The Season D state tournament bracket for Class 5A girls lacrosse is below.

• Girls lacrosse brackets: 5A | 4A

2021 CHSAA Girls Lacrosse State Championships (Colorado) Class 5A

The complete schedule for the Class 5A state baseball tournaments in Season D.

June 18-19 games are at Cherry Creek High School and Eaglecrest High School. June 24-25 games are at Keli MacGregor Field at All-Star Park in Lakewood.

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2021 CHSAA State Baseball Championships Class 5A

(Brad Cochi/CHSAANow.com)

It seems like forever since the last girls tennis state tournament took place in Colorado, but a pair of perennial contenders have picked up right where they left off in Class 5A with a slew of new faces in this year’s field.

Cherry Creek, which has won 21 of the last 22 team titles, and Fairview – the only other 5A team to claim a trophy over that span – began to separate themselves once again on Day 1 of the state tournament at Gates Tennis Center on Friday. When play resumes with semifinals on Saturday, Cherry Creek will be in the lead with 21 team points and Fairview will open the final day just two points behind the Bruins.

“It’s so exciting because it’s been two years,” Fairview head coach Susan Stensrud said. “For us, that means that a large bulk of my team has been been here before. The vibe is that we’re just thrilled and excited to be here and to come back tomorrow.”

At No. 1 singles, defending 2019 champion Valerie Negin of Smoky Hill is still alive in her bid to defend the title she won two years ago when she debuted at the state tournament as a sophomore. In Saturday’s penultimate round, Negin will face defending No. 2 singles champion Alexis Bernthal. Either Boulder’s Lily Chitamber or Cherry Creek’s Jaque Pearsall, who will meet in the opposing semifinal, awaits the winner.

In total, the Cherry Creek Bruins advanced their players to the semifinals at all seven roster spots. Fairview players are still alive in six brackets. The Ralston Valley Mustangs, who finished Day 1 at third in the team scoring, advanced players to three semifinals.

“This season for us has been magical,” Ralston Valley head coach Kim Greason said. “With two years off, more than half of my squad has never had varsity-level competition. A lot of them are new, but we won league and our girls really gelled. Although they may not have the years of experience under their belt like some of these other teams, they’ve got that team spirit and that cohesiveness that a lot of the time pulls them through matches because they know they’re playing for each other.”

Semifinals for this year’s single-elimination tournament will begin at 9 a.m. on Saturday. Poudre, Fort Collins, Heritage, Fossil Ridge, Chatfield and Denver East will also have players competing championships when they do.

“We’re looking forward to tough matches at every spot,” Cherry Creek head coach Chris Jacob said. “We’re expecting a challenge right from the beginning of the day. I’m happy with how the girls played today and we’ve prepared as well as we could in a short amount of time, but we know there are lots of good teams out there so we know we’ll have tough matches at every position.”

(Brad Cochi/CHSAANow.com)

Chatfield picked up a 2-1 win over Jeffco opponent Arvada West on Friday.

In the latest coaches poll voting, Ponderosa and Merino claimed the top spots in their respective classifications.

The rankings, voted upon by coaches, are the official polls of the Association.

Complete rankings for all classes are below.

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CHSAANow.com Baseball Polls

Coaches looking to vote should email bcochi@chsaa.org.

In the latest coaches coaches poll, Evergreen and Grand Junction moved up in Class 4A.

The rankings, voted upon by coaches, are the official polls of the Association.

Complete rankings for all classes are below.

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CHSAANow.com Girls Lacrosse Poll

Voted upon by coaches around the state. Coaches looking to vote should email bcochi@chsaa.org.

Chatfield senior Quinton Low, far right, and the Chargers’ dugout watch Low’s 2-run bast in the first inning Saturday afternoon at Dakota Ridge High School. The Chargers edged the Eagles 7-6. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

LITTLETON — In the 90-degree heat Saturday afternoon, top-ranked Chatfield sweated out 7-6 victory over Class 5A Jeffco League rival Dakota Ridge.

“It was crazy, but that’s Jeffco baseball,” Chatfield coach Brett Pieratt said about Dakota Ridge bring the tying run to the plate after sophomore Thomas Hartman belted a 2-run home run to make it a 1-run game with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Dakota Ridge senior Logan Balfanz (10) is greeted at home plate by senior Ben Gultig (6) after a solo home run by the senior in the bottom of the first inning against Chatfield. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

Chatfield senior lefty Colby Cruser didn’t wilt after giving up the home run on the first pitch he threw after coming in relief for starter Matthew Lighthall. Cruser struck out the next batter — Dakota Ridge senior Ben Gultig — to end the game.

