Valor Christian is the preseason No. 1 in 5A. (Kevin Keyser/KeyserImages.com)
Defending champions head six of football’s seven preseason CHSAANow.com rankings, which were unveiled Monday morning.
The lone exception is Lutheran in Class 3A — which saw both its champion (Coronado) and runner-up (Silver Creek) move up to 4A this cycle.
In fact, that ranking was also the most split of any other, with both Lutheran and preseason No. 2 Delta both getting three first-place votes. Lutheran got the No. 1 nod with 65 total points. Delta had 53 points.
Lutheran was eliminated in the first round of the 3A playoffs last season, while Delta made the semifinals. Lutheran is entering its first season under new coach Blair Hubbard, formerly of Faith Christian.
Other preseason No. 1 teams are Platte Valley (2A), Paonia (1A), Dayspring Christian (8-man) and Stratton/Liberty (6-man).
The rankings are voted upon by coaches and select media members, and are the official polls of the Association. During the regular season, rankings will be released each Monday.
ThunderRidge 31, Overland 16, Monarch 7, Legend 5, Douglas County 3, Grand Junction 3, Mullen 2, Doherty 1, Fountain-Fort Carson 1.
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
PTS
1
Pine Creek (11)
110
2
Montrose
81
3
Pueblo South
75
4
Longmont
67
5
Denver South
53
6
Broomfield
43
7
Standley Lake
36
8
Dakota Ridge
28
9
Pueblo Centennial
26
10
Windsor
25
Others receiving votes:
Pueblo West 18, Vista Ridge 17, Loveland 13, Fort Collins 5, Coronado 3, Palmer Ridge 2, Wheat Ridge 2, Falcon 1.
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
PTS
1
Lutheran (3)
65
2
Delta (3)
53
3
Holy Family
52
4
Rifle (1)
40
5
Roosevelt
33
6
Evergreen
25
7
The Classical Academy
19
8
Palisade
16
9
Lewis-Palmer (1)
15
10
Vista PEAK
11
Others receiving votes:
Fort Morgan 9, Northridge 9, Pueblo East 7, Mead 4, Conifer 3, Discovery Canyon 3, Erie 3, Frederick 3, Woodland Park 2, Eagle Valley 1, Pueblo Central 1.
Class 2A
RK
TEAM
PTS
1
Platte Valley (5)
66
2
Faith Christian (1)
64
3
Brush (1)
54
4
Manitou Springs
41
5
Kent Denver
38
6
Florence
31
7
Strasburg
24
8
Bennett
23
9
Lamar
16
10
Olathe
9
Others receiving votes:
Gunnison 7, La Junta 4, Sterling 4, Eaton 2, Middle Park 1, Moffat County 1.
Class 1A
RK
TEAM
PTS
1
Paonia (4)
63
2
Centauri (2)
58
3
Limon (1)
53
4
Buena Vista
49
5
Resurrection Christian
40
6
Burlington
36
7
Monte Vista
30
8
Yuma
13
9
Wray
10
10
Cedaredge
8
Others receiving votes:
Platte Canyon 6, Colorado Springs Christian 5, Meeker 4, Holyoke 3, Hotchkiss 3, Rye 2, Front Range Christian 1, Wiggins 1.
Lewis-Palmer, the defending 4A volleyball champion, heads the preseason ranking in that class. (Kevin Keyser/KeyserImages.com)
Rampart, Lewis-Palmer, Manitou Springs, Resurrection Christian and Fleming are the preseason No. 1 volleyball teams in their respective classifications.
CHSAANow.com’s preseason poll was released on Monday, and three of last year’s champions are atop the rankings. Those are Lewis-Palmer, Resurrection Christian and Fleming.
Rampart, which received eight of the 11 first-place votes, heads the Class 5A poll. The Rams made the state tournament last season, where they went 1-1 in pool play. They return a number of top players from that team.
Cherokee Trail is No. 2 to start the year, and is followed by No. 3 Fossil Ridge, No. 4 Grandview — the defending champion — and No. 5 Cherry Creek.
Pine Creek is sixth, Eaglecrest is seventh, Legend is eighth, Arapahoe is ninth and Mountain Vista rounds out the ranking.
Lewis-Palmer heads 4A. Ponderosa is No. 2, and Air Academy, last year’s runner-up, is third.
Manitou Springs is on top of the 3A ranking, just ahead of defending champ Eaton. Manitou was runner-up last season.
Resurrection Christian leads 2A, while Fleming is on top of 1A.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. During the regular season, polls will be released each Monday.
