Several highlights to review from the weekend as several clubs across the various classes put in strong performances and posted impressive wins on Friday and Saturday.
Sterling won the La Junta tournament title impressive fashion. They toppled Fort Morgan 7-0 in the championship game and did not allow a run through the entire tournament; beating Coronado 21-0 and Lamar 10-0 in the first two rounds.
Dylan DiOrio was the championship game winner as he worked all seven innings with 11 strikeouts and just one walk. He also surrendered just one hit. Noah Soper tossed a five-inning shutout against Lamar in the semifinals and that effort included six strikeouts and just one walk. The game one win over Coronado lasted just three innings but Trenton Allen struck out seven and allowed just one hit.
The Tigers are now 3-1 and we should see them again in the 3A Top 10 this week. A new poll is due out today (Monday) and the Tigers were unranked last week after starting the season in the tenth spot. Their lone loss is against #2 University.
Another tournament title in the Southeast went to Swink as the Lions finished 3-0 in the Las Animas tournament. They beat County Line 12-5; Calhan 20-6 and Las Animas 15-4 in the round robin affair.
Conner Clodfelter knocked in four runs against County Line and Nick Paolucci drove in three. Hunter Bauserman also scored three times. Against Calhan, Hunter Reynolds drove home three runs and five others knocked in two. Nate Cabrera crossed the plate three times. Cabrera also added three more runs and two hits in the win over Las Animas.
The top three battle in Class 5A went to #2 Regis as the Raiders downed #3 Valor Christian 8-3. Hayden Moore started the game on the mound for the Raiders and went nearly five innings; allowing six hits and three runs. Jack Carey finished of the game with two strong innings where he struck out four and did not allow a hit.
Offensively, the Raiders earned four runs batted in from Isaac Wachsmann and three from Nate McHugh.
Peyton prepped for a state championship rematch with Limon this Thursday by rolling past Holly 11-1 on Saturday. The Panthers were ranked #2 in Class 2A going in with the Wildcats the top team in Class 1A last week.
The Panthers got a home run and double from AJ Lashley. He finished the day with four RBI and three runs scored. Chance Claman also added four hits. AJ and CJ Lashley combined with Evan Neumaier combined to strike out nine Wildcats and each pitcher allowed just one hit. Andre Salgado picked up two of those three hits and scored Holly’s lone run.
Other weekend highlights:
- Rye was impressive in sweeping Rocky Ford 7-0 and 11-1. The Thunderbolts are always a state championship contender in Class 2A and have nice matchups with Buena Vista on Saturday and Limon next Thursday on tap in the near future.
- Gunnison gave up 29 runs but still managed to get two wins over Meeker (14-13 and 20-16) on Saturday. Gunnison scored their first two wins on the season while keeping Meeker winless through three games.
- 9th ranked Severance (4A) went 1-2 on their West Slope swing. The Silver Knights opened with a strong win over #5 Montrose on Friday (5-0) but then fell to both Palisade (10-0) and Fruita Monument (15-11). Palisade was ranked seventh last week but should move up after beating Montrose and Severance over a three-day stretch.
- #6 Mullen (5A) and #7 Douglas County (5A) went a combined 3-0 on Saturday. The Mustangs blanked Fossil Ridge 10-0 while the Huskies beat Shadow Mountain AZ and Valley Vista AZ. Those two games finished up the Arizona swing for Douglas County where they won three of four ballgames.
- #7 Resurrection Christian (3A) balanced their mark at 2-2 by downing Bennett 7-2. The Cougars return to the Patriot schedule with two games against Strasburg later in the week.