“I felt loose and my arm was feeling pretty good. There are pitch-count rules and I let my pitch-count get a little too high,” Lighthall said after coming out with 2 outs in the bottom of the seventh inning after striking out 15 batters. “We’ve got plenty of guys in the pen who can come in and close it.”

Dakota Ridge (7-6, 5-2 in 5A Jeffco) had only four hits on the game, but three of the hits were home runs. Senior Logan Balfanz had a solo run in the first inning. Senior Bennett Gregory had a 2-run blast off Lighthall in the sixth inning to cut the Chargers’ lead to 5-4. Then there was Hartman’s blast to make it a 1-run game again.

“We had our fingers crossed,” Pieratt said after Hartman hit the 2-run home run on the first pitch he saw from Cruser. “Colby does a good job. He has closed a few times for us.”

The final strikeout call was even a little strange. It appeared that the home plate umpire pointed to first base on the full-count pitch. Gultig wasn’t sure if the umpire had called a ball or a strike.

“It was crazy,” Lighthall said of the final inning. “There wasn’t a doubt in my mind he (Cruser) wouldn’t get it done.”

Offensively, senior Quenton Low did his damage early with a monster 2-run home run in the top of the first inning.

“We barreled up a couple of balls early,” Low said of his 2-run home run in the first inning that was followed up by sophomore Mason Lowe’s 2-run shot in the sixth inning. “You can’t be mad about 11 hits.”

Dakota Ridge senior Thomas Hartman steps on second base on the way to turning a double-play Saturday against Chatfield. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

Chatfield (11-2, 6-1) had four straight hits from the 6 to 9 hole hitters in the top of the seventh inning that produced two key insurance runs. Junior Mason Cowgill had an RBI double and senior Drew Lytle drove in another run with an RBI single.

Dakota Ridge junior Gavin Kaiser had a strong five innings on the mound giving up just three runs on five hits.

“Every time we play Dakota Ridge it’s a grind,” Pieratt said. “It’s always a 1-run game.”

The win kept Chatfield No. 1 in the RPI standings. Valor Christian (11-2, 7-0) defeated Chatfield 3-1 a few days earlier to clinch the conference title for the Eagles.

“The goal is host a regional and hopefully see Valor again,” Lighthall said of the bounce-back win after the loss to Valor. “A loss like that you have to come back and just play your game to get the win. That is what we did today.”

Heading into the final week of the regular season, Chatfield and Valor are locks to make the 24-team regional field. Dakota Ridge, Ralston Valley and Lakewood are right on the bubble to make the postseason.

“This games are important,” Low said of the high school baseball season extended three weeks due to COVID this year. “Growing up with all these kids my entire life it’s fun getting this last round in.”

Chatfield will be without pitcher Logan Carlisle if the Chargers make it all the way to the second week of the state tournament scheduled for June 25 and 26. The hard-throwing Carlisle reports to the Air Force Academy on June 24.

“The vibe is strange,” Pieratt admitted. “Our seniors graduated three weeks ago. We are practicing sometime in the morning. It’s been a little weird for us, but the great thing is we have great senior leadership. They have adapted and have led the way. Our guys don’t seem tired.”

Chatfield senior Matthew Lighthall struck out 15 Dakota Ridge batters Saturday in the Class 5A Jeffco League showdown. The Chargers will finish second in the conference behind Valor Christian. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

Class 5A No. 4 Valor Christian girls lacrosse got its fifth win in a row by beating No. 11 Chatfield 17-2 on Thursday.

Results from the 2021 Class 5A girls tennis regionals, which includes info on who has qualified for the state championships.

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Jeffco Preps With Pleuss is a monthly roundup of Jeffco prep highlights hosted by Dennis Pleuss, Jeffco Public Schools’ sports information director. The Season C sports wrapped up with Ralston Valley, Columbine and Chatfield girls volleyball squads all advancing to the Class 5A state tournament held at the World Arena in Colorado Springs. D’Evelyn’s girls soccer team got off to a good start in the deep Class 4A Jeffco League with a victory over Standley Lake at Lakewood Memorial Field. Golden’s girls lacrosse, along with Columbine and Green Mountain boys lacrosse team pulled off victories at Trailblazer Stadium as the extended Spring 2021 season got underway. Golden baseball coach Jackie McBroom grabbed his 100th career coaching victory and Chatfield baseball showed why the Chargers are a favorite to contend for the 5A state title later this June.