Voted upon by coaches and media members around the state. New voters can sign up by emailing rcasey@chsaa.org. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.
The 2014 all-state baseball teams honor the best players in the sport as judged by the leagues and coaches. They are presented by CHSAANow.com, ColoradoPreps.com and MaxPreps.
These teams were created following a lengthy process which included nominations from leagues and coaches, and then a vote of coaches.
Players of the year were also selected by a vote of the coaches.
Chaparral’s Keenan Eaton was among locals selected in the 2014 MLB Draft. (Kevin Keyser/KeyserImages.com)
A slew of local products, including a host of 2014 graduates, were selected on the third and final day of the MLB Draft on Saturday.
Eighteen former Colorado high school baseball players were taken, bringing the total number of local products who were drafted this year to 23. Of those 23, 12 just completed their senior season this spring.
True to Colorado’s history, 14 of the draftees are pitchers.
Saturday was a good day for 2014 graduates. Ten of them went:
Ralston Valley’s Jordan Holloway
Grand Junction’s Owen Taylor
Rocky Mountain’s Carl Stajduhar
Regis Jesuit’s David Peterson
Pueblo South’s Cory Voss
Mountain Vista’s Nick Leonard
ThunderRidge’s Brody Westmoreland
Fairview’s Ryan Kokora
Legacy’s Lucas Gilbreath
Chaparral’s Keenan Eaton
In addition, eight more alumni were selected out of college on Saturday. Those are:
Saturday, Henry was the first local off the board. He went in the 17th round to the Kansas City Royals at No. 513 overall.
A 6-foot-4, 205-pound left-handed pitcher, Henry was picked out of Bellevue (Neb.) University, where he just finished his junior season. He graduated from Thomas Jefferson in 2010, then went on to play two seasons at Northeastern Junior College in Sterling.
Henry just finished his junior season at Bellevue, an NAIA school, where he was 9-2 with a 3.59 ERA in 77 2/3 innings pitched. He struck out 101 against 51 walks.
Ralston Valley’s Jordan Holloway was a 17th-round pick in the MLB Draft on Saturday. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
Holloway was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the 20th round, becoming just the third local 2014 graduate taken in this draft. He went with the No. 587 overall pick.
At 6-foot-4, 190 pounds, Holloway is a sizeable right-handed pitcher. He was 6-1 with a 2.60 ERA in 43 innings during his season year at Ralston Valley, and struck out 50 batters, while walking 26.
But Holloway also played third base for the Mustangs, and made plenty of noise with his bat. He hit .419 with five home runs and 25 RBIs. Included was a three-homer, nine-RBI game against Standley Lake on April 19.
Holloway is a Nebraska-Omaha recruit.
Glanz, a 2010 graduate of Arvada West, was the third Colorado product taken by the Rockies this year when he went to the local club in the 23rd round with the No. 683 overall pick.
A 6-foot-2, 205-pound right-handed pitcher, Glanz played two seasons at Seward (Kan.) Community College before heading to Oral Roberts. As a junior this year, Glanz was 3-5 with a 3.27 ERA and 50 strikeouts to 30 walks.
Glanz’s father, Scott, was also drafted, going to the Angels in the 13th round in 1982.
Later in the 23rd round, the Atlanta Braves took 2010 Rock Canyon graduate Tanner Krietemeier, a first baseman.
Krietemeier spent his freshman season at Nebraska, then moved to Iowa Western CC as a sophomore. He transferred to Oklahoma State as a junior, and just completed his senior season there.
This season, Krietemeier hit .275 with 10 home runs and 52 RBIs.
As the draft hit the 27th and 28th rounds, six further Colorado products went in quick succession. The group was selected over a span of 50 picks.
Taylor, a 2014 Grand Junction grad, went to the Toronto Blue Jays in the 27th round, No. 804 overall. He’s a 6-foot-2, 200-pound first baseman, and is a Kansas recruit. Taylor hit .266 with 15 RBIs this season.
Robertson graduated from Montrose in 2011, and also played basketball for the Indians. He was a 27th round pick of the Arizona Diamondbacks, and went No. 810 overall.
A 6-foot-3, 210-pound junior shortstop, Robertson hit .356 with six home runs and 48 RBIs this season as the Mavericks made the Division II final. He also stole 25 bases on 28 attempts.
Amedee is a 2011 alum of Rocky Mountain, and was part of multiple championships with the Lobos. The Pittsburgh Pirates drafted him in the 27th round, as well, at No. 821 overall.
