ARVADA — Jordan Holloway went 4-for-4 with three home runs and nine RBIs as sixth-ranked Ralston Valley baseball handled Standley Lake 22-3.
The Mustangs played 14 in the third inning, and went on to pound out 18 hits. Included was Jake Griffith’s two doubles (he also had four RBIs) and Connor Roth’s home run (he had three RBIs).
BROOMFIELD — In the first game of a double header on Saturday, Peak to Peak beat Jefferson Academy by a score of 14-8.
Cos Braswell went 4-for-4 with three RBIs, Mitchell Ward and Taylor Jackson had three hits.
Nick Kelly was the winning pitcher for the Pumas.
The Pumas continued their hitting in the second game and won by a score of 14-4.
LAKEWOOD — A pair of free kicks Friday by Wheat Ridge freshman Alexandra Nillen put the Farmers’ girls soccer program firmly in the driver’s seat of the Class 4A Jeffco League.
Wheat Ridge, ranked No. 8 in the latest CHSAANow.com 4A poll, took a 2-1 victory against No. 7 Evergreen at Lakewood Memorial Field in the showdown that likely determined the conference champion.
Nillen scored on a direct free kick in the 45th minute in the second half to break a scoreless tie. Another set piece started by Nillen with a free kick found the foot of junior Carlee Flanagan in the 54th minute for the eventual game-winning goal.
“I was planning on going far post and Carlee just happened to be there. It was a great finish by her,” said Nillen, who leads the Farmers with 10 goals and also has four assists.
Flanagan’s game-winner was her fourth goal of the season. The junior praised Nillen and her free kick that answered Evergreen’s goal in the 49th minute from sophomore Zoe Peterson on a direct free kick that tied the game at 1-1.
“That ball from Alex (Nillen) was beyond perfect,” Flanagan said. “Everyone was moving. Everyone was ready to go. I just happened to be right there on the back post for her beautiful ball. It was just perfect.”
Perfect is how Wheat Ridge (9-2, 5-0 in league) can finish out conference play next week. The Farmers face Arvada and Alameda next week where they can complete an unblemished league record.
Wheat Ridge and Evergreen (6-3-2, 3-1-1) both hadn’t given up a goal in league play. The Farmers edged D’Evelyn 1-0 earlier in the week. The Cougars battled Green Mountain for 100 minutes before ending an in 0-0 tie on Wednesday.
A scoreless first half Friday in the conference showdown wasn’t much of a surprise. Both teams combining for three goals in the span of nine minutes in the second half was a little of out character for the defensively strong teams.
“Something needed to happen to get the game going a little bit. That first goal, Alex’s brilliant free kick lifted everybody up,” Wheat Ridge coach Dan Watkins said. “The intensity of the game got more into a league championship type game.”
Watkins has had no problem putting the weight on Nillen’s shoulders of taking those key free kicks on scoring chances. The Farmers are on a six-game winning streak where they have outscored their opponents 15-1.
“Stepping in as a freshman. Technically she is very, very solid,” Watkins said of Nillen. “We’ve asked her to kind of come in and hit those balls. She is very confident and that is a great characteristic as a freshman.”
Wheat Ridge’s last loss was to Mullen before spring break.
“We’ve just come together as a team a lot more,” Flanagan said of the change over the past month. “We have learned to move the ball a lot better and finish.”
Wheat Ridge’s next game on the pitch is a non-league test on the road against Silver Creek at 4 p.m. April 21.
“We’ve got a great balance going forward toward playoffs,” Watkins said. “We want to make sure we finish off the league season right.”
Evergreen will face rival Conifer on the Lobos’ home field April 22, before concluding its league schedule against Golden at 4 p.m. April 24, at the North Area Athletic Complex in Arvada.
The Cougars have a 0-2-1 record in their past three games, but Evergreen coach Peter Jeans said the focus is to just improve in some areas before heading into the postseason.
“These are all good teams. We kind of beat each other up,” Jeans said of the 4A Jeffco League. “We have to defend set pieces better. We did have other chances to score. We didn’t make the most of our opportunities.”
