LITTLETON — Kendra Lanuza had seven goals and two assists, Rachael Walker had five goals and five assists, and No. 2 Chatfield girls lacrosse beat No. 4 Arapahoe 19-12 on Saturday.
Shelby Piper also had four goals and two assists for the Chargers.
Arapahoe was led by Kate Englert, who had five goals. Kienan Linhardt also had two goals and two assists.
Arvada West players wait at home plate Saturday afternoon to greet senior Joe Rosenstein after his grand slam home run against Chatfield. The Wildcats rallied to win 6-4 and remain atop the Class 5A Jeffco League standings. (Dennis Pleuss)
ARVADA — Arvada West baseball might have just completed its most remarkable three-game stretch in the program’s rich history.
A grand slam by A-West senior Joe Rosenstein in the bottom of the sixth inning Saturday lifted the unranked Wildcats to a 6-4 victory over the top-ranked team, Chatfield, in the CHSAANow.com Class 5A baseball poll.
The Wildcats (12-5, 6-0) not only are atop the 5A Jeffco League standings with two conference games remaining, but also scored three straight late-inning, come-from-behind victories against No. 3 Columbine (Monday), No. 8 Ralston Valley (Wednesday) and No. 1 Chatfield (Saturday) over the last six days.
Arvada West senior Justin Mulvaney (5) celebrates getting the final out Saturday against Chatfield in a 6-4 Wildcats’ victory. Senior Joe Rosenstein (21) lined a grand slam in the bottom of the sixth inning to complete a three-game stretch where A-West knocked off three 5A Jeffco teams that are ranked in the top 10. (Dennis Pleuss)
“I didn’t know if we would go 3-0 this week, but after that first win Monday we were playing with momentum,” A-West coach Matt McDougal said after the Wildcats’ sixth straight victory.
It was Rosenstein’s time deliver the big hit for the Wildcats. Senior Nick Priola blasted a walk-off grand slam Wednesday against rival Ralston Valley in an 11-8 victory.
Chatfield senior pitcher Travis Schnoor was cruising for the most part Saturday. He had only given up two runs on four hits before Rosenstein’s line drive over the left field fence.
“He (Schmoor) was pitching me inside all day. I figured he was going to do it again,” Rosenstein said. “Sure enough, I just turned on it.”
A-West senior Justin Mulvaney was standing on third base when Rosenstein ripped the home run.
“I put my hands up. I knew it was gone,” Mulvaney said. “I was so excited. I knew right when he (Rosenstein) hit it I would be going in to pitch to close it.”
Mulvaney pitched a 1-2-3 top of the seventh inning, striking out the final two Chatfield batters to pick up the save. Senior John Badgett got the win on the mound for the Wildcats. He pitched the sixth inning after starter Brody Hagel-Pitt went five innings.
“We have a lot of confidence in our bullpen and turning it over to them,” McDougal said. “Justin’s goal was to lead the state in saves. I don’t know where he is at, but he is doing a great job.”
A-West’s only two other runs came in the bottom of the second inning. Senior Ethan Fleming had a two-run single to cut Chatfield’s lead to 3-2.
The Chargers’ big inning was the second. Back-to-back singles by junior Kyle Winkler and senior Jacob Falbo set the table. Chatfield (14-2, 3-2) took advantage of three walks and a wild pitch to plate a trio of runs.
“(A-West) is a good club,” Chatfield coach Brandon Stone said. “This is what Jefferson County baseball is. Top to bottom it’s a tough conference. You have to bring it every time you come out.”
A-West didn’t have the lead until Rosenstein’s grand slam.
“It would be nice to start off ahead and kind of keep a lead, but this is a little more exciting,” Mulvaney said with a smile. “I like those exciting games.”
Chatfield’s other run came in the top of the sixth when senior Matthew Jarecki scored on an A-West fielding error, giving the Chargers a 4-2 lead.
Chatfield catcher Mason Brown, right, runs down Arvada West junior Jesse Klene during the sixth inning Saturday at Arvada West High School. (Dennis Pleuss)
“We haven’t played great, but I think our kids believe they can win no matter what the score is,” McDougal said. “They are just sticking to it.”
A-West wraps up its regular season with a pair of road games next week. The Wildcats face rival Pomona on Monday before closing out their conference schedule at Lakewood on Wednesday. Both are scheduled for 4 p.m. starts.
“I knew we had it in us,” Rosenstein said of defeating Columbine, Ralston Valley and Chatfield. “We knew it was a tough week. We all came out and played as hard as we could.”
Chatfield has a trio of league games left, including a pair at All Star Park in Lakewood on Monday and Wednesday. The Chargers start the week against Standley Lake and return to All Star Park to face Ralston Valley on Wednesday. Both games are 3:30 p.m. starts.
