Golden in the driver’s seat heading into Final 4 of 4A baseball state tournament

US AIR FORCE ACADEMY — Golden has been in the Final 4 of the Class 4A baseball state tournament recently, but the Demons have never been in this position.

Golden (25-3 record) went 3-0 during the first weekend of the double-elimination state tournament. Victories over Cheyenne Mountain and Falcon on Friday, May 23, followed up by a marathon 12-11 victory over Windsor on Saturday at Erdle Field at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs automatically pushed the Demons’ ticket to the 4A championship game Saturday, May 31, back at Erdle Field.

“I’m still trying to take it all in. It feels great,” Golden coach Jackie McBroom said of the dramatic win over Windsor that featured the Demons rallying from a 10-5 deficit. “3-0 and we are in the driver’s seat. These guys worked their tails off to get here.”

It’s the fourth straight year Golden qualified for the 8-team double-elimination state tournament. In 2022, the Demons lost their first two games. In 2023, Golden won three straight elimination games to reach the title game against Severance. The Demons needed to defeat the Silver Knights twice, but lost a 1-0 heartbreaker in the first game.

Last year, Golden advanced to the second weekend, but were eliminated by Pueblo County in the first game of the Final 4.

“It doesn’t get any better,” Coach McBroom said of waiting for Cheyenne Mountain, Palisade and Windsor to battle it out to leave one team standing to face Golden on Saturday. “We’ve been in the opposite boat. I’ve been on the flip side of that. For us to be on the side that we are on right now, we’re in the driver’s seat. We just need to take care of business. We just have to win one.”

Golden’s 2003 state championship team wasn’t even in this position over 20 years ago. The Demons had a loss heading into the final weekend. Golden had to win three straight games defeat Mountain View twice on a Saturday at All-City Field in Denver. The Demons accomplished their mission to win the school’s first state baseball title.

Senior Jaydon Stroup is the only Demon to play in every state playoff game over the last four seasons. The Demons’ starting shortstop hit 100 career games played over the weekend. Stroup has played in 102 varsity games at either shortstop or second base.

“When I do a speech it’s two sentences. No more than that,” Stroup joked when asked if he would work on a speech to the team heading into next Saturday. “Andrew (Romero) is the kind of guy who tries to get everyone fired up. I’ll try to make it short and sweet so Andrew can do his thing.”

Golden’s pitchers and offense both did their things in Colorado Springs to put the Demons in the driver’s season.

Seniors pitchers Sawyer Brinkman and Taden Svendsen both worked deep to pick up the victories against Cheyenne Mountain and Falcon. Brinkman has a 10-0 record on the mound with a 1.26 ERA.

“This feels really good,” Stroup said of advancing to the title game next weekend. “We are all excited to have Sawyer going in the state championship game this time. That fires us up. We are excited for that.”

Brinkman more than likely would have pitched in the second game against Severance back in 2023 if Golden would have forced a second game versus the Silver Knights.

Senior Austin Maleki got the start against Windsor and worked over three innings. Freshman lefty Austin Bittner saw just his third appearance at the varsity level and pitched the first scoreless inning against Windsor in the top of the fifth inning before the 6-run bottom of the fifth inning for the Demons.

Junior Brody McBroom — Coach McBroom’s son — pitched the final two innings to pick up the save.

“Everybody did something,” Coach McBroom said of the 20th straight victory for the Demons. “That is what I love about these guys. Everybody does something.”

Golden’s offense put up 32 runs over the three playoff games. Sophomore Dylan Paulson delivered a huge 2-run single to tie the game at 10-10 in the fifth inning. Stroup drove in the go-ahead run scoring Paulson and Brody McBroom drove in Stroup for what became a huge insurance run.

“We just have to keep it rolling,” said Golden sophomore Liam Leffert, who caught the game-ending soft line-drive. “Everyone has to keep this momentum going. Everyone needs to keep doing their job. You don’t score 12 runs with three people. This whole team was working today and that is how we have to keep doing it.”