Top 10 Colorado high school baseball games in April

Video: Outfielder takes on fence for catch of the year candidate
See the New Jersey outfielder channel his inner Jim Edmonds and make a diving catch at the wall.

With about a month of the baseball season in the books and spring break trips now completed, familiar rivalries are about to resurface.

League play is heating up – and there are a few non-league gems still on the docket as well – which means it's time to take a look at some of the stellar upcoming matchups.

Here are 10 of the best for the remainder of April, making certain to represent each classification.

Class 5A



Rock Canyon (Highlands Ranch) at Mountain Vista (Highlands Ranch), 4:30 p.m., April 14
Rock Canyon is starting to resemble its 2015 title-winning squad, as three players already have driven in 10 runs and pitcher Matt Givin has been white hot (3-0, 1.17 ERA). The Jaguars (8-1), ranked No. 3 in the most recent CHSAANow.com poll, will make the short trip to Continental League-rival Mountain Vista (4-1) to take on a No. 6 Golden Eagles squad that is receiving some solid early pop from senior Cole Blatchford.

Rocky Mountain (Fort Collins) vs. Cherokee Trail (Aurora), 3 p.m., April 17 (Coors Field)
Don't let the records fool you here. Rocky Mountain (1-4) is as stout as they come, and the four losses came against top-tier, out-of-state competition. The Lobos came home to edge No. 2 Cherry Creek 14-13 on Wednesday and appear poised to recapture their groove. No. 5 Cherokee Trail (2-5) has lost three out-of-state games and the other two to ranked foes. Neither of these squads will be down for long.

Legend (Parker) at Regis Jesuit (Aurora), 4:15 p.m., April 28
Continental League teams accounted for half of the Top 10 in the most recent poll, and two of them will square off here. No. 5 Legend (6-2), led by senior masher Jordan Stubbings, has looked nearly untouchable within the state. Regis Jesuit has reeled off six straight wins after an 0-2 start, and the No. 8 Raiders are always dangerous with Texas Christian-bound Caleb Sloan atop the rotation. Class 4A

Evergreen at Valor Christian (Highlands Ranch), 4 p.m., April 10
Valor Christian has started 6-3 under new coach Brian Bonn, and the No. 2 Eagles have made it clear that they harbor ambitions of repeating as champs. Jonathan Boulaphinh and Noah Kuzma have combined to start the season 25-for-55 for the Eagles. Jeffco-rival Evergreen is getting a similarly hot start from Jack Patterson, who is batting .500 and has already produced five doubles and 11 RBIs.

Silver Creek (Longmont) vs. Mountain View (Loveland), 4 p.m., April 27; noon, April 29
Silver Creek has started 6-1 in the highly competitive Northern League, and the Raptors (8-4) have put themselves in the league-title mix. Junior Cole Winn is 5-0 with an 0.85 ERA and has struck out 46 in just under 25 innings. Max Browne already has driven home 17 runs. Mountain View (7-3, 5-2) counters with slugger Ivan Thomas, who is batting .469 with two homers and 18 RBIs. This home-and-home series could decide plenty, although Northridge (9-1, 5-0) currently sits atop the league.

Class 3A



Peak to Peak (Lafayette) at Lutheran (Parker), 4:15 p.m., April 18
Tommy Shriver has started 4-0 for Peak to Peak, but at 6-foot-4, he is hardly the tallest pitcher for the No. 7 Pumas (5-1). That honor belongs to Seattle University-bound Brayden Weyer, who stands at 6-11. Weyer, who approaches 90 mph, has only thrown one inning so far. It will be one of them, likely, who will aim to slow down hard-charging Lutheran (10-0). The No. 4 Lions have gotten wins from six different pitchers, including sophomore Corbyn Seymore (3-0, 0.93 ERA).

Lamar vs. La Junta 6:30 p.m., April 27 and 28
This season-ending home-and-home series very well could decide the Tri-Peaks league and have prominent ramifications on postseason seeding. Top-ranked Lamar (6-1), receiving monster production from senior Tyler Geddes, will find undoubted challenge from longtime rival La Junta (7-0). The No. 3 Trojans have a 1.31 team ERA led by sophomores Ty Addington and Jon Nuschy, who are each 3-0.

Class 2A

Front Range Christian (Littleton) at Peyton, 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., April 8
Sophomore Drew Lloyd has come out crushing this season for No. 2 Front Range Christian. He hasn't been too bad on the mound, either. Loyd is batting .440 with 11 RBIs and sports a 2-0 pitching record with 20 strikeouts in just under 16 innings. The Falcons (5-2) will take on a No. 5 Panthers (6-0) squad that has surrendered only four runs over the past four games. Sophomore Rodney Gregg (13-0) hasn't permitted a run in 13 innings and has whiffed 24.

Paonia vs. Hotchkiss, 4 p.m., April 27 and 28
Kayden Seriani is at it again. After clubbing an eye-popping 13 homers last season as a sophomore, Seriani already has five this spring to help top-ranked Paonia to a 7-0 start. The Eagles play a home-and-home series with Western Slope-rival Hotchkiss, and the No. 8 Bulldogs (6-2) undoubtedly will be ready to play. Junior Jonathan Gonzalez is batting .452.

Class 1A



Holly at Eads, 3 p.m., April 28
It doesn't get much bigger than Nos. 1 vs. 2, as defending-champion Holly takes on Eads in a rematch of the 2016 semifinals. If we're lucky, we'll see an all-state pitching matchup of Holly's Ricardo Juarez and Eads' Steven Wilson. Holly has gotten off to a 5-1 start – although the Wildcats were thumped by 3A Lamar – and Eads has gotten out of the gates 3-0.