With the top three 4A Jeffco teams earning automatic berths into the 32-team state tournament, it looks like Wheat Ridge, Evergreen and Green Mountain should lock up postseason tickets.
LOVELAND — Heather Waite, a fourth-place finisher at Class 5A state meet in the pole vault as a junior, was looking for a breakout performance to kick start her senior year.
Friday, she seized it. At the R2-J Invitational, a high-level midseason meet at Loveland High School, Waite won the pole vault by over a foot with a towering mark of 12 feet and half of an inch. The mark was a new personal best, a school record, and places her second in 5A.
“It was 11-8,” Waite said of her previous best. “I haven’t been able to clear anything higher than 11-6 yet this season, so I’m super excited for this.”
Waite, who won the prestigious Mullen Runners Roost Invitational last weekend over defending 5A state champion Megan McCabe of Cherry Creek, set the tone for the Loveland Indians Friday in their quest for another district title.
This year’s edition of the R2-J Meet featured 12 teams, including strong programs from Cheyenne Mountain, Eaton, The Classical Academy, and a portion of Valor Christian’s squad.
The overall meet was scored separately from the R2-J district meet, which is comprised of Loveland, Thompson Valley, Mountain View and Berthoud. The ultimate prize for the district teams is the overall team championship, decided by the total points for both boys and girls teams.
Loveland has won every district championship since the meet began in 1999 and was able to claim another on the strength of its girls program. Loveland’s girls finished first in both the overall and district meets and had a whopping 143 points, 60 ahead of their nearest competitor, The Classical Academy, in the overall meet.
“Our kids really competed well, which is what we ask for,” Loveland coach Paul Quere said about his team’s performance. “There’s a lot of pride on the Loveland side in the R2-J Meet and Thompson Valley, Mountain View and Berthoud all have great teams. We kind of separate that really from the bigger meet, because it means more to our kids and more to our coaches. Obviously, boys and girls, for what we had, had a really outstanding day and I’m just proud of the way they competed.”
Waite’s eye-opening pole vault was the headliner, but the Indians got contributions from Taylor Buschy (fourth in the 100 meters, second in the 200 meters, second in the 400 meters), Alex Koschel (second in the triple jump) and Ashley Krawczuk (second in the 100 meter hurdles, fourth in the high jump).
Loveland’s distance runners also made noise with two sizzling finishes. Ashlyn Brent had a 32-second personal best in the 3,200 with a time of 11:39. She ran a meter behind Thompson Valley’s Ellie Colpitts, who placed fourth in 11:45, the entire race and then turned on the jets the last lap to earn third place and a spot in the top 20 in 5A.
On the boys side, Loveland’s Kyle Brinkman used a similar tactic to win a district championship. Brinkman stayed within 10 feet of Thompson Valley’s Kaleb Simington in the 1,600. Simington boasts the fourth-best 3,200 meter time in 4A at 9:49 and has been the best distance runner in the town of Loveland this spring, but Brinkman had him in sight with 200 meters to go.
A crowded lead pack began their kick together, but Brinkman “found a little gap and got through,” he said. “The last 200 I shifted into gear and took off.”
The closing kick was enough to secure the district title with a time of 4:34.56, just over three seconds clear of Simington.
Mountain View’s boys, one of the top teams in 4A this season, ran away from the field with a commanding 132.5 points. The Classical Academy was second with 97 points.
The Mountain Lions displayed their talent with an 8:13 3,200 meter relay.
“The (4-by-800) went really well, because it was the first time we’ve run our ‘A’ team,” Nick Olson, one of Mountain View’s top sprinters, said afterward. “We ran the fastest time in the state so far for 4A.
“As a team, we’re definitely looking really strong,” Olson added. “Our (4-by-200) is one of the top five teams in the state for 4A, so is our (4-by-400) team, and just now with the (4-by-800), that sets us really high. The boys team is looking really strong and we’re competing really well.”
Thompson Valley also had several great performances. Andrew Bradberry won the 100 and 200 meters with a 10.80 and 22.49 double. His 100 time places him first in the classification. Jake Martinson won the pole vault with a mark of 14 feet, 3 inches — a new Thompson Valley record and the second best vault in 4A this year.