After graduating, Amedee went to Northern Colorado, Central Arizona Community College and spent last season, his junior year, at Texas-Arlington. A right-handed pitcher who stands 6-foot-2, 205 pounds, he was 1-4 with a 6.52 ERA in 48 1/3 innings as a junior.
Rocky Mountain’s Carl Stajduhar went in the 27th round. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)
Stajduhar went two picks after Amedee at No. 823 overall, becoming a 27th-round pick of the Braves. A 2014 graduate, he led Rocky Mountain to the Class 5A championship this spring, capping a brilliant career.
As a senior, Stajduhar hit .489 and led the state with 13 home runs and 51 RBIs. He is a New Mexico recruit.
Piche went to the Los Angeles Angeles in the 28th round, No. 854 overall. He’s a 6-foot-1, 180-pound right-handed pitcher who graduated from Resurrection Christian in 2010 and is now at Kansas.
Prior to becoming a Jayhawk, Piche spent two seasons at Indian Hills CC in Iowa — which is where Fountain-Fort Carson graduate Nick Green was drafted out of in the seventh round Friday.
As a senior this past season, Piche went 6-5 with a 4.59 ERA in 82 1/3 innings. He had 69 strikeouts to 29 walks.
Next off the board was Regis Jesuit pitcher David Peterson, a 6-foot-6, 215-pound lefty who fractured his right fibula prior to the season. Peterson, a 2014 grad, went in the 28th round to the Boston Red Sox, No. 854 overall.
Peterson battled back from the injury to return to the Raiders in mid-April and finished with a 1.15 ERA in 24 1/3 innings. He held opponents to a .180 batting average. Despite the shortened season, he was 3-0 and had 40 strikeouts to 12 walks.
Peterson is an Oregon recruit.
“I want to thank the Red Sox for drafting me,” Peterson tweeted Saturday. “It is such an honor to be picked by one of the best organizations there is.”
Tharp, meanwhile, went to the New York Mets in the 30th round, No. 895 overall. He was also a football star for Fairview before graduating in 2010.
A 5-foot-10, 195-pound outfielder, Tharp hit .310 with six home runs and 39 RBIs as a senior at Kansas this season. He also stole 11 of the 15 bases he attempted to.
Voss became the fourth local picked by the Rockies this draft when they took him in the 34th round, No. 1013 overall. A 5-foot-10, 190-pound catcher, he hit. 469 with four home runs and 22 RBIs this past season.
Like Stajduhar, Voss is a New Mexico recruit.
“Thanks to the Rockies for drafting me!” Voss tweeted on Saturday. “Huge honor to be selected by such a great organization! Thanks to everyone for the support!”
Leonard, Mountain Vista’s right-handed pitcher, was next, going to the Braves later in the 34th round, at No. 1033 overall.
Leonard graduated this spring, is a Washington State recruit and was flat out dominant this season. Listed at 6-foot-2, 185 pounds, he went 8-3 with a microscopic 0.88 ERA in 80 innings this season. He had 105 strikeouts to 16 walks.
ThunderRidge shortstop Brody Westmoreland was drafted by the Rockies in the 35th round. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)
ThunderRidge’s Westmoreland, a 2014 grad, then went in the 35th round to the Rockies, becoming the fifth local selected by the team. A San Diego State recruit, he hit .420 with seven home runs and 40 RBIs this season, and also stole 12 bases.
Westmoreland is listed as 6-foot-3, 185 pounds — and despite speculation to the contrary, he has not been approached about moving to a corner infield spot and will stay at shortstop at San Diego State, or as a professional should he sign. In fact, he’s been told by scouts that he’s a prototypical shortstop.
“Thank you Rockies for drafting me today!” Westmoreland tweeted. “Want to thank everyone for all the support and looking forward to playing at San Diego State!”
Fairview’s Kokora, a 6-foot-4, 180-pound right-handed pitcher who graduated this spring, was the fourth Colorado product selected by the Braves on Saturday. He went in the 35th round, No. 1063 overall.
A Hawaii Pacific recruit, Kokora went 9-0 with a 1.38 ERA this season. He held batters to a .166 average, and struck out 65 to 15 walks in helping the Knights to the 5A Final 8.
Gilbreath, a 6-foot-1, 185-pound left-handed pitcher from Legacy, was the Rockies’ sixth and final local selection when he went in the 36th round, No. 1073 overall.
Gilbreath graduated this spring and is a Minnesota recruit. He went 6-2 with a 1.45 ERA this season. Gilbreath had 111 strikeouts, which led 5A, to just 22 walks.