“There is a lot to play for,” Stone said after the Chargers’ second straight loss following a 14-0 start to the season. “We are a resilient club. These guys fight and scrap. We’ll be back at it Monday.”
Chatfield ends its regular season at home against Bear Creek at 11 a.m. May 3.
Arvada West senior Justin Mulvaney (5) greets teammate Joe Kraus at home plate after Joe Resenstein’s grand slam home run in the bottom of the sixth inning Saturday at Arvada West High School. (Dennis Pleuss)
Chatfield junior Kendra Lanuza, far left, advances toward the net on Dakota Ridge defenders Baylee Hurtado and Jessica Werner during the first half Thursday night at Trailblazer Stadium. Lanuza scored eight first-half goals in the Chargers’ 19-2 victory. (Dennis Pleuss)
LAKEWOOD — Chatfield senior Rachael Walker is making every offensive possession she is able to play with her “best friend” count.
Walker assisted on four of junior Kendra Lanuza’s eight first-half goals Thursday night at Trailblazer Stadium as the Chargers took a 19-2 victory over Dakota Ridge in Jeffco League girls lacrosse action. Walker knows her prep career is coming to an end, along with her time playing with Lanuza, who leads Chatfield with staggering 77 goals on the season.
Chatfield senior Rachael Walker (21) walks toward junior Kendra Lanuza after the junior’s first of nine goals Thursday night. The duo combined for 13 goals and eight assists in the Chargers’ 19-2 victory one Dakota Ridge. (Dennis Pleuss)
“Kendra and I are a duo,” said Walker, who finished with four goals and five assists against Dakota Ridge. “I don’t know what I’ll do without her. It’s going to be hard. I’ll miss her.”
For the third time this season, Lanuza finished with nine goals in a game. She also tacked on three assists for No. 2-ranked Chatfield (13-0, 6-0 in league), which clinched the conference title Thursday with the victory.
“I haven’t had a first half like that in awhile,” Lanuza said. “I had some great assisters. Shelby (Piper) and Rachael (Walker) are always looking for me.”
The younger Lanuza sister, Jen, added a trio of goals for the Chargers. Senior Shelby Piper had a pair of goals and assists. Sophomore Ellie Cassel added a goal in Chatfield’s dominating performance. Senior Emily McMinimee picked up the win in goal for the Chargers.
Dakota Ridge sophomore Lauren Evancich and senior Jessica Tobey picked up the goals for the Eagles. Dakota Ridge (7-6, 4-2) saw its three-game winning streak come to an end.
“We have a lot of chemistry right now. It is a pretty efficient offense. We get a lot of shots,” Chatfield coach Adam Everett said. “That’s just sharing the ball and a lot of smart play on the attack side.”
The win pushed Chatfield’s winning streak in conference play to 14 games dating back to the program’s 2012 campaign. The lone undefeated girls’ lacrosse squad in the state swept through Jeffco last season in winning their first league title.
Chatfield is one win away from running the table in Jeffco for the second straight season. The Chargers wrap up their conference schedule against rival Columbine at 7 p.m. April 29 at Trailblazer Stadium.
Dakota Ridge senior goalie Rebecca Smith (24) stands her ground as Chatfield junior Brielle Rumsey (16) looks for an opening Thursday night at Trailblazer Stadium. (Dennis Pleuss)
“It’s really important,” Everett said of going undefeated through conference play. “We still have Columbine to go and we never discount any opponent.”
Before Chatfield goes for the league sweep, it will have a good non-league test against No. 4 Arapahoe (9-1) at 11:30 a.m. this Saturday at Trailblazer. It will also be a bit of a revenge game for the Chargers. The Warriors eliminated Chatfield in the second round of the state tournament last year.
“They crushed us last year,” Lanuza said of the 20-9 postseason loss to Arapahoe a year ago. “I really think it’s going to be an incredible game. I think we are definitely more prepared this year.”
The Warriors are on an eight-game winning streak, including a 12-11 victory over defending state champion Cherry Creek this week. Chatfield knocked off the Bruins 14-9 before spring break.
“I think the girls are looking forward to the Arapahoe game,” Everett said. “We know Arapahoe is a great team. It’s a great benchmark going into the playoffs.”
Walker doesn’t want to waste the Chargers’ opportunity to be the first Jeffco girls’ lacrosse team to advance to a state championship game.
“We have some much talent on this team and we have to use it all to our advantage,” Walker said. “Last year we came up shorter than we wanted to. This year we have worked a lot harder and I think we’re ready to take it further.”
