Baseball playoffs in full swing as 5A and 4A regionals begin this weekend

Though overtaken for its league crown in the final days of the regular season, Grandview is headed into the postseason as Class 5A’s top-ranked team.
The Wolves settled for a two-game split against No. 2 Cherry Creek last weekend, meaning the Bruins jumped them for the 5A/4A Centennial League title but not in playoff seeding.

The 5A-2A 32-team regional tournaments are slated for this weekend, with the top eight teams in each hosting a four-team bracket. The winner of each site will move into the classification’s final field of eight, which will play for a state title through the end of the month.

Let’s dive into 5A and 4A.

Class 5A

Region 1 at Grandview High School starting Saturday at 10 a.m.

Host: No. 1 Grandview

Teams: No. 16 Pueblo West, No. 17 Fruita Monument, No. 32 Poudre

Region 2 at Cherry Creek High School starting Saturday at 10 a.m.

Host: No. 2 Cherry Creek

Teams: No. 15 Northfield, No. 18 Riverdale Ridge, No. 31 Denver North

Region 3 at Arvada West High School starting Saturday at 10 a.m.

Host: No. 3 Arvada West

Teams: No. 14 Erie, No. 19 Chaparral, No. 30 Highlands Ranch

Region 4 at Fossil Ridge High School starting Saturday at 10 a.m.

Host: No. 4 Fossil Ridge

Teams: No. 13 Arapahoe, No. 20 Chatfield, No. 29 Ralston Valley

What to know about regions 1-4: Each of the top four teams in the classification are led by impressive pitching staffs.

Ethan Wachsmann, having not allowed an earned run in three of his last four outings, including a seven-inning, no-hitter against Cherokee Trail on April 12, is 6-1 with a 1.98 ERA in 35 1/3 innings for Grandview..

He and Cherry Creek’s Wyatt Rudden (6-2, 3.50 ERA) were in a pitcher’s duel in the Wolves’ 3-2 win over the Bruins on Friday.

Cooper Vais (7-0, 0.47 ERA) and Brayden Reiner (6-0, 1.75), meanwhile, are a combined 13-0 this spring for No. 3 Arvada West. Vais, in 45 innings pitched, had held offenses to a .105 batting average. Erie’s eight-game winner, Maddox Burnett (8-1, 2.01), is also in the region.

For No. 4 Fossil Ridge, senior Brek Benedict (4-1, 2.97 ERA) has allowed just one earned run in his past 13 innings on the mound.

Region 5 at Broomfield High School starting Saturday at 10 a.m.

Host: No. 5 Broomfield

Teams: No. 12 Legacy, No. 21 Cherokee Trail, No. 28 Fort Collins

Region 6 at Regis Jesuit High School starting Friday at 10 a.m.

Host: No. 6 Regis Jesuit

Teams: No. 11 Mountain Vista, No 22 Fairview, No. 27 Brighton

Region 7 at Pine Creek High School starting Saturday at 10 a.m.

Host: No. 7 Pine Creek

Teams: No 10 Castle View, No. 23 Eaglecrest, No. 26 Douglas County

Region 8 at Prairie View High School starting Saturday at 10 a.m.

Host: No. 8 Prairie View

Teams: No. 9 Rocky Mountain, No. 24 Valor Christian, No. 25 Rock Canyon

What to know about regions 5-8: Region 5 may be as good as any in 5A, loaded with at least three teams that wouldn’t surprise many if they made a deep postseason run.

In the region, host Broomfield is on a 12-game win streak, which included a 5-4 win over Legacy on April 29. The No. 12 Lightning, with a 10-game win streak earlier this spring, ended up finishing second to the Eagles in the Granite Peaks League. Cherokee Trail, meanwhile, is led by the classification’s strikeout leader Carter Wilcox, who could be an X-factor after having 98 Ks in 44 2/3 innings this spring.

In Region 6, Regis Jesuit won the 5A/4A Continental League over Mountain Vista, which is also in its region. The Raiders beat the Golden Eagles, 12-1, last month.

Regions 7 and 8 are led by the classification’s only two nine-game winners in Pine Creek’s Aiden Wilson (9-1, 1.83 ERA in 42 IP) and Prairie View’s Favi Gaeta (9-1, 1.29 in 54 1/3).

