Two former Colorado high school baseball players were selected in the MLB Draft on Thursday evening.
Douglas County senior Case Williams and Pueblo West alum R.J. Dabovich were each drafted in the fourth round, four selections apart.
Williams, a right-handed pitcher, went to the hometown Colorado Rockies with the 110th overall pick. This is the 10th time a Douglas County product has been drafted, and the first time since 2006.
A Santa Clara commit, Williams was 8-1 with a 1.81 ERA for the Huskies during his junior season, and tossed a no-hitter. In 50 1/3 innings, he struck out 79 against 23 walks. His senior year, of course, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Williams is the first Colorado player to be drafted straight out of high school since 2018.
Dabovich, a right-handed pitcher, was drafted by the San Francisco Giants with the No. 114 overall pick.
He appeared in nine games for Arizona State before his junior season was cut short this spring. Dabovich had a 0.77 ERA in in 11 2/3 innings, and allowed just one earned run and three hits. He had 17 strikeouts against nine walks. As a junior, he was 7-1 with a 4.75 ERA, and started nine games.
At Pueblo West, Dabovich helped build the foundation of a great baseball program, including an appearance in the Class 4A state championship game in 2016.
Dabovich became the first Cyclone alum taken in the MLB Draft in 2018 when he was taken out of Central Arizona College in the 18th round.
The pair join the more than 750 former Colorado high school baseball players who have been selected throughout history. Browse a database of each selection here. Colorado has had at least two products selected every year since the draft started in 1965.
Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, this year’s MLB Draft has been shortened to five rounds from its usual 40.
The volleyball record book has been updated (and has a new look). There are a total of five new team entries, 59 individual entries, and five coaching updates. Among those are five overall records.
Sterling and Denver Christian each joined the list of teams that have had an unbeaten season with their first last fall.
Those two teams each also climbed the ranks of the consecutive sets won record. Sterling won 52-straight in 2019, while Denver Christian won 50-straight.
Individual:
Palmer Ridge’s Kyra Kisting set the season record for assists with 1,223. Colorado Springs Christian’s Kiersten Brock (5th, 1,099) and Cherokee Trail’s Sydney Cole (7th, 1,070) both also made the top-10.
Briggsdale’s Shelby Hoffman set the season record for digs with 895. Rye’s Ashlyn Romine (3rd, 809) and Wiley’s Macy Rowan (8th, 745) both also made the top-10.
Rowan set the match record for digs in a match with 75 against Cheraw on Nov. 9. She also had 63 (4th) against Cheraw on Aug. 29, 60 (7th) against Stratton/Liberty on Sept. 12, and 59 (9th) against Eads on Oct. 10.
Castle View’s Leanne Lowry set the career record for digs with 2,177. Peyton Frank of Holy Family (4th, 2,083) and Lewis-Palmer’s Gianna Bartalo (6th, 1,948) each also cracked the top-10 of the category. Notably, Wiley junior Macy Rowan is already 19th on the career list with 1,351.
Wiggins’ Avery Burdette tied the set record for service efficiency when she was 24/24 against Flatirons Academy on Sept. 14, 2019.
La Veta’s Nya Sciacca had 295 career aces, which is the second most. Pikes Peak Christian’s Kyler Sweat (4th, 284) and Denver Christian’s Anna Kaemingk (8th, 256) both made the top-10.
Valor Christian’s Anna Davis had 329 career block assists, which is the second most.
Ryley Smartt of Genoa-Hugo/Karval is second in points per set for her career, averaging 6.0673.
Sydney Cole of Cherokee Trail had 564 total serves in 2019, which is the third-most in history. She set the record in 2018 with 608.
Cole also had 3,556 assists in her career, which is the fourth-highest total in state history.
Briggsdale’s Kimberlyn Krise (5th, 581) and Highlands Ranch’s Cassie Davis (7th, 560) are now each listed for kills in a season. Krise is also fifth in terms of career kills with 1,504, and seventh in career points (1,751).
Couple of top-10 marks for assists in a match for Palmer Ridge’s Kisting (3rd, 69 against Pueblo County; 7th, 66 against Cheyenne Mountain; and 8th, 65, against Discovery Canyon); and Erie’s Jessica Amend (10th, twice, when she had 64 assists against Prospect Ridge, and 64 against Holy Family).
