Cherry Creek boys lacrosse is the No. 1 seed in Class 5A. (Matt Minton)
AURORA — The state tournament brackets for both classes of boys lacrosse, as well as girls lacrosse, were released on Monday.
Cherry Creek got the top seed in the Class 5A boys bracket, while Aspen heads the 4A bracket. In the girls bracket, Cherry Creek is also the No. 1 seed.
Both boys fields are comprised of 16 teams. They begin their respective tournaments on Wednesday, with the championships on May 15 — a Friday — at Sports Authority Field at Mile High.
Cherry Creek got the top seed in 5A after finishing the regular season a perfect 15-0. The Bruins were runner-up a season ago.
Other tops seeds in 5A boys include No. 2 Regis Jesuit, No. 3 Mountain Vista, No. 4 Kent Denver at No. 5 Columbine. Regis Jesuit is the defending champion.
Aspen is No. 1 in 4A following a regular season in which the Skiers finished 13-2. Both losses came to 5A teams which made the playoffs (Arapahoe and Grandview).
The 4A field is also led by No. 2 Valor Christian, No. 3 Cheyenne Mountain, No. 4 Battle Mountain and No. 5 Dawson.
The girls field is comprised of 20 teams, with the top 12 seeds getting first-round byes. Things begin with the first round on Wednesday, and the championship is on May 20 at the University of Denver.
Cherry Creek’s girls finished the regular season 13-2. Both losses came by a one-goal margine — one to an out-of-state opponent, the second to Denver East last Friday. The Bruins open with the winner of No. 17 Grandview and No. 16 Regis Jesuit.
Other top seeds include No. 2 Mullen, No. 3 Colorado Academy, No. 4 Denver East and No. 5 Arapahoe.
No. 6 Kent Denver, No. 7 Centaurus, No. 8 Rampart, No. 9 Columbine, No. 10 Palmer Ridge, No. 11 Chaparral and No. 12 ThunderRidge also have byes.
Air Academy, last season’s champion, is a No. 13 seed in the bracket. The Kadets play No. 20 Golden in the first round.
Draws for the Class 5A girls tennis state tournament, held May 7-9 at Gates Tennis Center in Denver, are below.
All matches start at 9 a.m. each day. The first two rounds at each position will be played Thursday. Friday morning will be all semifinals, and the playback matches will start immediately afterwards. All third- and fourth-place matches and finals will be at 9 a.m. on Saturday morning.
Should weather intervene, check CHSAANow.com for contingency plans.
These results will be updated throughout the tournament.
For more information on the process for creating these brackets, click here or scroll down.
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Class 5A girls tennis state tournament
Click on a tab to see that bracket, or team scores.
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Information on the state tournament and draw creation
Only those teams who qualify four or more positions to state are eligible for the CHSAA state team championship title. The bracket creation process is as follows:
All 16 individuals/teams will be considered for placement on the draw.
The top 4 individuals/teams will be placed.
The committee shall consider the following factors (in no particular order of importance): strength of league, overall record, strength of competition, head-to-head competition and common opponents.
The remaining Regional Winners (#1’s) will be randomly drawn for places on the draw.
The Regional Finishers (#2’s) will then be randomly drawn for matches against a Regional Winner.
All Regional Winners will be paired against a Regional Finishers.
No two teams or individuals from the same Region will play each other during the first round of the state championship.
Draws for the Class 4A girls tennis state tournament, held May 7-9 at Pueblo City Park, are below.
All matches start at 9 a.m. each day. The first two rounds at each position will be played Thursday. Friday morning will be all semifinals, and the playback matches will start immediately afterwards. All third- and fourth-place matches and finals will be at 9 a.m. on Saturday morning.
Should weather intervene, check CHSAANow.com for contingency plans.
These results will be updated throughout the tournament.
For more information on the process for creating these brackets, click here or scroll down.
[divider]
Class 4A girls tennis state tournament
Click on a tab to see that bracket, or team scores.
[toggler title=”Team scores” state=”close”]
[adrotate banner=”24″]
[/toggler]
[toggler title=”No. 1 Singles” state=”close”]
Information on the state tournament and draw creation
Only those teams who qualify four or more positions to state are eligible for the CHSAA state team championship title. The bracket creation process is as follows:
All 16 individuals/teams will be considered for placement on the draw.
The top 4 individuals/teams will be placed.
The committee shall consider the following factors (in no particular order of importance): strength of league, overall record, strength of competition, head-to-head competition and common opponents.
The remaining Regional Winners (#1’s) will be randomly drawn for places on the draw.
The Regional Finishers (#2’s) will then be randomly drawn for matches against a Regional Winner.
All Regional Winners will be paired against a Regional Finishers.
No two teams or individuals from the same Region will play each other during the first round of the state championship.
BOULDER — Rocky Mountain, the No. 1 ranked team in this week’s Class 5A baseball poll, is the type of baseball program that others use as a measuring stick to see where they stack up among 5A’s best.
If Saturday was any indication, No. 6 Fairview is on par with the Lobos again this season after defeating the defending state champions 7-4 at home.
The win presents the Knights (15-3, 10-1) with an opportunity to clinch their second straight outright Front Range League championship after finishing undefeated in the FRL in 2014. They will have to get past third place Fort Collins (12-5, 8-2) on Monday in the regular season finale for that to come to fruition.
Of course, beating Rocky Mountain (13-5, 10-2) was the first step in earning league bragging rights once again and, maybe just as importantly, in staying hot before the playoffs.
