Voted upon by coaches and select media members around the state. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.
Coaches and media members looking to vote should email rcasey@chsaa.org.
Class 5A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Mountain Vista (10)
9-0
100
1
5-0
2
Pine Creek
8-2
79
2
5-2
3
Heritage
7-1
68
9
4-0
4
Mountain Range
8-0
61
8
5-0
5
Cherry Creek
7-3
43
3
3-1
6
Legend
5-3
36
7
3-0
7
Highlands Ranch
6-3
28
–
2-1
8
Legacy
7-1
20
–
6-0
9
Ralston Valley
7-2
18
–
6-0
10
Douglas County
7-1
15
–
1-0
Others receiving votes:
ThunderRidge 13, Columbine 12, Rock Canyon 12, Rocky Mountain 12, Castle View 7, Lakewood 7, Regis Jesuit 7, Chaparral 4, Boulder 3, Broomfield 2, Fort Collins 2, Monarch 1.
Dropped out:
Rocky Mountain (4), Chaparral (5), Regis Jesuit (6), Broomfield (10).
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Windsor (6)
8-0
89
4
6-0
2
Valor Christian (4)
5-2
84
1
3-2
3
Evergreen
8-1
75
3
3-1
4
Longmont (1)
8-1
58
9
4-0
5
Lewis-Palmer
8-1
56
5
2-1
6
Roosevelt
9-2
47
–
5-0
7
Cheyenne Mountain
7-1
41
–
3-0
8
Palmer Ridge
6-2
24
10
2-1
9
Mead
7-3
20
6
0-2
10
Montrose
9-2
18
–
3-0
Others receiving votes:
Holy Family 16, Golden 15, Pueblo County 10, Pueblo West 7, Air Academy 6, Standley Lake 6, Falcon 5, The Classical Academy 5, Thomas Jefferson 5, Berthoud 4, Elizabeth 4, Palisade 4, Discovery Canyon 3, Pueblo South 2, Denver North 1.
Dropped out:
Pueblo West (2), Holy Family (7), Air Academy (8).
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
University (4)
8-1
75
5
4-0
2
Lamar (4)
8-1
70
1
1-0
3
Sterling
7-1
55
8
4-0
4
La Junta
8-2
49
2
4-1
5
Faith Christian
5-1
43
6
4-1
6
Kent Denver
5-1
31
10
2-1
7
Peak to Peak
5-1
28
–
1-0
8
Colorado Academy
6-2
20
3
2-2
9
Valley
4-5
16
9
0-2
10
Eaton
3-3
12
4
0-2
Others receiving votes:
The Academy 11, Buena Vista 7, Lutheran 7, Platte Valley 6, Delta 4, Weld Central 4, Bayfield 1, Resurrection Christian 1.
Dropped out:
The Academy (7).
Class 2A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Paonia (8)
7-0
84
1
6-0
2
Limon
8-1
70
4
3-0
3
Peyton (1)
10-1
62
2
5-0
4
Hotchkiss
7-0
52
3
4-0
5
Lyons
7-1
50
5
2-0
6
Sedgwick County
6-1
44
7
2-0
7
Dawson
6-2
26
–
4-1
8
Rocky Ford
6-3
24
6
4-1
9
Yuma
6-2
22
10
2-0
10
County Line
5-3
11
–
4-3
Others receiving votes:
Sargent 9, Haxtun 8, Dolores 7, Meeker 7, Front Range Christian 6, Fowler 4, Calhan 3, Denver Christian 3, Wiggins 2, Dayspring Christian 1.
Dropped out:
Haxtun (8), Swink (9).
