First-year head baseball coach Shane Horan guided Chargers to 1st state tourney win since 2015

LAKEWOOD — Chatfield’s baseball program was one of the Cinderella stories during the Class 5A postseason.

The Chargers were the No. 27 seed of the 32 teams that advanced to regionals. Chatfield upset No. 6 Brighton and No. 11 Fort Collins to punch the Chargers’ ticket to the 5A double-elimination state tournament for the first time since 2021.

“Those were some pretty lofty goals coming in,” Chatfield first-year head baseball coach Shane Horan said of the Chargers making the state tournament. “Only two seniors and a brand new coaching staff. I’d be lying if I told you I thought we could win the whole thing. We just keep doing the little things right and competing. It’s such a great group that we have.”

Horan — 2011 graduate of Dakota Ridge High Schools — guided Chatfield to a 3-way tie for second place in the 5A Jeffco League in his first year at the helm. Even more impressive was the Chargers’ postseason run.

“It has been crazy,” Chatfield junior pitcher Evan Novotny said of the season. “Coming into it I really didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t know who my pitching coach was or who these coaches were at all. With a new staff it’s hard to bring a team to the final 8, but we brought it together and did it.”

Novotny picked up the victory on the mound in Chatfield’s first state tournament playoff win in over a decade. Chatfield was the 5A state runner-up in 2015.

The Chargers lost to Jeffco rival Arvada West in their state opener May 22 at Keli McGregor Field at Blue Sky All-Star Park. However, Chatfield came back the following day and defeated Fairview in dramatic fashion.

The Chargers trailed 1-0 in the top of the seventh inning with two outs and two strikes on sophomore Brady Harman. Down to literally its final strike, Harman hammered a 2-run triple to give Chatfield a 2-1 lead.

“It doesn’t happen a lot to win a game like that,” Novotny said of the 2-out, 2-strike rally against Fairview. “That was clutch.”

Novotny picked up the victory on the mound pitching into the seventh inning, striking out 13 batters and allowing just two hits. Junior Keir Traurig picked up the save when Novotny came out after hitting his pitch limit.

“When we have Evan on the mound we feel like we can beat anyone,” Horan said of the Chargers’ ace. “He showed it and the boys kept fighting.”

Chatfield eventually won 3-1 in the elimination game to face Legend in another elimination game. The Titans took an 8-1 victory later in the day to end Chatfield’s season. Horan admitted it was tough to come right back and play Legend in a second game on Saturday after having such an emotional morning victory over Fairview.

“It didn’t end with the outcome that we wanted in the second game, but obviously it’s still a great season,” Novotny said.

Chatfield will have plenty to build on for next year. The Chargers had a strong junior class this season and nearly all of its pitching staff was either juniors or sophomores.

Novotny, Traurig, along with junior Brody Logan and sophomore Michael Kneuer logged over 136 innings on the mound this season.

“It’s amazing,” Horan said after his first season at the helm of Chatfield’s baseball program. “What we wanted to do right away was establish a culture. We’ve done that. These kids work their butts off every single day. We focus on the little things and we play to the Chatfield standard that we’ve created. We expect to be back here again moving forward.”

Horan brought with him Jack McLaughlin as one of his top assistant coaches. McLaughlin graduated from Golden High School in 2018 and helped the Demons start their impressive run of 4A Jeffco League titles and state appearances in recent years for Golden.

“I think we are going to be a top team next year,” Novotny said. “I’m hoping we can get a top-10 ranking next season and just ball out. Make the final eight again.”