“It’s always your measuring stick, because they are so good,” Fairview coach Rick Harig said. “Last year we went into the playoffs and were feeling really good, but we ran into some buzz saw pitching.
“The best thing about this week for us is that we are playing really good teams coming out of the end of our league play,” Harig added.
The Knights can take confidence in taking down the No. 1 Lobos thanks to a complete effort. Ryan Madden, the senior ace of the staff and a University of Oklahoma recruit, threw a 10-strikeout complete game to improve his season record to 7-1.
Fairview’s Ryan Madden. (Brock Laue/CHSAANow.com)
At one point, Madden retired nine consecutive batters and had shutout innings in the second, third, fourth, and fifth innings.
“He’s been super consistent and gets tougher when guys get on base,” Harig said. “He gets a little fired up when you perform against him and he gets a little harder.”
Just as critical Saturday was the senior’s ability at the plate.
After a thirty minute rain and lightning delay with four innings in the books, Fairview held a 3-1 lead. In the bottom of the fifth, the Knights broke the game open as Johnny Feauto cranked a leadoff double, Tim Ryan had an RBI double, Walker Harris had an RBI single, and Madden hit a towering two-run homer over the centerfield fence to make it 7-1.
Madden is tied for second in 5A in home runs with six. He is also first on his team, one that is ranked third in 5A in batting average, with a .482 clip. He went two for three at the plate against Rocky Mountain and had three runs batted in.
Harris went two for three and Ryan went two for four for a Fairview lineup that piled up 12 hits and knocked out Lobo starter John Sorenson (4-1) in the fifth, giving him his first loss of 2015.
“We hit the ball,” Harig said. “When we had the delay, we didn’t let that affect us. We came out and scored four runs and that was really a difference maker.”
But, a team with the tradition and star power of a Rocky Mountain did make one final push.
“They have a great coach in (Scott) Bullock and they are a perennial power,” Madden said. “It’s always a tough fight.”
In the top of the sixth, Cole Anderson, a University of New Mexico signee, hit an even deeper bomb than Madden as it was blasted over the left field wall, cutting the deficit to 7-3.
Then, in the top of the seventh, the Lobos loaded the bases with only one out. Kadin Breeze hit an RBI groundout, trimming the score to 7-4, but with a second out.
Madden then wisely chose to walk Anderson. Daniel Ciraula stepped into the batter’s box, but Madden dug in, fired fastball after fastball and caught Ciraula with a third strike on a check swing.
Fairview closed out a major victory. After a 20-1 record after districts in 2014 turned into back-to-back sour losses to ThunderRidge and Regis Jesuit in the playoffs against ace pitchers, the Knights hope to tame fellow contenders in the playoffs.
“Last year we just weren’t able to finish those games,” Madden said. We were in them pretty much until the last inning, but they’ll fuel us a little bit. I think we’re ready to finish.”
LAMAR – The top two baseball teams in the Class 3A Tri-Peaks league finally got to compete against each other Saturday, with Lamar showing why it is regarded as one of the top teams in state.
Lamar (17-1 overall, 8-0 Tri-Peaks East) exploded for six runs in the third inning of the championship game to beat the Manitou Springs Mustangs 10-4.
It was a battle of the two teams that have shown all year that they are the best in their respective divisions of the league. Lamar beat Buena Vista 8-1 in the day’s first game to advance to the finals. The Mustangs (15-3, 9-0 Tri-Peaks West) got a gritty win over rival St. Mary’s to earn a shot at the league title.
The Mustangs found themselves in a 1-1 tie with the Pirates in the bottom of the seventh when Ryan Adamscheck drove home his brother Davyn for the walk-off win.
“It was a ton of fun,” Ryan said. “Driving (Davyn) in to beat our rivals, there’s nothing like it.”
The momentum from that win appeared to overlap into the finals as the Mustangs started the game scoring two runs in the top of the first.
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
Lamar ace Darin Cook was initially rattled by the early lead for the Mustangs. Coming into the game, Cook was boasting an ERA of 0.20 and had only given up one run the entire season.
“It definitely was kind of shocking for my confidence when they got a couple of runs right off the bat,” Cook said. “It was a little tough to handle but I have to pitch through that and not get frustrated.”
He was able to hold the Mustangs scoreless in the second and third innings and Lamar went into the bottom the of third trailing 2-1. That’s when the Lamar offense came alive and they plated six runs, highlighted by a two-run triple from Colby Salisbury.
“We just thrive on the fact that we can be down and score runs like that,” Lamar coach Dave Fassioto said. “We can score runs swinging the bats or laying (bunts) down. It’s how you play baseball. I wonder why the (Colorado) Rockies don’t do that.”
With the lead firmly in hand, Cook was able to settle down a bit. He did give up two more runs, but was never in danger of allowing the Mustangs to rally. At the time the game was called in the fifth inning, Cook has struck out 11 Manitou players.
“And he wasn’t really throwing that well,” Fassioto said. “His leg was starting to cramp up a bit and (Manitou) is a pretty good ball club. They swing the bats well.”
The Mustangs would’ve liked to get the win against Lamar, but they came away happy with getting one from St. Mary’s. They’re hoping that will go a long way when the postseason seeds are announced. The Mustangs currently sit at No. 9 in the 3A Wild Card points, less than a point ahead of the Pirates.
“I feel good,” Manitou coach Cory Archuleta said. “I feel that we can hang tough with anyone in the state. I thought it was a good test, these two games and this weekend. It was something we can really build on.”
