CHSAANow

Month: April 2018

  • Dakota Ridge boys lacrosse edges No. 7 Lakewood in battle of unbeaten teams

    LAKEWOOD — It wasn’t perfect, but Dakota Ridge’s boys lacrosse team was good enough Wednesday night to stay perfect on the season.

    The Eagles improved to 9-0 on the season by handing Lakewood, ranked No. 7 in the latest CHSAANow.com Class 5A boys lacrosse poll, its first loss of the year.

    Dakota Ridge juniors Samuel Arfsten (7) and Jacobi Villamaria (16) celebrate an Eagles’ goal during a 13-11 victory over Lakewood. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

    “I think it was really cool for Jeffco,” Dakota Ridge coach James Foote said after the Eagles’ 13-11 victory at Trailblazer Stadium. “It was really cool as a conference to have an 8-0 team and 7-0 team get after it. It wasn’t the cleanest one by any means. It was fun.”

    Dakota Ridge kept a slim lead for the majority of the 5A Jeffco League opener for both teams. The Eagles’ largest lead was four goals, but the Tigers (7-1, 0-1 in league) trimmed it down to one goals several times as both teams traded goals throughout the offensive game.

    Senior Samuel Arfsten had a pair of goals for the Eagles. Dakota Ridge’s strong junior class poured in the rest of the Eagles’ 11 goals with Drew Eickelman and Carson Langfield scoring four goals each.

    “I wasn’t really surprise,” Langfield said of the wide-open game. “Lakewood is strong offensive and we knew it would be an offensive game. Our defense performed when we needed them and we came out with the win.”

    Lakewood looked to make one last push midway through the fourth quarter with goals from juniors Kegan Hufford and Evan Woods to cut Dakota Ridge’s lead to 12-10 with 5:23 left to play. However, Langfield stepped up with a huge goal with 2:32 left to push the Eagles’ lead back to three goals.

    Lakewood junior Pierce Holley, right, tries to get off a shot while fending off Dakota Ridge senior Gavin Gines. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

    The Eagles had to play shorthanded in the final quarter with Eickelman suffering an apparent ankle injury.

    “It was sad to see Drew go down, but I wasn’t nervous because we have a great group behind him,” Foote said.

    Lakewood remarkable junior class scored all 11 of the Tigers’ goals. Hufford, Jacob Brunner and Pierce Holley scored three goals each. Woods finished with two goals. It wasn’t enough as Lakewood suffered its first setback of the season.

    “I think our message was that it isn’t fun to lose. It doesn’t feel good,” Lakewood coach Eric Seelbach said. “We’ve just got to move on. Pine Creek is Friday.”

    Seelbach said he thought the Tigers were “undisciplined” on defense as Lakewood gave up a season-high 13 goals. Lakewood didn’t allow a Dakota Ridge goal in the first five minutes of the second half, but the Eagles ended up with three goals in the final seven minutes of the third quarter to get their offensive back in gear.

    Lakewood junior Kegan Hufford, right, puts a shot on Dakota Ridge goalie Alan Goddard. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

    “I definitely think we had the momentum coming out of the locker room at halftime,” Seelbach said. “We were just too sloppy and couldn’t maintain composure from top to bottom, me all the way down to the rest of the team.”

    Foote also admitted his team hasn’t been as sharp has he would like heading into the heart of conference play.

    “The last few games have been pretty sloppy for us,” Foote said. “You’ve got to keep focused. Our next three games are massive.”

    Dakota Ridge has road games in Colorado Springs against Palmer (Friday, April 13) and Pine Creek (Tuesday, April 17) before facing rival and No. 4 Columbine on Friday, April 20, at Trailblazer Stadium.

    Of course being undefeated is nice, but there is some pressure to stay perfect for the Eagles.

    “A little nervous,” Langfield said of the undefeated record. “We don’t want to ruin it for a while.”

    Dakota Ridge junior Ryan Kissinger, right, races past Lakewood defender Darian Schott. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

  • Photos: Helmreich stars for D’Evelyn baseball in win over Green Mountain

    DENVER — Andrew Helmreich allowed just two hits over five innings, and D’Evelyn baseball beat Green Mountain 12-0 on Wednesday.

    Evan Linden also went 2-for-3 with four RBIs, while Evan Willis was 2-for-3 with three RBIs and a home run.

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  • Photos: Mountain Vista beats Dawson in ranked boys lacrosse matchup across classes

    LAFAYETTE — Mountain Vista used a steady stream of offense to beat Dawson in a cross-classification battle of ranked teams on Wednesday.

    The Golden Eagles, No. 6 in 5A, are now 5-2 this season following a pair of hat tricks from Jake Govett and Joe Courington. Dawson, No. 1 in 4A, is now 6-1.

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  • Photos: No. 1 Cherry Creek girls lacrosse rolls past Overland

    GREENWOOD VILLAGE — Three different players had a hat trick as No. 1 Cherry Creek girls lacrosse beat Overland 21-0 on Wednesday.

    Juliana Gomez, Amelia McCarthy and Katie Collins all tallied three goals for the Bruins.

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  • Photos: No. 2 Valor Christian baseball edges Golden

    HIGHLANDS RANCH — Brady Buehler went deep, Rafe Kinder went 4-for-4, and No. 2 Valor Christian baseball beat Golden 8-6 on Wednesday.

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  • Photos: Dakota Ridge boys lacrosse takes down No. 7 Lakewood

    LAKEWOOD — Samuel Arfsten netted two goals to help Dakota Ridge boys lacrosse take down Class 5A No. 7 Lakewood on Wednesday.