Class 4A

Region 1 at Runyon Field starting Friday at 10 a.m.

Host: No. 1 Pueblo County

Teams: No. 16 Roosevelt, No. 17 Silver Creek, No. 32 Gateway

Region 2 at Falcon High School starting Saturday at 10 a.m.

Host: No. 2 Falcon

Teams: No. 15 Mead, No. 18 Air Academy, No. 31 Centaurus

Region 3 at Lewis-Palmer High School starting Saturday at 10 a.m.

Host: No. 3 Lewis-Palmer

Teams: No. 14 Summit, No. 19 Durango, No. 30 Rifle

Region 4 at Golden High School starting Saturday at 10 a.m.

Host: No. 4 Golden

Teams: No. 13 Glenwood Springs, No. 20 Pueblo South, No. 29 Longmont

What to know about regions 1-4: No. 1 Pueblo County has won 15 straight and has outscored teams 158-39 this spring. Much of it is thanks to the team’s pitching staff, which has an ERA of 1.07 and is led by ace Blake Swift, who is 9-1 with a 0.43 ERA in 48 1/3 innings pitched.

Elsewhere in the Hornets’ region is nine-game winner Brady Mylander of Roosevelt. He is also hitting .436 with 20 stolen bases this year.

In Region 2, host Falcon has a pair of .500 hitters in Talon Chubb (.500, 19 RBIs) and Aaron Jaquez (.521, 17). The Falcons are grouped with a pair of Granite Peaks League teams in Mead and Centaurus, which are both having their best seasons in recent memory.

Lewis-Palmer, the 4A Peaks Peak champ, rallied to beat Mullen, 4-2, in its regular-season finale to snap a three-game skid. The No. 3 Rangers are led by six-game winners in Alvin Jarrell (6-0, 2.23 ERA in 44 IP) and Drew Boyarko (6-1, 1.50 in 42).

But the biggest name in L-P’s region is probably Summit’s Sam Eldredge, who has gone 4-0 on the mound with a sub-2 ERA this spring, while hitting .545 with 28 RBIs. He’s thrown a six and five-inning no-hitter and is second in both 4A strikeouts (91) and slugging percentage (1.015).

Golden, at No. 4, has won 15 straight, a streak that includes a win over L-P on April 12. The Demons are led by senior Sawyer Brinkman, who is 8-0 on the mound with 1.02 ERA in 55 innings.

Region 5 at Holy Family High School starting Saturday at 9 a.m.

Host: No. 5 Holy Family

Teams: No. 12 Lutheran, No. 21 Severance, No. 28 Evergreen

Region 6 at Windsor High School starting Saturday at 10 a.m.

Host: No. 6 Windsor

Teams: No. 11 Grand Junction, No 22 Pueblo East, No. 27 Fort Morgan

Region 7 at Palisade High School starting Saturday at 9 a.m.

Host: No. 7 Palisade

Teams: No 10 Ponderosa, No. 23 Mullen, No. 26 Canon City

Region 8 at Discovery Canyon High School starting Saturday at 10 a.m.

Host: No. 8 Discovery Canyon

Teams: No. 9 Cheyenne Mountain, No. 24 Pueblo Central, No. 25 Green Mountain

What to know about regions 5-8: Holy Family, the 4A defending champs, hit their stride in the latter half of their season, winning their final 10 games.

Logan Seifarth has six homers and 25 RBIs for the No. 5 Tigers. In his first game of the season, the senior hit a walk-off home run against Lutheran, which is in HF’s region.

Windsor, the top-ranked team in last year’s postseason, is at No. 6, with a few of the same stars from a year ago. Ethan Fillinger is hitting .492 with 29 RBIs. Grant Kerber has an ERA of 0.82 across 34 innings.

At No. 7, Palisade has won eight of its last nine. Dylon Larson is 12 for 18 from the plate over his past five games and is hitting .561 this season.

Discovery Canyon, which locked up the final hosting spot in the class, has the top home-run hitters in 4A in Cole Teltschik (nine), who should be among 4A’s player of the year candidates with .525 batting average and 40 RBIs, and Nate Singleton (eight, .441, 40).

Third in 4A HRs is Jansen Roberts (seven) Cheyenne Mountain, which is also in the Thunder’s region.