Class 1A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Holly (6)
5-3
67
1
4-1
2
Caliche
5-3
55
5
4-1
3
Otis
8-1
50
3
3-1
4
Cornerstone Christian
6-1
48
6
3-0
5
Dove Creek (1)
5-5
33
4
2-3
6
Elbert
4-0
32
8
2-0
7
Fleming
4-4
26
2
2-3
8
Manzanola
3-2
18
–
3-2
9
Longmont Christian
3-3
14
9
1-1
10
Cotopaxi
6-3
10
–
4-0
Others receiving votes:
Peetz 8, Springfield 8, Stratton/Liberty 4, Rocky Mountain Lutheran 4, Sierra Grande 3, Cheyenne Wells 2, Nucla 2, Eads 1.
Legend has hired Travis Underwood to be its next volleyball coach, athletic director Kevin Boley said on Monday.
Underwood comes to Legend from Castle View, where he was an assistant last season. He has also been a head volleyball coach in Nevada, coaching boys at Shadow Ridge (2013-16) and Sunrise Mountain (2009-11), and girls at Spring Valley (2004-06). He has also coached soccer.
Legend volleyball is coming off a 15-10 season in which the Titans reached the Class 5A regionals for the seventh-straight season.
Former coach Verlyn Rosenthal was 33-19 in two seasons, including a trip to the state tournament in 2016.
Bear Creek junior Isaiah Romero, right, prepares to throw to third for an eventual double-play Saturday in the Bears’ 6-4 victory over D’Evelyn. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
DENVER — The hit parade came late, but happened when it really counted for Bear Creek on the baseball field Saturday afternoon.
The Bears cranked out six straight hits in a 4-run top of the seventh inning against D’Evelyn. The offensive outburst turned a 2-run deficit into a 2-run lead for Bear Creek (5-3-1 record) heading into the bottom half of the final inning at D’Evelyn Junior/Senior High School.
“It always starts with getting the first guy on,” Bear Creek coach Sean Hoorelbeke said of the Bears’ 4-run seventh inning that eventually led to a 6-4 road victory. “As a coach you would like to see that a little sooner. Guys stayed within themselves and got their pitch. Good things happened.”
George Martinez, Nate Madrid and Matt Zaccaro started the inning with three consecutive singles. Junior Isaiah Romero delivered the big blow for the Bears with his second double of the game with a 2-run shot over the centerfielder’s head to tie the game at 4-4.
Romero was an RBI machine knocking in four runs in the victory that ended a 2-game losing streak for Bear Creek.
D’Evelyn senior David Shaw, left, isn’t able to hang on to the ball as Bear Creek sophomore Derek Reno slides in safely. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
“This isn’t the first time we’ve come from behind this year,” Romero said. “We almost feel more comfortable in this situation. We stay up in the dugout and stay positive.”
Zaccaro scored on a wild pitch after Romero’s double to give the Bears a 5-4 lead. Senior Adam Cholak added an insurance run with a hard single through the infield to drive in Romero to push the lead to 6-4.
Cholak, who surrendered a pair of runs in the bottom half of the sixth inning that gave D’Evelyn (4-5) the lead, got the final three outs on the hill to give the Bears the win.
Bear Creek had a 2-0 lead before D’Evelyn knocked in four unanswered runs with a pair in the fourth and sixth innings to grab the lead. The Bears’ bats went quiet in the middle innings to Hoorelbeke’s dismay.
“It’s frustrating for us to be sleepwalking through innings three, four and five,” Hoorelbeke admitted. “I am proud of the guys how they battled and came back against a good ball club over there.”
While Bear Creek’s starting pitcher Noah Wunder had a no-decision in five innings of work, Hoorelbeke was very pleased with Wunder’s first varsity start.
Bear Creek sophomore Noah Wunder was impressive in his first varsity start giving up just two runs in five innings. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
“You always like to see a young guy come out and see where he is at,” Hoorelbeke said of his sophomore pitcher. “He was on point today. He was hitting his spots and kept his pitch-count down. He did everything we could ask from a little young sophomore.”
D’Evelyn junior Evan Willis also got a no-decision despite working into the seventh inning. Willis gave up back-to-back hits to start the inning before leaving the mound.