The story of the day was breakout performances. Waite hopes her top-shelf mark leads to greater heights.
“By the end of the season, a really ambitious goal I have is 13-0,” Waite said. “A more realistic one is 12-7.”
After Friday, several R2-J tracksters are leaning towards the ambitious side.
ENGLEWOOD — Erin O’Shaughnessy had four goals in leading No. 6 Kent Denver girls lacrosse to a 15-12 win over No. 7 Denver East on Friday.
Chloe Dikeou and Annie Duke each added three goals in the win for the Sun Devils, while Rachel Cowan had two goals and an assist. Gabby Kinney made 11 saves in net.
Sarah Nick led Denver East with four goals and an assist.
LAKEWOOD — An unconventional double play got Arvada West out of a huge jam Saturday afternoon on the baseball field.
Bear Creek had rallied with five straight singles, scoring three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to close A-West’s lead to 4-3. With the bases loaded and just one out, a failed squeeze play turned into a double play to get the Wildcats out of the sticky situation.
“Everything shifted after that,” A-West coach Matt McDougal said of the inning-ending double play. “We came in and scored two runs right away. That kind of ended (Bear Creek’s) momentum.”
The Wildcats tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the top of the seventh inning, leading to an important 6-3 victory.
“I knew we would get out of it someway, somehow,” A-West senior Allen Martin said of the near disastrous sixth inning. “You can’t be thinking the worst. You have to expect the best.”
The victory keeps A-West (9-5, 3-0) atop the 5A Jeffco League standings with Chatfield and Columbine. Bear Creek (8-6, 2-1) had its three-game winning streak snapped with the loss.
The Wildcats jumped out to an early 1-0 lead when Martin singled, stole second base and advance to third on a throwing error in the top of the first inning. Senior Brody Hagel-Pitt drove in Martin with a single.
A-West added three runs in the top of the fifth to gain a 4-0 advantage. A two-run double by Jesse Gonzales scored Martin and senior Ethan Fleming. Hagel-Pitt had his second RBI later in the inning.
“I feel really good about how we are hitting,” Martin said. “Some of us are coming off our skids.”
The Wildcats cranked out 13 hits and also took advantage of four errors by Bear Creek’s defense.
On the mound, starter Nick Priola was impressive giving up just two hits, but was taken off the mound with two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning. McDougal said it was tough to take out Priola, but a high pitch count and with three games next week was the reasons for the move.
“I was a little bit upset,” Priola admitted. “It’s always hard to be taken out when you feel like you are in the zone, but in the long run it’s smart.”
Senior Joe Rosenstein, John Badgett and Justin Mulvaney each took the mound for the Wildcats in the final innings.
Bear Creek sophomore Thomas Martinez took the loss on the mound. Martinez was solid through four innings, but allowed four straight hits to start out the fifth inning.
The Bears’ offense came alive late with the three-run sixth inning. Senior Rob Vance had a two-run single and sophomore Christian Hiep had an RBI single before the failed squeeze play with the bases loaded ended the inning.
A-West will prepare to go through the toughest part of its conference schedule next week. The Wildcats square off against Columbine (Monday), Ralston Valley (Wednesday) and Chatfield (April 26). All three of those 5A Jeffco teams are ranked in the top six of the latest CHSAANow.com 5A baseball poll.
“Earlier this season we talked about having to get to 3-0 (in league) going into this week,” McDougal said. “It’s about getting some momentum going. Now we get three really good teams in a row. If we play well I like our chances.”
Bear Creek heads to Ralston Valley on Monday before hosting Lakewood on Wednesday next week.
MONUMENT — A 10-strikeout outing from pitcher Paul Tillotson gave No. 6 Lewis-Palmer a two-game lead in league play as the Rangers (11-3, 9-0) beat rival Palmer Ridge 2-1 in Class 4A baseball action Saturday.
Tillotson, the staff’s ace, went 6 1/3 innings giving up only a single earned run also accounted for the tying run in the bottom of the fourth. Bears pitcher Kurt Larson kept pace with Tilloston as he struck out 10 of his own and only allowed nine base runners all game.
