LAKEWOOD — Never has the old adage that “baseball is a game of inches” been more true.

Just over 24 hours ago, Green Mountain catcher Justin Akiyama took a 2-2 pitch that was just off the plate. If called a strike, the Rams would have lost to Durango and been eliminated from the Class 4A state baseball tournament. Instead they celebrated as state champions Saturday afternoon with a 10-2 win over the Niwot Cougars.

They earned the right to play the Cougars after defeating Longmont 9-1 in the preliminary game Saturday morning. They did so behind the solid pitching performance of junior Talon Schaller. He threw a complete game, giving up only two hits and a single run against the Trojans. He was so efficient in the first game that Rams coach Brad Madden didn’t hesitate to send Schaller out to start the championship game.

“He looked so good in the first game and only threw 72 pitches, mowing through (Longmont) pretty easily,” Madden said. “We knew we were going to have to use him again anyways so we figured with only the half-hour break (between games) let’s just run him out there and (score) as many as we could and he just started mowing them down.”

Between the two games, Schaller threw 12 innings, giving up four total hits and one run on the day. He only surrendered a single walk between the two games. He had to be pulled after the fifth inning of the state championship game due to CHSAA rules limiting a pitcher to 12 innings in a 72-hour span.

(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

Prior to his last inning, the Rams bats gave him a big enough cushion to put Schaller in line for his second win of the day. A single and a walk put runners on first and second with sophomore Wyatt Featherston stepping up to the plate. He worked the count full then blasted a home run to left-center to put the Rams up 4-0.

“I knew it was out of the ballpark, I felt amazing about it,” Featherston said. “I knew I needed to drive in my buddies and I looked for my pitch and I got one, driving it out of the yard and it felt amazing.”

Schaller finally gave way to Josh Ramirez who threw a complete game against Durango on Friday, and although he gave up two runs in the final two innings, he never let the Cougars get comfortable and was able to slam the door shut for the Rams.

As solid as the Rams were on the mound, the Cougars never looked comfortable. Green Mountain was able to chase off Niwot ace Bryan Meek in the fifth inning. The sixth inning turned into a nightmare for the Cougars who gave up six runs — four of which were walked in either Nick Elrod or Aldair Cintora.

But the rally aside, the Rams are state champions because of the solid performance of Schaller through the two games.

“I’m just happy to be out here, man — what a day,” he said after the game. “Coach didn’t really tell me what the plan was, but I knew I was going to pitch two and then Josh would finish. He just told me to give it my all and I was just happy to be there.”

The win is a nice send off for the three seniors in the Green Mountain lineup. Since Akiyama’s walk-off hit Friday, the Rams have been energized and borderline destined to walk away as champions.

“That’s kind of the way we’ve been living our last four weeks, we’ve been down to our last out and our last strike,” Madden said. “Our kids will not give up. They will keep fighting and keep fighting.”

The Rams will lose three starters from their roster as Akiyama, Andrew Abercrombie and Josh Rogers have all graduated. But the core of this championship team in Schaller, Ramirez, Schaller and shortstop Cole Shetterly will all return next season to try and defend their title.

“It’s a tribute to them and the great leadership that they brought to us,” Madden said. “Next year is a new year and we’ll get back at it in the summer and fall but for right now we’re going to enjoy this for at least the next six months.”

More photos. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)

DENVER — Rocky Mountain staked claim to its fifth Class 5A state baseball title over the past eight seasons Saturday afternoon at All-City Field.

The Lobos defeated Regis Jesuit 6-5 to give Rocky Mountain its first baseball championship since its four-peat from 2007 to 2010. Rocky Mountain (21-5) closed out its season on an 18-game win streak, including a 5-0 record in the double-elimination state championship series.

“It feels amazing,” Rocky Mountain coach Scott Bullock said. “I think the thing that makes it feel most amazing is it’s a whole new bunch of kids. Great group of kids that put in a tremendous amount of work to get to this point.”

Despite grabbing a 6-0 lead with a six-run top of the third inning, the Lobos ended up having to hang on by the skin of their teeth. Regis (21-5) actually had the tying run on third base and winning run on second base with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning.

A Raiders’ win would have forced a second game Saturday at All-City with the winner of that game hoisting the state title. However, Rocky Mountain senior pitcher Tyler Stevens dug deep to get the final two outs.

“Once they got the bases load with two outs and I had two strikes on (Quin Cotton) I knew I had to make a pitch,” said Stevens, who took over on the mound for Rocky Mountain in the fourth inning. “I just threw as hard as I could and got the groundout.”