The Jaguars’ top-half of the line-up produced all four of the D’Evelyn runs. Junior Pablo Rodriguez went 2-for-3. Seniors Andrew Helmreich and Tanner Robberson combined the score three runs for D’Evelyn.
“We took the lead, but you have to be able to finish,” D’Evelyn coach Dan Porreco said. “We couldn’t finish. It’s unfortunate. We have to close the deal.”
D’Evelyn couldn’t hang on to a 5-2 lead in the fifth inning against Ponderosa earlier in the week in a loss that ended a 2-game winning streak for the Jaguars.
Bear Creek and D’Evelyn both start their respective conference schedules in Class 5A Jeffco and 4A Jeffco this week. D’Evelyn gets going in league against Standley Lake on the Gators’ home field Monday, April 9. Bear Creek opens on the road against Arvada West on Tuesday, April 10.
“Last year in (5A) Jeffco we had a 4-way tie for first place,” Hoorelbeke said. “Anybody can beat anybody on any given day. Jeffco is so competitive every year.”
D’Evelyn sophomore Sam Belmonte, right, turns a double-play during the non-league game against Bear Creek on Saturday afternoon. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
COLORADO SPRINGS — If there’s one thing Pine Creek baseball coach Glenn Millhauser knows, it’s that rankings, regular season or otherwise, don’t mean anything.
That’s why talking about two years ago still hurts.
“I’d rather not (talk about it),” Millhauser said.
Understandably so. The Eagles went into the 2016 Class 5A districts as the No. 1 overall seed, but didn’t escape the weekend. They lost to Rocky Mountain, who went on to finish runner-up in the state tournament that year.
But that loss still stings for the Eagles.
“The seed was tough,” Millhauser said. “Rocky Mountain was good that year. They had gone down to Florida and their RPI was down, but I knew they were very good.”
Still, the feeling of going into a tournament as the perceived top seed and coming away with nothing is a feeling that Millhauser and his team will never forget.
In the first RPI rankings released this week, Pine Creek was sitting at No. 10 in the baseball RPI. It’s probably not as high as the coaches and players would like. But if they’re feeding off the lesson that was taught to them two years ago, they shouldn’t just want to be perceived as one of the top teams in the state. They should just play baseball like they’re one of the best teams in the state and worthy of the No. 2 ranking in the CHSAANow.com baseball poll.
So that’s exactly what they’re doing.
The Eagles have three pitchers on the roster who have thrown over 11 innings this season and have ERAs under 2.00.
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
That trio is led by Riley Cornelio, a junior who has registered more strikeouts than the number of hits the entire Eagles pitching staff has surrendered all year.
“People are starting to understand what we’re about,” Cornelio said. “We’re going to continue to go out and prove who we are.”
It helps to have the support of one of the best lineups across the state. Everyone knows what first baseman Justin Olson brings in the No. 3 spot of the order. In a win over Coronado on Thursday, the University of Kentucky commit blasted home runs in his first two at-bats of the game.
He was offered an intentional free pass to first in his next plate appearance.
But he’s not the only one who can mash baseballs. Zac Heisler and Kit Wigington each hit three-run bombs and Parker Gregory hit a grand slam in the win over the Cougars.
“We all just build off each other’s successes,” Olson said. “Parker wasn’t even starting at the beginning of the year. You can see it now, he’s proven to be one of our best hitters out here.”
But no one has the power that Olson yields. With his two home runs on Thursday, he put himself solely atop the leaderboard for all hitters in the state. Millhauser even raved about the home runs he hit over spring break when the Eagles went to Arizona.
But now that the team is back in Colorado and focused on the task at hand which is getting back to regionals and advancing to the 5A state tournament.
The trip-up that happens two years ago still stings, but the hope is that it can serve as a tool to push this team toward what it feels its capable of.
“We’re not going to let that happen again,” Olson said. “We’re not going to have a letdown like that ever again. We’re going to go far. We’re something special and we know it.”