Chatfield senior Rachael Walker winds up to take a shot on goal through traffic Thursday night against Dakota Ridge. The Chargers are the lone undefeated girls lacrosse team in the state with a 13-0 record. (Dennis Pleuss)
LITTLETON — After a 4-3 loss to Arvada West on Monday knocked the Columbine baseball team from the unbeaten ranks, the Rebels felt they needed a solid game to get back on track.
What better way than to play another undefeated team and longtime rival?
Following come convincing victories early in the season, Rebels coach Chuck Gillman believed his team might have gotten a little lax on “some of the little things. We just got a little sloppy.”
Not that he felt the loss to Arvada West Monday was a fluke.
“They’re a good team,” he said of the Jeffco League-leading Wildcats.
That’s why it was important for his team to bounce back quickly. And they did, with a five-run first inning against the Chargers.
“It was huge,” Gillman said of getting off to a fast start as the Rebels strung together four hits and took advantage of three Chatfield errors.
They needed the cushion. Trailing 6-2 in the fourth, the two runs coming of solo home runs, Chatfield put a couple more on the board to make a game of it.
“They had the momentum,” Columbine third baseman Ty Mohr said of Chatfield.
With two outs, in the bottom of the sixth, the Rebels put a rally together, setting the table for Mohr with the bases loaded.
“I had to do something with the ball,” he said of his thinking when he stepped to the plate.
He did, putting the ball over the right field fence to give the Rebels a 10-4 lead.
From there, it was up to Rebels starting pitcher Blake Weiman.
Although he walked three batters in the seventh, Weiman eventually got the final strikeout, his ninth of the game, to secure the victory in pitching his first complete game of the season.
“We were ready for this one,” said Columbine center fielder Michael Tait, who had two hits, including a solo home run. “The loss (to Arvada West) woke us up a bit.”
The ensuring victory helped the Rebels point toward their goal this season.
“The state playoffs,” Tait said. “That’s what we’re shooting for.”
BOULDER — Fairview’s baseball team made such quick work of Greeley West in a win last Saturday — it took 57 minutes — that the Knights held batting practice afterward.
The win was a 10-0 affair in five innings, blown open by an eight-run fourth inning which included Jeff Clarke’s home run over the scoreboard in left field. Eight of their nine players recorded at least one hit, and seven had at least one RBI.
Sitting in their dugout after the game, a few players approached coach Rick Harig and asked if they could take batting practice. They didn’t feel like they’d been on the field long enough. Harig shrugged: “Sure, why not.”
So the Knights took hacks for another hour. Not that they really needed the practice. These guys can hit.
Saturday’s game was the seventh in a row in which Fairview’s lineup had produced double-digit runs, and Tuesday’s 15-0 win over Poudre made it eight straight.
(Pam Wagner)
Fairview now has four players with at least four home runs — Clarke, Cam Frazier and Walker Harris — and its 18 homers as a team is third-best in the state among all classifications.
Clarke is hitting .579 with 33 RBIs, Frazier is at .526 with 20 RBIs and Jacob Thoning is hitting .500 with 17 RBIs. No one who sees regular at-bats is hitting below .333. And this is a team which lost designated hitter Steve D’Epagnier to a torn labrum after five games.
The Knights lead Class 5A in team batting average (.447), slugging percentage (.698), RBIs (152) and runs (167).
For context, ThunderRidge led 5A in batting average and runs scored en route to the championship last season. Rocky Mountain, the runner-up, led 5A in RBIs, and was second in runs.
More context: 2012 champion Cherry Creek led 5A in RBIs and runs, and was second in home runs. 2011 champ Regis Jesuit led 5A in runs, home runs and RBIs.
But ThunderRidge, Cherry Creek and Regis also had great pitching staffs. In fact, Cherry Creek’s team led 5A with a 1.75 ERA in 2012. And pitching is what separates teams in the postseason, where seemingly everyone can hit.
Fairview’s arms have matured this season and become more consistent compared to prior years. As a staff, the Knights have a 2.23 ERA, which is third-best in 5A at this point.
Senior Ryan Kokora carries a 1.18 ERA in 29 2/3 innings, and is now 6-0. He started (and won) Fairview’s biggest win of the season, a 10-7 victory at Rocky Mountain on April 10. Kokora gave up seven runs that day, five earned, but hasn’t allowed anything else in any of his other appearances. In fact, outside of the Rocky Mountain game — in which he pitched well, make no mistake — Kokora has allowed just eight hits.
But one pitcher can’t carry a team through the postseason.
(Pam Wagner)
Fortunately for Fairview, the Knights have what amounts to two aces. Ryan Madden, a junior, is 6-1 with a 3.37 ERA and 31 strikeouts against just five walks in 35 1/3 innings.
Mike Vlasity is the team’s closer with a 0.88 ERA, and has 21 strikeouts to two walks in 16 innings.