Belleview Christian’s Lexie Ewing had 21 aces on Oct. 8, 2019, the fifth-most in a match.
Simla’s Kaitlyn Rector and Genoa-Hugo/Karval’s Smatt each had 672 total points this season, which is the seventh-most.
Mayson Fago of Union Colony is 10th for career points with 1,624.
Rye’s Havilah Pitzer is now 10th with 149 solo blocks in a season.
Coaching:
Arapahoe’s Larry Deffenbaugh is third on the all-time wins list with 540.
Sterling’s Lisa Schumacher remains at eighth with 464 wins.
Pueblo West’s Casey King is at 16th on the wins list with 348 wins.
Lewis-Palmer’s Wade Baxter is 12th among coaches with three state championships.
Sally Moos wrapped up her 38th season as the head coach at Cherry Creek last fall — the most at one school. Her 38 years are also the most of anyone as a head coach.
It’s never easy to look at the bright side of things following a loss. On March 6, the Pueblo West Cyclones suffered their worst and most shocking loss of the season.
The No. 2 Cyclones fell to No. 7 Holy Family 50-39 in the Class 4A Great 8. The loss ended their state championship hopes.
And while it was heartbreaking at the time, senior guard Hannah Simental can’t help but think about all of the great things her team accomplished this year. A state championship ring wouldn’t define the talent on the floor or the bond the team had throughout the course of the year.
A positive attitude, team-first mentality and undeniable skill on the court were just a few reasons why Simental was chosen as the 4A girls basketball player of the year.
“She’s as good as anybody I’ve had the pleasure of coaching or coaching against,” Cyclones coach Gil Lucero said. “Her numbers (this year) probably weren’t as good as they were in previous years but that’s because she did so much more that you didn’t see on the stat sheet.”
For Simental it’s never about personal stats or accomplishments. She only wants success if she gets to share it with her friends and teammates. They’ve all relied on each other for years and even if they fell short on a goal, she never once felt like the team truly failed.
“We learned so much together,” Simental said. “We learned what it took to become state champions. I felt like we did everything we needed to do and it just didn’t go our way. But we have no regrets and we left it all out on the floor. That’s the biggest lesson you can learn.”
Lucero was right about one thing, Simental’s numbers weren’t quite what they were from her junior year. But there is a major tell on why when taking a deeper look. She scored nearly five fewer points per game which would indicate a decline in effectiveness. But she also took fewer shots on the season and her points-per-shot average held steady at 1.4.
But her assists were up and Lucero noted that her mentality on the floor was geared toward making sure it wasn’t all about her.
“She got her teammates involved a lot this year,” he said. “That was a big goal of hers.”
It showed as sophomore Gabby Louther averaged over seven points per game and fellow senior Maya Sanchez added 6.8 per game.
They were hoping it would be enough to get to the Denver Coliseum, but the loss a week earlier to Holy Family derailed that plan. As hard as it was at the time, Simental can now look back at that game and find the good that came out of it.
“I think there are so many positives to take away from that game,” Simental said. “We didn’t win, but we never gave up as a team. I felt like my team stuck by me the whole way, even when we were down.”
Next winter Simental will join her older siblings, Haley and David, as a college basketball player. She’ll head to Greeley to suit up for the UNC Bears.
She learned very early in the recruiting process that UNC was the right fit for her and jumped at the scholarship offer that the Bears extended to her.
“They came for a home visit and when they came they just had really great values and they really persuaded me with their faith and just the way they want to coach,” Sminetal told CHSAANow.com back in January.
She’ll be working with a new coaching staff and with new teammates but she sees the opportunity as just the next step in her development as an athlete and person.
And that means each lesson she learned while playing at Pueblo West will travel north with her and will continue to play a role in her basketball life. But the most important lesson she’s taking is that she needs to remain true to who she is. She needs to keep a positive attitude and team-first mentality.
“My parents always tell me that my positivity really shines,” Simental said. “I”m going to keep doing that. I’m going to look toward the positives and cheer my teammates on, even if its a different group than my high school teammates.”
