The calendar has flipped to May which means the prep baseball races in Class 3A-1A are heating up as teams are making pushes to get into the postseason and eye state championship glory. This week we will dish out a Player Prop and divulge some big match ups on the docket.

Player Props: Lenny Ramirez, fr., Burlington: Burlington is in the mix as a strong 2A squad, but the Cougars (11-6) needed a big win to hopefully use as a springboard to get things going as the season heads down the homestretch. The Cougars did just that against a solid 1A team in Holly last Saturday. Burlington claimed a 2-1 win and one of the heroes was Ramirez. He was 1-for-3 at the plate and had a key RBI double. Ramirez stepping up into the spotlight is no big surprise as he leads the team with a .451 batting average and he has a .491 on-base percentage.

Ramirez will try and keep things going as Burlington plays host to highly-touted Las Animas (15-1), which is one of the top teams in 2A, at 3 p.m. Tuesday.

Class 3A

North Fork (11-7) at Delta (14-4), 11 a.m., Saturday

North Fork is just outside the top 20 in 3A and has a chance to leap forward with an upset of Delta. After dropping three games in a row to Coal Ridge (19-0, and 13-2) and Basalt (14-4), North Fork got back on the victory train by defeating Basalt (2-1, April 26) and Aspen (13-12) Tuesday. The Miners rallied for their latest win against the Skiers by scoring six runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. North Fork is led offensively by Payson Pene (.479) and Lane Allen (.467). Delta is coming off a huge win over highly-touted Coal Ridge (4-3) on Tuesday, scoring two runs in the bottom of the seventh frame to claim the victory. Seniors Landan Clay (.489) and Rylan Bynum (.425) pace Delta offensively. Delta has won three games in a row since losing to University 10-0 on April 22.

Class 2A

Front Range Christian (8-5-1) at Dawson School (10-2), 4 p.m., Thursday

Front Range Christian has little time to regroup since losing a heartbreaker to 2A top 10 squad Lyons (11-4) by a score of 1-0 in nine innings Tuesday in a non-conference game. In that game sophomore pitcher Haedan Morton had 11 strikeouts in defeat. As strong as Morton was the FRC’s bats were stymied by Lyons senior pitcher Wyatt Waters who struck out an incredible 21 batters in 8.2 innings. FRC will try and kickstart its offense against Dawson led by seniors Wesley Marshall (.500) and Harrison Esper (.458). Dawson School, which suffered its most recent loss to Lyons 4-2 on April 11, has won five-consecutive games and gave up a total of two runs in those victories. This is part of a tough stretch for the Mustangs, who play five games in six days, culminating with their battle with FRC. Dawson’s offense is powered by freshman Milo Richtel (.558), Shelton Johnson (.553) and Gary Pollachek (.467).

Class 1A

Akron (14-4) vs. Otis (13-4), Friday

District play is underway in the 1A classification, and this is a match-up of two stellar squads. Akron is considered the top team in 1A, and Otis is in the No. 5 spot. Akron is coming off a 13-3 drubbing of Briggsdale Tuesday in a game where junior Tucker Stahn led the way with three hits, including a double and four RBIs. Junior Caleb Poss added two hits, including a triple, and one RBI for the Rams. Pitching-wise Stahn leads the team with five wins while Poss (2-0) and fellow junior Anderson Filla (4-0) are undefeated on the mound. Otis opened district play Tuesday by winning a slugfest against Caliche 15-10. The Bulldogs had 12 hits in the win, led by a 3-for-4 day from Erick Thorn. Seniors Kaleb Jones and Paxton Davis also smacked in three RBIs each. Pitching-wise freshman Gavin Price and junior JJ Ward have logged the most innings for Otis.