Arvada West baseball roaring into the postseason on 18-game winning streak

ARVADA — The brooms could come out in full force for Arvada West’s baseball team Saturday afternoon.

A-West swept a doubleheader against Chatfield with a pair of 8-0 victories against the Chargers as the regular season came to an end for both the Wildcats and Chargers. The wins capped off a second straight season of an undefeated sweep of the Class 5A Jeffco League for A-West (20-3 record, 12-0 in league).

“It’s huge. I don’t think we’ve done that in awhile,” A-West junior Cooper Vais said of going back-to-back with baseball league titles for the first time since A-West won five consecutive league titles from 1992-1996. “Winning back-to-back, it’s been a minute. It’s great.”

The Wildcats ended up outscoring their league foes 127-21 in the dozen conference games, including having shutout victories in three of A-West’s final four league games against Valor Christian and Chatfield.

“I think it speaks volumes of the character of our players,” A-West coach Danny Vais said of his Wildcats after going 24-0 the past two seasons in 5A Jeffco play. “They enjoy being around each other and enjoy competing. It’s a talented group. It makes a lot easier for me as a coach.”

Coach Vais also gave credit to his coaching staff that does a lot of the off-season work with the baseball players with Coach Vais also being the head boys basketball coach at A-West.

What also makes it easier is having one of the best players in the state in his son on the team. Cooper Vais carried the Wildcats offensively in the first game going 3-for-4 from the plate with a 2-run home run in the first inning and a grand slam in the fourth inning to put A-West up 6-0.

“The ball was a beach ball today. It was great,” Vais said of his 4-for-6 performance from the plate in the doubleheader. “The swing felt really good. It was helpful that the wind was blowing out a little bit. I just stayed with my approach and tried not to do too much.”

Senior Brayden Reiner picked up the victory on the mound giving up just two hits while striking out nine batters in six shutout innings. Senior Kellen Conley pitched the seventh inning for the Wildcats. The first win automatically clinched the league title, but that wasn’t enough for A-West.

“That first game was really important, but that second game wasn’t much different,” A-West junior Jeramiah Gonzales said. “We were trying to win both and try to solidity that No. 1 seed for state.”

A-West was No. 1 in the 5A baseball CHSAA Selection & Seeding Index as of Saturday night. The top-8 seeds will host single elimination regional tournaments Saturday, May 16.

Gonzales was able to make a carbon-copy of another 8-0 victory. The junior hit an opposite field 3-run home run to push the Wildcats’ lead to 8-0 in the fifth inning.

“Coach Vais was really focusing on us driving the ball the opposite way. If the were going to feed us the ball on the outside, just drive the ball the other way,” Gonzales said of his home run. “I tried to back spin it out.”

Vais got the start on the mound and had a no-hitter going through four innings. However, Vais was taken off the mound in the fifth inning.

“I was OK with it,” Vais said. “My arm was a little sore from the game before. Playing shortstop puts a lot of stress on your arm. It was good to get some other guys some reps.”

Seniors Cole Eisenreich, Luke Alonso and Beau Friesen each pitched an inning to finish off back-to-back shutout wins over Chatfield (12-11, 8-4).

Looking head, CHSAA will release the regional brackets on Wednesday, May 13. The Wildcats hosted last year and got wins over Highlands Ranch and Chaparral to advance to the double-elimination, 8-team 5A state tournament.

“We are 1,000 percent confident,” Gonzales said of the Wildcats’ 18-game winning streak heading into the postseason. “Our bats are hot. Obviously, with Coop and Brayden on the mound we always have a chance. With how we’ve been hitting, we’ve got a chance against anyone.”

There is always the coach’s dilemma of which pitcher will start Game 1. Coach Vais wasn’t going to tip his hand on that decision.

“We’ll kind of wait and see until Wednesday,” Coach Vais said of waiting until he sees who will be in the Wildcats’ regional. “I have the ultimate trust in Brayden and Cooper that they’ll do what they have to do. To be honest, Brayden is a savage. If he has to catch and then pitch Game 2 to get us through, I have full confidence in him.”

The junior ace has full confidence that A-West’s coaching staff will make the right decision too.

“Honestly, I don’t care,” Vais said when asked about the starting pitching order for regionals next Saturday. “I trust Brayden. He has some filthy stuff. We are both great pitchers. I trust our defense. Whatever my Dad says, I trust that. Whatever the plan is I trust him.”