Cotton grounded into a fielder’s choice as Lobos’ shortstop Daniel Ciraula was able to field the grounder and toss to second baseman Dean Lawson to get the force out to end the game.

“I love all my teammates,” a teary-eyed Rocky Mountain senior Carl Stajduhar said after getting a hug from his dad. “To go out senior year like this is just awesome.”

Rocky Mountain scored all of its six runs in one inning. The Lobos’ bats came alive in a big way in the top of the third inning. The Lobos plated six runs on five hits to jump out to a 6-0 lead.

Stajduhar started the scoring with a two-run single. Rocky Mountain scored a third run on the hit on a fielding error.

More photos. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)

“I knew with the bases loaded and Carl coming up we were going to score. That was huge,” Stevens said. “We just kept plugging and chugging to get our six runs which happened to be enough.”

Stevens and Kyle Reisman followed up with back-to-back RBI singles to push the lead to 5-0. Regis starting pitcher Brent Schwarz was relieved on the mound by Zach Heath after the single Reisman. The Lobos’ final run in the six-run inning came on a passed ball.

Regis was able to get on the board with an RBI sacrifice fly by senior Reagan Todd in the bottom half of the third inning. However, Stajduhar was able to limit the damage to just one run thanks to a pair of strikeouts after the Raiders loaded the bases with no outs.

The Raiders tacked on another run in the bottom of the fourth inning after Stevens relived Stajduhar on the hill. Zach Woodruff led off the inning with a double and scored on a double play ground out, cutting Rocky Mountain’s lead to 6-2.

Regis continued to chip away at Rocky Mountain’s lead. Todd belted a two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning making it a 6-4 game. Todd ripped a walk-off grand slam home run Friday against Mountain Vista in the bottom of the seventh inning to give Regis a 5-1 victory.

“When we started getting momentum I even liked our chances better even if we were behind,” Regis coach Matt Darr said. “I felt like we would come back and win that game. I really did.”

An RBI single by Brooks Urich in the bottom of the sixth inning cut the lead to 6-5, but the Raiders couldn’t plate the tying run. Stevens forced a pop up by Max George and struck out Justin Thaxton with runners at the corners to end the inning.

Despite scoring five unanswered runs, the Raiders left 11 runners on base and wasn’t able to take full advantage of seven walks.

Bullock admitted after the victory he didn’t know who would have thrown a second game Saturday if Regis had completed the come-from-behind win. Marc Bachman, Chase Ottofy and Cory Richer pitched in Friday’s win against Cherry Creek.

“It was rolling the dice. No question about it,” Bullock said about throwing his two best pitchers in Stajduhar and Stevens. “I felt like we did such a good job in the third inning to get the lead. We wanted the ball in Tyler’s hands and it was the time to go to him.”

Heath’s performance on the mound allowed the Raiders to rally. Heath came in during the Lobos’ six-run third inning and only gave up two hits in four and two-thirds on the hill.

“In that situation where you fall that far behind you feel like you need somebody to come in and hold them at six (runs),” Darr said. “You feel if they get any more it would be nearly impossible.”

The nearly impossible comeback by Regis nearly happened, but in the end the Lobos were able to take another state championship baseball title back to Fort Collins.

“It’s amazing. This program needed it after last year,” Stevens said of losing to ThunderRidge in the title game. “We wanted to do it and we did it finally.”

More photos. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)

DENVER — Rocky Mountain claimed the Class 5A baseball title with a 6-5 win over Regis Jesuit on Saturday.

GREELEY — Holy Family won the Class 3A baseball championship for the second year in a row on Saturday. The Tigers beat Eaton 8-2 in the title.

More photos. (Ray Chen/ArrayPhoto.com)

COMMERCE CITY — The wait is over.

Columbine won its first girls soccer title Thursday night at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park with a 3-1 win in the Class 5A state championship game over Jeffco League rival Ralston Valley. The Rebels were also able to send retiring principal Frank DeAngelis out with Columbine’s first girls’ team state championship in the school’s history.

“We drew motivation from that,” Columbine coach Brian Todd said of the Rebels’ longtime principal. “He is probably one of the better leaders of public education that Colorado has ever seen. We wanted to send him out with something special. It doesn’t get much better than this.”

Columbine trailed 1-0 at halftime, but a pair of Columbine goals three minutes apart — in the 47th and 50th minute — in the second half erased the deficit.

A long direct free kick by Columbine sophomore Kelcey Cavarra slipped through the hands of Ralston Valley goalie Renee Roemer in the 47th minute to tie the game at 1-1.

“It was pure luck. I didn’t think I had it,” said Cavarra, who scored goals in four straight playoff games this postseason. “Once it went in I think it was the turning point of the game.”

