those were big. They send a message.”
Another message sent is the Cougars weren’t about to allow a big lead slip away like it did Tuesday against Wheat Ridge.
Evergreen led 5-2 going to the seventh inning against the Farmers. Wheat Ridge had a five-run seventh to steal a 7-5 victory in the conference opener for both teams.
“It’s pretty important,” Moens said of Saturday’s win. “Green Mountain is one of the better teams in the league and we kind of needed a win. We messed up against Wheat Ridge.”
Hutchings put Dane Kapande on the mound to start the bottom of the seventh inning with the Cougars holding a 7-1 lead. Kapande struck out a pair, but walked three Rams. Ausman eventually finished off the inning on the mound getting a groundout to end the game after Green Mountain managed to pair of runs.
Green Mountain junior Josh Ramirez pitches during the Rams’ 7-3 loss Saturday to Evergreen. (Dennis Pleuss)
“We weren’t going to get into that position again,” Hutchings said. “Bottom line, we were able to finish it off.”
Green Mountain had runners on base in every inning. The Rams ended up stranding 11 runners after opening up their league season with a 23-1 victory over Arvada.
“We had couple of chances to get back in it,” Green Mountain coach Brad Madden said. “The kid (Moens) did a good job keeping us off balance.”
Josh Ramirez took the loss on the mound for the Rams. He pitched a complete-game giving up seven runs on 11 hits.
Junior Chase Upson picked up the lone RBI for the Rams in the loss. Upson had a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning that scored Josh Rogers. The Rams two runs scored in the seventh inning came from a wild pitch and error.
“It’s wide open. There are a lot of good teams,” Madden said of 4A Jeffco. “Playing everyone twice is nice. You get a chance to make some adjustments.”
Green Mountain will try to get back in the win column 4 p.m. Monday, April 7, when the Rams travel to Everitt Middle School to face rival Wheat Ridge.
Evergreen is back on the road against Arvada on Monday.
The rematch between Green Mountain and Evergreen is scheduled for three weeks away (April 26) on the Cougars’ home field.
Green Mountain first baseman Andrew Abercombie charges a bunt during the first inning Saturday. (Dennis Pleuss)
AURORA — In a heavyweight bout between two elite boys lacrosse programs, No. 2 Regis Jesuit delivered a knockout punch with back-to-back goals to end the third quarter and give the Raiders a 12-8 lead over No. 1 Arapahoe. Regis sealed the victory with smothering defense to beat the two-time defending Class 5A state champion Warriors 16-8 on Saturday afternoon at Lou Kellogg Stadium in front of Regis’ home fans.
In a rematch of a semifinal playoff game last year — a contest Arapahoe won 13-5 — Regis wanted revenge against one of their great rivals.
“It’s always good to beat Arapahoe. They knocked us off in the playoffs last year and we never forgave them for it,” Regis coach Jim Soran said with a laugh.
(Brock Laue)
Saturday’s game was marked by runs and momentum shifts. Regis started hot with a goal by Chase Konkel one minute and seven seconds into the contest. He added a second goal at the 4:45 mark of the first quarter to give the Raiders a 3-1 lead.
Arapahoe held on early thanks to two first quarter goals by Will Danuser and another from Austin Shindoll in the second quarter which cut the deficit to 5-4 with 8:37 remaining in the first half.
But four different Raiders scored — Konkel, Matt Soran, Aaron Horvat and Chet Dunstan — as Regis rolled to a commanding 9-4 halftime lead, an unfamiliar position for Arapahoe the past few years.
The Warriors, who saw very few scoring opportunities early, found some holes in the Regis defense in the third and exposed them with four consecutive goals, two by University of Delaware commit Zach Runberg, a midfielder, to make it 10-8.
In the end, Regis had too much firepower and closed with six straight goals and an impressive victory.
“We scored, they scored, we just kept burying it on and they just couldn’t hang with us,” Konkel said after the game. “Everyone on offense played really well.”
Regis held possession most of the game and utilized their speed and athleticism to attack aggressively.
Konkel, a junior midfielder with size, led all scorers with five goals. Dunstan, Soran and Ben Bechter were all outstanding offensively for Regis.
(Brock Laue)
“Scoring-wise, it’s been balanced, which has been nice,” coach Soran said about one of his team’s strengths this season. “The goalie play has been exceptional. (Bret Quartuccio) has been one of the best I’ve seen and our faceoff guy, Alec Barnes, has been very consistent.”
“I would say we have the best offense in the state,” Konkel added. “Our defense is amazing, our goalie is really good, and we’ve got Ben (Bechter) also, and he’s just really good.”
The Raiders are now 9-0 this season, 6-0 in Colorado, with three strong wins over California opponents in the Golden State last week.
“The competition was great,” Soran said about the road trip. “Last year, Saint Ignatius was No. 1 in the West by the rankings for US Lacrosse, so we wanted to go play them. We had a good game there. I don’t think they’re as strong as they were last year, but they’re extremely well-coached and they’re always good. Bellarmine Prep is also a top-notch team. They’ll compete with St. Ignatius for their league championship this year, so we got a lot of good competition.
“I think we grew on the trip and it was a bonding thing for the team,” Soran concluded.
Arapahoe dropped to 6-1, but lost a group of 20 seniors off last year’s state title team and will look to regroup after a tough road loss. The Warriors could be scary later in the year.
Regis’ powerful, more experienced squad headlined Saturday’s game though. The Raiders’ first-rate offense, defense and overall talent was fully displayed Saturday afternoon, but Soran says there is much to improve upon.
“Early, we gave up some cheap goals and we had too many unforced turnovers,” Soran said. “We would like to get a little more aggressive on our ground balls. We weren’t really playing our ‘A’ game, so when you can win one like that, you feel like you still have some more work to do.”