Johnny Feauto or Jacob Kearney will likely be Fairview’s third starter should they need one in the postseason. Neither have been needed since early April.
All of them have flourished under the guidance of senior catcher Cannon Casey, who calls pitches all game, and has since he was a sophomore.
It’s all amounted to this: Fairview is unbeaten in Colorado so far this season (11-0), with the lone loss coming over spring break in Arizona. The Knights already have 14 wins, which is the most since going 16-5 during the 2008-09 season. That is also the last time they won a postseason game. Fairview beat Arvada West in the first round of districts that season, but then lost to Grandview in the second round.
As far as recent history goes, the Knights lost in the first round of districts in 2013 and 2010, and didn’t even make the postseason in 2012 or 2011. In fact, Fairview’s last trip to the Final 8 came during the 2007 season, when it went 1-2.
In recent months, Regis Jesuit’s 6-foot-4, 295-pound offensive lineman Tim Lynott has hauled in the scholarship offers. Thursday, the 2015 grad was offered by Wyoming. That followed an offer from Utah State on Monday. He’s now up to 12 total, and counts Miami, Oregon, UCLA, Arizona State and Kansas State among his offers. CU and CSU have both offered, as well.
He’s a 2016 graduate, but Legacy quarterback Matt Lynch committed to Colorado State during the Rams’ spring game this past Saturday, according to BoCoPreps.com. “It did shock me a little bit,” Lynch told BoCoPreps of committing early.
Eaglecrest picked Tom Brennan as its girls basketball coach. He was an assistant at the school this past season, and was also on the staff at ThunderRidge when it won 5A titles from 2003-05. “We are confident coach Brennan can take this program to a different level of success moving forward while also providing long term stability and consistently high expectations year in and year out,” Eaglecrest AD Vince Orlando said in a statement. In addition, the school hired Rhonda Appleton-Webb as an assistant.
Ralston Valley’s Jordan Holloway went 4-for-4 with three home runs and nine RBIs in a win over Standley Lake last Saturday.
Dakota Ridge golfer Sydney Merchant set the course record at The Meadows Golf Course on Monday when she shot a 63. Just another golfer to watch for in the loaded 5A field.
The Colorado 7 League added an eighth team during the 2014-16 realignment, but will keep its name.
Rule change for swimming: In the backstroke, “any part of the swimmer’s body must be on or above the water at the finish.” This will take effect in the 2014-15 season. Previously, the swimmer could be underwater.
ARVADA — Arapahoe amassed 430 total points in winning boys swimming’s Jeffco Invite on Saturday. D’Evelyn (251 points) was second, and Ralston Valley (174) was third.
Chatfield is the No. 1 team in this week’s 5A baseball poll. (Pam Wagner)
Chatfield, 13-0 to start the 2014 season, has taken over atop this week’s Class 5A baseball poll from CHSAANow.com.
The Chargers moved up from No. 3 and received seven of the 15 first-place votes. They had 131 total points to top the ranking.
A total of six teams got first-place votes, including former No. 1 ThunderRidge, which dropped to No. 6 following its loss to Mountain Vista last week.
Fairview got two of those first-place votes and is No. 2 this week. Columbine, which plays Chatfield on Wednesday, is third, and Regis Jesuit is fourth. Mountain Vista rounds out the top five.
After ThunderRidge, Arapahoe is seventh and Ralston Valley is eighth. Chaparral is No. 9 this week, and Rocky Mountain is No. 10.
The 4A ranking also got a new No. 1 team this week when Windsor overtook Montrose. The Wizards received six of the 13 first-place votes, and had 115 overall points.
Montrose dropped to second this week, and is followed by No. 3 Niwot. Wheat Ridge bumped up one place to No. 4, while Lewis-Palmer is No. 5 after 3-0 week which included a win over then-No. 10 Palmer Ridge on Saturday.
Longmont is the lone newcomer to the 4A poll, joining at No. 10.
The other No. 1 teams held firm atop their respective rankings. Holy Family continued to lead 3A, Swink remain atop of 2A and Stratton continued to lead 1A.
Mullen didn’t stay away from the girls lacrosse rankings for long. The Mustangs returned to CHSAANow.com’s poll after one week away, and are No. 10 this week.
Outside of that, though, not much else changed. Teams ranked Nos. 1-7 all stayed put this week, including top-ranked Centaurus. Chatfield is No. 2, Air Academy is No. 3, Arapahoe is No. 4 and Cherry Creek rounds out the top 5.
Palmer Ridge jumped Colorado Academy is No. 8 this week.
Wild Card points help determine the postseason fields in 3A, 4A and 5A, with 4A and 5A also using them for seeding. Find a more detailed breakdown here.
Baseball’s Wild Card point standings for April 17 are below.