Freshman Amanda Porter gave the Rebels the lead in the 50th minute on a tough angle shot into the short side upper corner.

“I saw the ball go through and I just hit it,” Porter said. “It went straight in.”

Ralston Valley had a few chances in the final 10 minutes of the second half. Columbine goalie Sarah Luebking had a big save in the 73rd minute on a shot from Ralston Valley sophomore Alyssa Kaiser.

More photos. (Ray Chen/ArrayPhoto.com)

Columbine sealed the win when sophomore Tatum Barton scored her 26th goal of the season on a breakaway with 52 seconds left in the second half. The Rebels (17-3) became the first 5A Jeffco team to win a girls soccer state title since Chatfield in 2009.

“We are going to continue to build the program to get back to games like this,” Todd said of his young squad that featured several strong underclassmen. “Ralston Valley is a team that can be back here next year too. Jeffco is young. We have a great league. I’m proud of Jeffco.”

Columbine took a 1-0 victory over Ralston Valley in the conference match back on April 29 that decided the 5A Jeffco League title. Cavarra had the lone tally in the first meeting.

Ralston Valley took the upper hand Thursday night. The Mustangs grabbed a 1-0 lead in the 21st minute of the first half. The freshman combo of Sarah Bevington and Lindsay Guerrero set up the goal.

Bevington tapped the ball over to Guerrero at the top of the goalie box. Guerrero fired a shot that Luebking was able to get a hand on, but not enough. The ball just tipped of Luebking’s fingers and under the crossbar for the initial goal on Ralston Valley’s first shot on goal.

“We knew after our Pine Creek game that one goal means nothing,” Ralston Valley coach Kamee Morwood said of the halftime lead. “Columbine came out with a bit more momentum.”

The Mustangs faced a 2-0 halftime deficit to Pine Creek in the semifinals. Ralston Valley battled back to take a 3-2 victory.

“I want to be back here. This is definitely not the end of us being in the finals,” said Morwood, who guided the Mustangs to a 16-4 record this year. “There is a bright future for these girls. We are losing an awesome (senior) class of leadership, but this team has the guts. They will be back.”

Ralston Valley’s girls soccer program was also looking for its first gold trophy. It was the second state championship appearance for the program in the school’s history. The Mustangs advanced to the 4A title game in 2006, but lost in overtime to Broomfield.

It’s been more than a decade since Columbine played for a girls soccer state championship. The Rebels played in five 5A title game over an eight-season span from 1993 to 2000, but finished runner-up each season.

Having an all-Jeffco 5A title game Thursday between the No. 10-seeded Ralston Valley and No. 8-seeded Columbine was a bit of a surprise. The Rebels took down defending 5A state champion and No. 4-seeded Mountain Vista in the semifinals Saturday.

The Mustangs also had a tough postseason road. Ralston Valley defeated three higher seeds in Cherry Creek (No. 7), Rock Canyon (No. 2) and Pine Creek (No. 3) on it was to Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.

The 5A state championship game was originally scheduled for Wednesday, but the hailstorm that pelted the home of the Colorado Rapids forced the 4A game to start at 7 p.m. Wednesday night and pushed the 5A title game to Thursday.

Mother Nature wasn’t done Thursday night. Heavy rain and lightning delayed the start of the 5A championship game by more than an hour.

“It definitely messed with our minds. It got our nerves going, but in the end I think it helped us,” Cavarra said. “We were a lot calmer today.”

Columbine girls soccer players embrace in from of the Rebels’ student section Thursday night at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. Columbine won its first girls’ team state championship in the school’s history with a 3-1 victory over Jeffco rival Ralston Valley in the Class 5A girls soccer title game. More photos. (Dennis Pleuss)

COMMERCE CITY — Columbine won its first girls soccer championship with a 3-1 victory over Ralston Valley on Thursday.

Replay of live coverage from the state baseball tournaments as just four teams remain in Class 5A, 4A and 3A on Friday.

More:

• Brackets: 5A | 4A | 3A

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DENVER — With severe weather possible all over the state Friday and Saturday, the following is the contingency plan for baseball’s state tournaments.

This plan is tentative and could change.

• If any part of Friday’s schedule needs to be postponed, it will be completed Saturday. In that event, Saturday’s schedule could move to Sunday. However, if only a few innings of one game were postponed from Friday, Saturday’s schedule could be completed as scheduled.
• If Saturday’s schedule is postponed, it will be completed Sunday.
• If any games remain after Sunday, those will be completed Tuesday.