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  • Photos: Towndrow’s late goal lifts Green Mountain boys lacrosse over No. 10 Conifer

    LAKEWOOD — Trey Towndrow’s goal late in the fourth quarter gave Green Mountain a win over Class 4A No. 10 Conifer on Wednesday.

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  • Photos: Big third inning powers Ponderosa baseball over Chaparral

    PARKER — Jacob Coleman, Mason Hammond and Sam Beecher all recorded RBIs in the third inning to help Ponderosa grab a 3-2 win over Chaparral.

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  • Photos: Rye comes away with win at first Tri-Peaks girls golf tournament

    COLORADO CITY — Rye’s Rachel Shaffer won the individual title and the Thunderbolts took advantage of their home course, winning the team title at Thursday’s Tri-Peaks girls golf tournament.

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  • No. 9 Ralston Valley baseball gets walk-off win against Dakota Ridge

    ARVADA — If Tuesday afternoon at Nate Jurney Field was any indiction, Class 5A Jeffco League baseball is going to be very entertaining over the next four weeks.

    Ralston Valley, No. 9 in the latest CHSAANow.com 5A baseball poll, started conference play with a walk-off 4-3 victory at home against Dakota Ridge. Sophomore Billy Wall came through with a hard-hit single in the bottom of the seventh inning to score junior Otto Jones from second base.

    “I had been struggling the whole game and couldn’t get any hard contact,” admitted Wall, who was 0-for-3 with two strikeouts before getting mobbed by teammates after the walk-off hit. “I went back to what we talk about in practice with going (opposite field).”

    Ralston Valley junior Calvin Hunt struck out nine batters in six innings of work Tuesday against Dakota Ridge. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

    The lefty hammered a hard shot left of second base off of Dakota Ridge junior Tyler Meyers to start conference play off the right way for the Mustangs (8-2, 1-0 in league).

    “He (Wall) drives the ball the other way a lot and we’ve been working on it a lot in practice,” Ralston Valley coach Brad Madden said. “He stayed right through that ball and got it into the gap.”

    The Mustangs outhit the Eagles (4-6, 0-1) by a count of 10 to 4, but Dakota Ridge got out to a 2-0 lead. A walk to Reece Davern, ground-rule double by Jason Kramlich and a hard-hit by junior Alex Overlie that couldn’t be handled by Wall at first base drove in Davern and Kramlich in the top of the third inning.

    Ralston Valley ended up stranding the bases loaded in the third, fourth and sixth innings.

    “I think we showed if you play all seven innings good things happen,” Ralston Valley junior AJ Jergensen said.

    Dakota Ridge junior Tyler Meyers, left, fields a hit by Ralston Valley junior Trey Adams. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

    Jergensen finally got the Mustangs on the scoreboard with a 2-run triple in the bottom of the fourth inning that drove in Jones and junior Elliot Stern. Jergensen has moved up into the leadoff position for the Mustangs after starting the season in the heart of Ralston Valley’s line-up.

    “I’ve been struggling a little bit, but I know my teammates and Coach Madden believe in me,” Jergensen said about his key 2-run triple. “We have been preaching about having a strong approach every time at the plate and it worked out for me on that one.”

    Jergensen scored later in the fourth inning on a throwing error on a grounder by senior Sam Lennarson that allowed the Mustangs to take a 3-2 lead. Dakota Ridge tied things up 3-3 in the top of the sixth inning with an RBI single by junior Gabe Kerrick that scored senior Jake Collins.

    Starting pitchers — Ralston Valley junior Calvin Hunt and Dakota Ridge junior Ryan Stohr — both ended up with no-decisions. Hunt went six innings, striking out nine. Lennarson and junior Trey Adams combined to pitch the seventh inning for the Mustangs.

    “Calvin is the heart of this team,” Jergensen said. “We know every time he steps onto the mound he is going to give 100 percent. He did that today.”

    Stohr was solid, but only went four innings because of a high pitch count. Madden felt fortunate to get the victory going up against Stohr.

    “Every (league) game is big and Dakota Ridge’s No. 1 pitcher (Ryan Stohr) is a stud,” Madden said. “To get a win with him on the bump for them was big for us.”

    Dakota Ridge seniors Jason Kramlick (10) and Cooper Legault (4) celebrate the Eagles’ 2-run top of the third inning. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

    The Mustangs have won seven straight games. Ralston Valley continues league play Thursday, April 12, with a road game against Bear Creek (5-4-1, 0-1). The Bears lost their league opener against Arvada West. The Wildcats scored 11 runs in the sixth inning to take a 20-11 victory Tuesday.

    Dakota Ridge has played one of the toughest schedules in 5A. The Eagles have lost to four teams — Cherry Creek, Legend, Mountain Vista and Ralston Valley — all currently ranked in the top-10.

    “This is Jeffco,” Dakota Ridge coach Jeff Legault said after the close loss. “This is how it’s going to be. I think every game is going to be like this.”

    Dakota Ridge stays on the road to face Lakewood (4-5, 0-1) on Thursday afternoon.

    It would be hard pressed to have a conference race as tight as it was last year in 5A Jeffco. Bear Creek, Chatfield, Dakota Ridge and Ralston Valley ended in a four-way tie atop the league with all four finishing with 6-4 conference records.

    Dakota Ridge was the lone 5A Jeffco team to advance to the 8-team, double-elimination state tournament. The Eagles suffered losses to Mountain Vista and Legend to end their postseason run.

    Dakota Ridge junior Cade Akerfelds, left, forces out Ralston Valley junior AJ Jergensen at second base during the Class 5A Jeffco League opener Tuesday at Nate Jurney Field on the campus of Ralston Valley High School. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)