Behind Larson, it was the tenth-ranked Bears (10-4, 8-2) who stuck first. With two outs and runners on the corners in the first inning, Jake Weems singled into right field bringing home what would prove to be their only run of the game.
With the way Larson was dealing on the mound, it looked like that one run might be able to hold off the Rangers. But with runners on second and third with no outs in the bottom of the fourth inning, a routine groundball to Bears shortstop Jack Stamper would bring about the downfall for Palmer Ridge. Stamper fielded the ball cleanly, but a bad throw got by first baseman Cassen Minarick allowed both runners to score, giving the Rangers a 2-1 lead.
“What do they say? ‘You take it any you can,’” Rangers coach Tom McCabe said. “Our belief and our gameplan is to put the ball in play hard and force the other to play defense. I’m real big on no strikeouts so we have to put the ball in play.”
Lewis-Palmer had a chance to extend its lead in the bottom of the sixth inning after loading the bases with two outs. Vinny Nall put a solid swing on the ball and ripped a line drive to right field, but it was caught by Jake Grubesic, taking the game to the seventh and final inning with the Bears trailing by one.
After throwing six solid innings, Tillotson convinced McCabe to go back out in the seventh to try and sew up the win for the Rangers. McCabe had kept a close a eye on Tillotson’s pitch count starting in the fifth and had toyed with the idea of diving into his bullpen. But in the end, he had enough faith in his sophomore ace to give him the chance to close it out.
“He’s been throwing all winter so he’s (capable of throwing) up to 100 pitches,” McCabe said. “When our guys get to 80 we starting looking and start watching real close. He said he felt good so we gave him two more batters.”
After a quick out to start the inning, he gave up a base hit to Billy Schulze who would move into scoring position on a passed ball. Stamper then singled to put runners on the corners with one out, ending Tillotson’s day.
McCabe then turned to Colin Cicere — who is scheduled to start Tuesday at Palmer Ridge — to get the last two outs of the inning. Cicere walked Cole Hurford to load the bases before striking out Carter Thorne and inducing a ground ball to shortstop Ben Stinson to finish the inning, giving the Rangers the win.
“I have all the confidence in the world in Colin,” Tillotson said. “I know Colin, he’s a great guy, a pitching fanatic and I knew he would come in and (be) good.”
The two Pikes Peak league rivals will meet again Tuesday, this time on Palmer Ridge’s home field. Now facing a two game deficit in the standings, the pressure is on the Bears to even the season series and maintain a shot at winning a league title.
“I believe this was the key game,” McCabe said. “The pressure lies on them now. They have to us. I’m hoping we go into Palmer Ridge the way we stressed to the boys, nice and loose and able to execute our game plan. It was big for us to win here at home and relieve some of the pressure.”
LITTLETON — What should be an intense struggle for the Class 5A Jeffco League baseball championship title over the next few weeks revved up Thursday afternoon.
Two teams ranked in the top 10 of this week’s CHSAANow.com 5A baseball poll clashed at Frank DeAngelis Field at Columbine High School. No. 5 Columbine (13-0, 2-0 in league) remained undefeated on the season with a decisive 10-4 victory over No. 6 Ralston Valley.
“It’s a big win for us,” Columbine senior Donny Ortiz said. “We have something special right now. We are just trying to keep it going through league.”
The Rebels’ top five hitters in their lineup were special against Ralston Valley senior pitcher Jordan Holloway. Seniors Michael Tait, Oritz, Austin Anderson, Kyle Lopez, along with sophomore Tommy Gillman combined to crank out nine hits, scored nine runs and pilled up eight RBIs.
Junior designated hitter Cody Wood also picked up a pair of singles in the eight-hole for Columbine.
“Holloway is a hell of a pitcher, but we got really prepared this week,” said Ortiz of facing Mustangs’ ace that came into the game with a 4-0 record and 0.64 ERA. “It wasn’t anything special. You just have to watch the ball and make good contact.”