Friday features the 3A, 4A and 5A tournaments. Saturday, 2A joins those classes in the expected final day of the season.

The 3A tournament is being held at Butch Butler Field in Greeley. 4A is at Lakewood’s All-Star Park, and 5A at Denver’s All-City field. 2A is at Pueblo’s Runyon Field Sports Complex.

Site directors will be making decisions in concert with CHSAA.

The lead group was two holes away from finishing at the Class 5A girls golf championship Tuesday when some violent weather rolled through Raccoon Creek Golf Course in Littleton.

First, a nearby lightning strike pulled the golfers off the course. Roughly 10 minutes later, marble-sized hail pounded the area. Check out this comparison to a golf ball:

(Tom Robinson/CHSAANow.com)

Here’s what it looked like from inside the tent where players were gathered:

Following an hour-and-15-minute delay, players returned to the course. The greens were cleared of all hail with blowers and there was no visible damage to the course.

Eventually, Rock Canyon senior Michelle Romano won the tournament in a playoff.

Up until the storm, Raccoon Creek was an absolutely gorgeous setting for the championship:

(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

But as it turned out, Tuesday was a mere glimpse of what was to come this week.

Wednesday, a set of fierce storms rolled through the Denver metro area and produced multiple tornadoes, as well as hail and rain. Girls soccer’s 4A and 5A championship matches were scheduled for 5 and 7 p.m. at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City — but playing those games seemed increasingly unlikely as the evening drew near.

That’s because the field looked like this around 2:45 p.m.:

(Courtesy Paul Evans)

The playing surface was coated with nearly four inches of hail. Almost immediately, CHSAA assistant commissioner Bud Ozzello and DSGP staff met to determine if either of the games could be played that night. The grounds crew was confident it could clear the field because DSGP has a fancy suction system which whisks moisture away from the field.

But about a half an hour later, the power to the stadium — and that suction system with it — went out. The 4A game was pushed back to 6 p.m., and the grounds crew brought out snowplows to clear the field manually. As that work went on, the 4A game was pushed back to 7 p.m. — and 5A, after some discussion, was moved to 5 p.m. Thursday to avoid a start after 9 p.m.

A half-hour prior to kickoff of the 4A game on Wednesday, the teams came out to warm up on a field wiped free of any hail. Even on field level, the surface looked immaculate. True to their word, the grounds crew had done a great job.

Had the field not been ready, the 4A game was set to move to 1 p.m. or 7 p.m. Thursday. Looking at Thursday’s forecast, however, the 5A game may again be fighting severe weather — so it’s a good thing 4A is in the books.

Here are a few more photos from Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on Wednesday:

(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

(Ray Chen/ArrayPhoto.com)

(Ray Chen/ArrayPhoto.com)

About 15 miles to the south Wednesday night on the campus of the University of Denver, girls lacrosse’s title game had a relatively quiet evening in comparison. There was slight concern in the second half when lightning struck a few miles away, but it wasn’t close enough to cause a delay and the storm quickly moved out of the area.

Don’t be shocked if severe weather also affects the weekend’s baseball championships.

According to the National Weather Service, thunderstorms are very likely in the Denver metro area Friday and Saturday after 1 p.m. — which could wipe out play in 5A and 4A. All-City Field is hosting 5A in Denver; 4A is at Lakewood’s All-Star Park. Those fields need time to dry out from this week’s moisture, as well.

Likewise, thunderstorms are also likely in Greeley (site of 3A) Friday and Saturday afternoon; and it’s the same story in Pueblo (2A’s host) on Saturday.

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Short stuff

• Hockey’s state championship game will have to find a new venue next season. The title game and semifinals are set for March 6-7, 2015, but the dates conflicts with the Denver Coliseum, which has hosted the championship the past few seasons. Among possibilities are the Pepsi Center, the University of Denver and the Air Force Academy, as well as other venues.
• Sedgwick County’s Chase Dunker struck out 21 batters in a win over Lutheran during the 2A baseball quarterfinals last weekend. Yes, there are 21 outs in a seven-inning game — but two of those strikeouts reached base on dropped third strikes. Dunker also had two groundouts. He allowed just two hits, and had two walks. Dunker now leads the entire state, regardless of classification, with 129 Ks.
• Grandview’s boys basketball opening has been filled. The school hired former George Washington coach Michael Rogers last week. Rogers led the Patriots to the 5A title game in the 2008-09 season, where they lost to Regis Jesuit. “We look forward to the future of boys’ basketball under the leadership of coach Rogers,” Grandview AD Jamee Ulitzky said in a statement. The Wolves originally hired Arapahoe coach Dan Snyder in April before he changed his mind nine days later to step away from coaching for a bit.
• Eaglecrest has an opening for a boys lacrosse coach. Contact AD Vince Orlando for more info: vorlando@cherrycreekschools.org.
• I spent much of my time at the girls lacrosse championship Wednesday with former Denver Christian boys basketball coach Dick Katte, who volunteers at many CHSAA events. Katte could not be more enthusiastic about the sport, and drew many parallels with basketball. He spent much of the final minute of a tense game hooting and hollering along the rail at the edge of the field. It was neat to see.