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
1
Cherry Creek (3)
0-0
86
2
Regis Jesuit (4)
0-0
80
3
Heritage (2)
0-0
79
4
Rocky Mountain
0-0
61
5
Mountain Vista (1)
0-0
57
6
Valor Christian
0-0
36
7
Grandview
0-0
30
8
Rock Canyon
0-0
29
9
Douglas County
0-0
28
10
Legacy
0-0
20
Others receiving votes:
Chaparral 16, Pine Creek 16, Legend 14, Ralston Valley 14, ThunderRidge 11, Fort Collins 10, Boulder 5, Poudre 4, Windsor 3, Lakewood 2, Vista PEAK Prep 2, Arapahoe 1, Broomfield 1.
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
1
Cheyenne Mountain (4)
0-0
95
2
Pueblo West (5)
0-0
87
3
Silver Creek (1)
0-0
69
4
Holy Family
0-0
45
5
Fort Morgan
0-0
36
6
Golden
0-0
34
7
Longmont
0-0
28
8
Ponderosa
0-0
22
9
Wheat Ridge
0-0
21
10
Montrose
0-0
20
Others receiving votes:
Erie 18, Palmer Ridge 17, Lewis-Palmer 14, Roosevelt 12, Skyview 11, Air Academy 10, Canon City 10, Discovery Canyon 8, Falcon 8, Pueblo Central 8, Denver West 7, The Classical Academy 6, Palisade 5, Pueblo South 5, Evergreen 4, Centaurus 3, Sierra 1.
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
1
University (5)
0-0
89
2
Eaton (2)
0-0
84
3
Resurrection Christian (3)
0-0
81
4
Lutheran
0-0
67
5
Sterling
0-0
43
6
Colorado Academy
0-0
34
7
Delta
0-0
31
8
La Junta
0-0
21
9
Alamosa
0-0
20
10
Peak to Peak
0-0
19
Others receiving votes:
Faith Christian 14, St. Mary’s 14, Brush 11, Bennett 4, Kent Denver 4, Manitou Springs 4, Jefferson Academy 2, Lamar 2.
Class 2A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
1
Peyton (6)
0-0
74
2
Rye
0-0
59
3
Fowler
0-0
55
4
Yuma
0-0
53
5
Holly (3)
0-0
50
6
Limon
0-0
39
7
Wiggins
0-0
37
8
Dayspring Christian Academy
0-0
19
9
Dawson School
0-0
16
10
Calhan
0-0
14
Others receiving votes:
Sargent 13, Front Range Christian 11, Hotchkiss 10, Burlington 9, Dolores 8, Wray 8, Holyoke 6, Paonia 4, Denver Christian 3, Highland 3, Clear Creek 2, Rocky Ford 2.
PUEBLO WEST — Normal pregame ritual for the Pueblo West Cyclones is to warn teams of the impending storm that’s making its way into Jerry Kersey Gymnasium.
Saturday it should have served as a welf-warning. The Cyclones were hit hard with a couple of early 3-pointers from a Sand Creek team desperate to remain alive in the Class 4A boys basketball tournament.
But as the Cyclones settled in, they showed they have the ability to knock down big shots and take close games as they beat the Scorpions 50-47 to advance to next week’s Sweet 16.
“We knew coming in that they were a good team,” West coach Ty Trahern said. “They’re not a typical 23 seed and in this round anything can happen. They have a lot of different weapons and a lot of different strengths. We came out a little timid and a little scared.”
Izaiah Jordan’s 3-pointer got Sand Creek’s early run going. Before some fans had even made their way to their seats, it was an 8-0 game.
Once the Cyclones (18-6 overall) got shots to fall, they found a bit of consistency. They closed the gap to two before outscoring the Scorpions (16-9) 14-8 in the second quarter to take a 24-22 lead. Those 12 points came on just four field goals, including 3-pointers from Zach Reid and Jimmy Wardle.
But the offense as a whole was paced by point guard Taylor Harris. He finished the game with a team-high 11 points but it was ability to get others involved that proved to be the deciding factor.
“We’re at our best when we’re pushing the tempo and playing as a team,” Harris said. “When we have all five guys running the floor, playing unselfish and knocking down shots, that’s when we’re scary.”
Markus Ramirez set the tone for the Scorpions in the third. He knocked down a couple of big 3-pointers and put his squad up 38-28.
But all Pueblo West had to do was weather it. Wardle hit a couple of big shots to help the Cyclones inch closer and they actually finished the quarter on a 7-0 run.
And in a knock-down drag out fight in the fourth, it was West coming away with the edge. Nick Hanenberg scored a basket then on an immediate Sand Creek turnover, buried a wide open 3-pointer to tie the game and give the Cyclones every bit of momentum they needed.