Ortiz’s bat provided the biggest blow off Holloway. The second baseman’s three-run home run in the bottom of the fourth inning put the Rebels ahead 7-1. Anderson scored on a wild pitch later in the inning to give Columbine an 8-1 lead through four innings.
“He (Holloway) was off a little bit,” Ralston Valley coach Shane Freehling said. “He was behind in the count on almost every single hitter. If you are in fastball counts like that batters can hit on fastballs. That is a good hitting club.”
The Rebels managed a dozen hits and was able to get their leadoff batter on base five of six frames.
Columbine senior Blake Weiman had plenty of run support to work with in improving his record to 4-0 on the mound. The lefty worked five innings, giving up just one run on two hits while striking out five.
“Blake is awesome,” said Lopez, who knocked in the Rebels’ final run with an RBI groundout in the sixth inning. “He is one of the best pitchers out there. He has great stuff. I’ll take him (on the mound) any day.”
Ralston Valley loaded the bases on Weiman in the second inning with one out, but Weiman got a strikeout and ground out to get out of the jam.
Senior Jacob Gallegos got the Mustangs on the scoreboard with a leadoff double in the third inning. He eventually scored on a fly ball by senior Connor Roth. Weiman walked a pair of batters in the fifth inning, but a strikeout and pickoff at first base kept the Mustangs from scoring.
“Any opportunity we got we kept on shooting ourselves in the foot, or a tough call out in the field,” Freehling said. “It just wiped out any moment we had going. Just couldn’t get anything going today.”
Ralston Valley’s offense did make a surge with Weiman out of the game in the top of the seventh inning. Roth belted a two-run home run and senior Jacob Knipp hammered a long home run over the centerfield fence.
Sophomore Taylor Dye took the mound after Knipp’s home run and was able to get the final two out to end the game.
Columbine will remain on its swing through the north-area Jeffco opponents. The Rebels will travel to Pomona High School to face the Panthers at 11 a.m. Saturday. Next week, Columbine starts off its week at All Star Park in Lakewood against Arvada West with a scheduled 3:30 p.m. first pitch April 21.
“We’ve got to stay humble,” Lopez said. “This is just another step of where we’ve got to go. We’ve got to get ready for Pomona on Saturday.”
Looming for the Rebels is a showdown April 23, against Chatfield (13-0, 2-0).
“It all starts with Pomona and A-West, but (Chatfield) is our rival,” Ortiz said. “We’ve got to get those two wins first, but Chatfield is definitely one that we want.”
Ralston Valley (10-2, 0-1) continues its trek through its 5A Jeffco schedule with an 11 a.m. home game April 19. The Mustangs start next week by hosting Bear Creek at 4 p.m. April 21.
ARVADA — Spencer Mochal had a two-RBI triple, Faith Christian pitchers combined for 11 strikeouts and the No. 3 Eagles from 3A beat 2A No. 7 Lutheran in baseball on Thursday.
Gavi Wygant got the win for Faith, and struck out five in three innings. Noah Brown (two strikeouts) and AJ Stephens (four) each pitched two innings.
Tyler Livermont was 2-for-4 with an RBI for Lutheran.
Trying to hit Chase Dunker? Good luck.
The Sedgwick County senior threw his second no-hitter of the season on Thursday, this one a perfect game against Holyoke in which he struck out 19 batters in a seven-inning game. Two balls were put into play — one a groundout to second, another a groundout to third. He threw just 82 pitches.
He was also 3-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored.
Dunker, 5-foot-9 and 147 pounds, is now 5-0 with 77 strikeouts against just four walks. In fact, Dunker has faced 99 batters this season, meaning he’s striking them out more than three-fourths of the time.
Dunker hasn’t allowed an earned run in 28 2/3 innings so far this season, and has given up just two total runs — and four hits. He also no-hit Wray on April 5, striking out 14 of the 16 batters he faced that game and throwing only 56 pitches.
Sedgwick County is now 11-1, and ranked No. 6 in CHSAANow.com’s latest 2A poll.
In his career, Dunker is now 17-3 with a 1.01 ERA. He hasn’t allowed an earned run since last May.
Dunker has signed with Northeastern Junior Collge in Sterling.