More photos. (Ray Chen/ArrayPhoto.com)

COMMERCE CITY — Even a powerful storm that unloaded a few inches of hail onto the playing field at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park couldn’t deny Cheyenne Mountain’s girls soccer team a sweet repeat.

The Indians weathered the storm, a two-hour delay and a determined Broomfield squad on their way to a second consecutive Class 4A state championship. Sara Walters scored less than six minutes into the game and a stingy Cheyenne Mountain defense kept the Eagles off the board for a 2-0 victory Wednesday night.

Cheyenne Mountain (18-0-2) also defeated Broomfield by the same margin a year ago and notched its fifth-consecutive postseason shutout for the team’s fifth title in the past 17 years.

“It feels amazing. It feels amazing to be able to get this opportunity again and prove ourselves again,” Cheyenne Mountain junior goalkeeper Hunter Peifer said. “Some people made excuses that we lost some big seniors, but we came together as a team and filled those spots.”

Broomfield senior Brittney Stark (24) attempts to weave her way through Cheyenne Mountain seniors Tori Burnett (11) and Amanda Burke (23) during the first half Wednesday night at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. More photos. (Dennis Pleuss)

There was some question of whether or not the teams would even get a chance to play Wednesday. The storm and a power outage at the stadium pushed the start back, but the grounds crew was able to clear the field and get the game underway.

The 5A state championship between Ralston Valley and Columbine was postponed until 5 p.m. on Thursday.

“It definitely built up the anticipation, but we kept our minds in the game the entire time,” Walters said. “We were ready for this. We’ve been waiting for this. We knew this was our game.”

Walters broke the ice in the sixth minute of play, capitalizing on a breakdown and punching the ball into the net.

“Amanda Burke in the back had won an amazing tackle and launched it up the field, over the defenders,” Walters said. “I ran onto it and just tapped it past the goalie. I couldn’t have done it without my team at all.”

Eagles coach Jim Davidson said the quick score took a bit out of his squad.

“We just got caught on our heels a little bit in the first 10 minutes,” Davidson said. “I thought Cheyenne Mountain started on the front foot and obviously we can’t make the kind of defensive mistake that we made there. It’s hard to play from behind right away.”

Broomfield (16-2-1) had a few chances to notch the equalizer, but a combination of skill and luck went in Cheyenne Mountain’s favor. With two minutes, 27 seconds remaining in the first half, a Kerri Marquardt direct kick after a foul was pushed up and over the net by Peifer.

Then less than 10 minutes into the second half, Eagles senior Katie Forsee broke free and made a charge on Peifer. The keeper just got enough of Forsee’s shot to deflect the ball off the post.

“I looked up and I knew I couldn’t come out,” Peifer said. “Luckily I got a couple fingers on it and then the post helped me out. Live and die by the post, right? That thing’s going to be my best friend.”

More photos. (Ray Chen/ArrayPhoto.com)

The Indians prevented Broomfield from putting another shot on goal the rest of the way.

“We created chances, and a team like Cheyenne Mountain — who defends so well — those chances are probably going to be few and far between,” Davidson said. “You’ve really got to take advantage of it.”

Cheyenne Mountain senior Michelle Sandoval added an insurance goal with 1:49 to go. From there, the team’s fans began to celebrate.

“We knew we had a target on our backs from the beginning,” Walters said. “But we knew what we could do as a group and we knew that if we played how we could as a team, we would be unstoppable.”

The Indians ran their shutout streak to six games and only allowed six goals all season. Broomfield had outscored its opponents 24-1 in the playoffs but Cheyenne Mountain was up to the task when it mattered most.

“It’s the most exceptional team I’ve coached. It’s hard that it happened to this group of seniors, especially two years in a row,” Davidson said. “But Cheyenne Mountain has just a really deep program and fantastic athletes. I thought their athleticism won the day a little bit today.”

Cheyenne Mountain’s girls soccer players hoist the Class 4A state trophy in front of their fans Wednesday night at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. The Indians defeated Broomfield 2-0 to win their second straight championship. More photos. (Dennis Pleuss)