“That play is actually designed for me to hit someone in the corner or see if someone else can get open,” Hanenberg said. “When I had it, there was no one my so I figured I was open, why not shoot it?”
The Cyclones held a three-point with under a minute to go, but the persistence of Sand Creek’s defense once again became a factor. A full-court press led to a steal and a wide open 3-pointer that would have tied the game. It smacked off the right side of the rim and the Cyclones held on.
Their Sweet 16 matchup will have a familiar look as Pueblo West traveled to Harrison earlier in the season. A 3-pointer from Wardle at the buzzer gave the Cyclones a big win over the then-No. 2 Panthers.
“Harrison is going to be gunning for us,” Harris said. “I’m going to have to get my guys involved and be a team player.”
Kit Carson has taken over as the top-ranked team in Class 1A boys basketball this week.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. During the regular season, they are released each Monday.
Voted upon by coaches and media members around the state. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.
First-place votes are in parentheses.
Coaches and media members looking to vote should email rcasey@chsaa.org.
Class 5A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Rangeview (11)
21-0
128
1
3-0
2
Grandview (2)
16-5
103
2
1-1
3
Cherry Creek
17-4
88
4
3-0
4
Ralston Valley
18-3
80
5
2-0
5
Smoky Hill
17-4
79
3
3-0
6
Fairview
17-3
67
6
2-0
7
Columbine
17-3
48
7
2-0
8
Valor Christian
15-6
42
8
3-0
9
Boulder
18-3
29
9
3-0
10
Chaparral
15-6
21
10
1-0
Others receiving votes:
Eaglecrest 17, Denver East 8, Pine Creek 5.
Dropped out
None.
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Mead (12)
20-1
120
1
3-0
2
Longmont
18-3
91
3
3-0
3
Northfield
17-4
89
2
1-1
4
Cheyenne Mountain
20-1
83
4
3-0
5
Glenwood Springs
18-3
59
6
3-0
6
Golden
15-6
56
7
1-0
7
Harrison
15-4
55
5
1-1
8
Skyline
16-5
23
–
2-0
9
Pueblo West
15-6
18
8
2-1
10
Erie
16-4
16
9
1-0
Others receiving votes:
Montrose 14, Pueblo East 12, Green Mountain 10, Thomas Jefferson 9, Silver Creek 5.
Dropped out
Montrose (10).
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Resurrection Christian (15)
18-0
167
1
3-0
2
Lutheran (1)
16-2
152
2
1-0
3
Sterling
16-3
125
3
2-0
4
The Vanguard School
16-1
113
4
3-0
5
Faith Christian
15-3
107
5
2-0
6
DSST: Byers (1)
16-1
56
7
2-0
7
Alamosa
15-4
53
10
2-0
8
Manitou Springs
15-3
43
9
2-0
9
Eaton
15-3
38
8
2-0
10
Centauri
16-2
37
6
1-1
Others receiving votes:
Gunnison 14, DSST: College View 6, Manual 6, DSST: Montview 5, St. Mary’s 3, University 3, Coal Ridge 2, Eagle Ridge 2, Jefferson Academy 2, DSST: Green Valley Ranch 1.
Dropped out
None.
Class 2A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Highland (14)
16-1
149
1
2-0
2
Yuma (1)
15-2
133
2
2-0
3
Limon
16-2
109
4
3-0
4
Fowler
16-2
94
5
2-0
5
Denver Christian
13-3
79
3
0-1
6
Ignacio
14-2
66
6
2-0
7
Mancos
14-3
55
7
2-0
8
Sedgwick County
17-1
51
8
2-0
9
Sanford
13-4
31
9
1-0
10
Crested Butte
15-2
23
–
2-0
Others receiving votes:
Vail Christian 21, Holly 7, Wray 4, Dawson School 1, Heritage Christian 1, Peyton 1.
Vista PEAK (5A), Montrose (4A) and Cotopaxi (1A) have joined this week’s girls basketball rankings.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. During the regular season, they are released each Monday.
PUEBLO WEST — Normal pregame ritual for the Pueblo West Cyclones is to warn teams of the impending storm that’s making its way into Jerry Kersey Gymnasium.
Markus Ramirez set the tone for the Scorpions in the third. He knocked down a couple of big 3-pointers and put his squad up 38-28.
