As baseball teams continue to work through the third week of the young season, a few clubs are making some noise and gaining attention with top 10 voters across the state. And they’ve caught our attention as well.
BAYFIELD JUMPS TO FIFTH IN CLASS 3A
Unranked through the first two polls of the season, Bayfield collected two first-place votes and climbed all the way to fifth in Class 3A this week. The Wolverines opened the season with highly ranked Montrose from 4A but has won five straight heading into the Tuesday clash with Aztec NM. They will also get in some tough competition at the La Junta tournament later this week.
Four different pitchers have earned wins already this season including two from Jackson Queen. The junior has tossed 13 innings and given up just one earned run. He’s struck out 15 against two walks. Offensively, the Wolverines are getting an excellent effort from Austin Twedt (.467) as he’s earned 10 hits in 21 at-bats. Those hits include four doubles with eight runs driven in.
EATON VS BRUSH IN TWO BIG EARLY PATRIOT LEAGUE GAMES
Eaton is the defending state champion and sits atop the 3A rankings this week. Brush is ranked fifth and has state championship hopes this year. They collide on both Wednesday and Thursday in a very important early stretch inside a conference that also includes #2 University, #7 Resurrection Christian and pre-season ranked Sterling. The two long-time rivals also meet twice early last season with Eaton pitching shutouts in both (2-0 & 3-0).
Pitching is the strength of Brush this year as they have three kids that can touch 90 on the radar gun including Braxton Shelton who has already signed a division 1 letter of intent. Shelton struck out five of 14 batters faced in an opening 1-0 loss to Fort Morgan last week. He also homered in Saturday’s 12-0 blowout of Platte Valley. Ty Griffith also went deep in the win for the Beetdiggers.
The Reds lost their top two pitchers from last year to graduation but have quality returning arms in senior Jared McCormack and sophomore Mitch Hayhorn. Walker Martin is also a top returnee. A starter since his freshman season, the junior hit 456 with 12 doubles and four home runs as a sophomore.
Eaton has just one game under their belt this year; a 14-4 win over 4A Mountain View as four players drove in at least two runs.
TOP RANKED LIMON OFF TO A HOT START
Ranked number one in Class 2A, the Badgers did not disappoint while rolling to three easy wins at last week’s tournament co-hosted by Rocky Ford and Fowler. Limon easily handled Rocky Ford, Holly and Dayspring Christian. All three are quality wins as the last two are ranked in the 1A top 10 this week including Holly at number one.
The Badgers tough early schedule continues this week as they face both Stratton and Byers on Friday and Saturday. Then there’s a very attractive matchup with #2 Peyton on the 31st and #5 Rye on April 7th.
Trey Hines (667) and Keon Bandy (625) are both hitting very well through the early season. Brady Rockwell has a win and is expected to anchor the pitching staff again this season.
DAYSPRING CHRISTIAN JOINS THE 1A POLL
Despite last week’s loss to Limon, Dayspring Christian is ranked sixth in Class 1A this week. The Eagles are 2-2 overall with another loss to Monte Vista (12-9) but the tough early slate dominated by 2A opponents probably got the attention of 1A coaches. Wins are against Rocky Ford and Byers. The busy slate continues this week as the Eagles are scheduled to play Denver Christian on Tuesday, Briggsdale on Thursday and Simla on Saturday.
ST MARY’S CLIMBS THREE SPOTS IN CLASS 2A
A key win over fellow top 10 member Buena Vista is probably the reason for the bump in the polls. The Pirates downed the Demons last week as Nick Jenness and John Clune combined on the seven-inning shutout. Together they struck out 16 batters, walked just three and allowed only two hits. Adam Velasquez is batting just 200 for the season but leads the Pirates with three RBIs.
Their lone loss is against 4A Glenwood Springs. Other wins are against Swink and Middle Park. Up this week is a big challenge with 4A Pueblo Central and Fowler on Saturday. The Pirates also face returning 3A state runner-up Classical Academy next Tuesday.
MONTROSE AND PUEBLO CENTRAL ROLLING IN EARLY 4A ACTIVITY
We put these two teams together since they recently collided in the 4A basketball Great 8 and now both are also seeing success on the diamond. Montrose is 5-0 including three shutout wins to begin the season. They followed the stretch with wins over Liberty (7-4) and Pagosa Springs (17-2). Central is 5-1 with their only loss coming to Brighton (1-0) last Saturday. It was a rare offensive struggle for the Wildcats who scored at least 13 runs in three of their wins.
Hugh Sanchez-Algien leads the Central offense with nine runs driven in. Colton Calderon, Julian Volk and Jacob Arguello each have six. Their best win came against 3A ranked Lamar (2-0) where Anthony Trujillo and Ethan Ayala combined on the shutout. Trujillo is just a freshman and worked the first five innings and surrendered two hits. He finished with two K’s and two walks.
The duo of Torrie Eckerman and Gage Wareham are pacing the Montrose offense. Each is hitting 500 for the season and have combined for 14 hits. Wareham has eight runs batted in and Eckerman two triples. They will lead the Indians into an early showdown with Palisade. The Indians are ranked fifth and the Bulldogs seventh so the winner is probably considered the best 4A club on the Western Slope.
MOUNTAIN VISTA RETURNS AFTER SUCCESSFUL TRIP TO ARIZON
The Golden Eagles are the defending state champions and begin the Colorado portion of their schedule against Rocky Mountain this Friday. They spent last week in Arizona and picked up four quality wins to easily keep their top ranking in Class 5A.
Only one game was competitive as they closed up the trip with a 5-2 win over Casteel AZ. Sean Marlow had two hits and David Helfant two RBIs in the win. The Golden Eagles also recorded five stolen bases. On the mound, three sophomores combined for the seven-inning effort; Grant Shepardson worked the first four and collected the win. Andrew Beffell earned the save.
CHEROKEE TRAIL A NEWCOMER TO THE 5A RANKINGS
In racing to a 4-0 start, the Cougars haven’t faced the strongest schedule but the hot start puts them int the 5A top 10 this week. They’ve beaten Greeley West, Fort Collins and Eaglecrest by a combined 27 runs with their best win coming against 3A power Lutheran (8-5). In that win, C-Trail started quickly with four first inning runs and held on from there.
Brett Barber had three hits and Dylan Hommes two including a triple. Andrew Godfrey allowed five runs in four and a third innings but still earned the victory. The save went to Chance Johnson as he finished up with shutout baseball.