Ghidotti just finished his senior season at Ouachita Baptist, a Division II school in Arkansas. He graduated from Ponderosa in 2010.
A 6-foot-2, 210-pound right-handed pitcher, Ghidotti was 0-1 with eight saves and a 2.06 ERA in 35 innings this past season.
Chaparral’s Eaton, who graduated this spring, was the final local product selected in this year’s draft. He went in the 39th round, No. 1162 overall, to the Philadelphia Phillies.
Eaton, who is a Wichita State recruit, was drafted as a 6-foot, 195-pound left fielder. He hit .328 with with a home run and 13 RBIs this season.
The senior struck out nine, powering Resurrection Christian to a 5-1 win over Sedgwick County at Hobbs Field at the Runyon Field Sports Complex.
“I just wanted to leave it all out there,” the 6-foot-2, 190-pound right-handed Lohr said. “We wanted to win this state championship so bad and that’s what we came here to do. I had nerves the whole game, but I had complete confidence in the guys behind me. It just feels great to achieve this goal.”
Resurrection Christian finished its memorable season with a 22-3 record. The Cougars advanced to the finals by cruising past defending 2A state champion Denver Christian 13-3 earlier Saturday. Resurrection also won state in 2012.
Sedgwick County ended its campaign at 22-2. Sedgwick had a dramatic 4-1 win over Rye in eight innings in the semifinals. Chase Dunker fanned 15 batters in the win. Dunker, a senior southpaw, finished his season with a 9-0 record and 144 strikeouts.
“This is a special group of boys,” second-year Resurrection coach Grant MacAlmon said. “They understood what the big picture was and I’m so proud of them.”
In the bottom of the second, Resurrection Christian’s Jake Tomcheck came up with bases loaded and he dropped a safety squeeze bunt to give the Cougars a 1-0 lead.
Resurrection kept its offense momentum going in the third frame as Luke Mondt had a lead-off double and then came home on an RBI single by Josh Miller.
Sedgwick County cut the deficit to 2-1 in the top of the fifth on Trey Walter’s sacrifice fly. With two outs, Chase Dunker came to the plate with a runner on third, but Lohr struck out Dunker on some high heat.
In the bottom of the sixth, Del Chance Richardson reached on an error and then the left-handed swinging Mondt smashed a run-scoring triple to right field. Mondt scored moments later on another Sedgwick County error and then Nate Wiggins doubled to put runners on second and third.
Leading 4-1, Cory Wiggins placed a bunt just past the pitcher Tyler Woodhams to score Richardson, giving the Cougars a 5-1 lead.
“We all wanted to win state and we just kept pushing through every game,” Mondt, a junior, said. “I was relaxed up there at the plate, but I give Jake a lot of credit for his solid effort. Plus, our offense came through with some big hits when we needed them.”
Justin Peters, Sedgwick County’s coach, wasn’t making any excuses for his team’s tough defeat.
“There’s not much to be said about it,” Peters said. “Two ball clubs came together and played really hard and the outcome is what it came out to be.”
Regis Jesuit is No. 1 in this week’s 5A baseball ranking. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
For the second consecutive week, there’s a new team atop CHSAANow.com’s Class 5A baseball ranking. This time, Regis Jesuit has ascended to the top.
The Raiders, now 14-3, went 3-0 last week — including a 7-5 win over then-No. 6 ThunderRidge. They are now 9-0 in the always tough Continental League, and are riding an 11-game winning streak.
Fairview actually received the same amount of first-place votes (six) that Regis Jesuit did, but remained at No. 2 with 125 overall points to the Raiders’ 137. The Knights are now 16-1 — 13-0 against in-state teams.
Arvada West jumped into the rankings at No. 6, just behind No. 5 Chatfield and No. 4 Mountain Vista.
ThunderRidge dropped to No. 7, Rocky Mountain is No. 8 and Chaparral is No. 9. Cherry Creek rejoined the poll at No. 10.
There are also new teams atop the 3A and 2A polls. In 3A, Eaton received nine of the 10 first-place votes to overtake Holy Family, which dropped to No. 2. In 2A, Resurrection Christian got five of the seven first-place votes and took over for Swink, which also fell to No. 2.
Windsor retained its spot atop the 4A ranking, and Stratton held firm atop 1A.
The 4A poll added Pueblo East at No. 9, and also saw Lewis-Palmer move from No. 5 to No. 3, and Evergreen go from No. 7 to No. 4.
3A added Bayfield (No. 8), while 2A added Limon (No. 9) and Lyons (No. 10).
With the regular season ending Tuesday, these rankings will serve as the final poll of the regular season.
