As the fickle Colorado spring weather continually frustrated the state’s high school spring-sport athletes this season, it seemed like this week would never come. Finally, though, the postseason has arrived for all involved, setting up a three-week sprint to the proverbial finish line that is the most frenzied of the high school sports calendar. Enjoy, and buckle up.
Baseball
The Colorado High School Activities Association is expected to post district brackets for
Class 5A, 4A and 3A by May 12. Because of the wet spring weather, some leagues still are completing league play Monday and Tuesday. The winning team from each of eight districts in all three classifications will advance to the double-elimination state tournaments. In advance of the official CHSAA seeding, here is a best guess on the top four seeds in the three classifications. The top eight seeds will play host to districts May 15.
Class 5A
1.
Rocky Mountain (Fort Collins) (17-2): This one didn’t take much expertise, as the three-time defending champion Lobos again show no signs of weakness.
2.
Rampart (Colorado Springs) (15-4): The Rams, semifinalists last season, tied with Pine Creek (Colorado Springs) (17-2) for the Colorado Springs Metro League title, but they beat the Eagles in both league meetings. It would not be a surprise to see Pine Creek among the top four seeds, too.
3.
Ralston Valley (Arvada) (14-4): Champions of a competitive Jefferson County League, the Mustangs had won nine in a row before a hiccup to Dakota Ridge (Littleton) last week.
4.
Cherry Creek (Greenwood Village) (16-3): The Bruins, semifinalists last season, looked like a lock for the No. 2 seed last week, but they dropped two of their last three, to Grandview (Aurora) and Mullen (Denver) to fall back to the pack a bit.
Class 4A
1.
Mountain View (Loveland) (18-1): The Mountain Lions are intent on erasing the disappointment of a 2009 runner-up finish. With the top pitching tandem of Nick Miller and Derek Neeper, they are the team to beat.
2.
Montrose (17-2): The Indians claimed a share of the always-challenging Class 5A/4A Southwestern League. That should be good for a top-four seed, even if it’s not this slot.
3.
Canon City (16-3): The Tigers won the historically tough South Central League by two games, meaning not even a pedestrian nonleague schedule should keep them from a top-four seed.
4.
Rock Canyon (Highlands Ranch) (14-5): This is where matters could get interesting. The Jaguars, though, played in the 5A Continental League during the regular season and scored wins against league runner-up Ponderosa (Parker), Heritage (Littleton) and Douglas County (Castle Rock).
Wheat Ridge could argue it deserves this spot, but the Farmers lost to Douglas County, while Castle View (Castle Rock) might make a claim after winning the Colorado Springs Metro League, its first league title. Valor Christian (Highlands Ranch) (16-3) sports a lofty record and some wins against 5A schools, but the Eagles also lost big to Wheat Ridge and played a soft league schedule.
Class 3A
1. Eaton (19-0): The Reds are the biggest lock on the board, as they have won 56 consecutive games.
2. Faith Christian (Arvada) (17-2) / Holy Family (Broomfield) (16-2): Flip a coin here. These teams deserve these two seeds. Their only losses came to Eaton and against each other.
4. Florence (Florence) (18-1): The Huskies rolled through the Tri-Peaks League’s West Division, then avenged their only loss by beating Lamar in the league championship game May 8.
Class 2A and 1A have nearly completed district play and regionals are set for May 15. Class 2A will be played at four sites around the state, while the eight remaining teams in Class A will meet at Englewood and Thomas Jefferson (Denver) high schools in the metro area.
Lacrosse
The first round of the boys lacrosse state playoffs concluded May 8, and there were two big upsets of note. Ponderosa (Parker), the 22nd seed, ousted No. 11 Air Academy (U.S. Air Force Academy) 10-6 to set up a meeting against defending state champion and top-seeded Arapahoe (Littleton).
Also, No. 21 Columbine (Littleton) jumped to a 7-0 first-quarter lead en route to an 11-9 win against 12th-seeded Littleton. The Rebels, who will meet No. 2 Cherry Creek (Greenwood Village) in the second round, received three goals each from Anthony Willner and Rhys Harrison in the win. The pairings were shuffled for the second round, which will be completed May 11. The quarterfinals are set for May 15 at Regis Jesuit (Aurora).
Girls lacrosse completes its regular season Monday, and the CHSAA will release the brackets May 11. Top-ranked Cherry Creek (Greenwood Village), which upended previous No. 1 Denver East 14-10 on May 4, is expected to be the top seed in the 17-team field. (The 16th seed will play a pigtail game against Summit (Frisco), the champion of the Mountain League. The first round of the girls playoffs must be completed by May 15.
Girls soccer
The CHSAA released the 32-team state brackets for the Class 5A, Class 4A and Class 3A state tournaments.
In the big-school field, Centennial League champion Cherry Creek (13-1-1) earned the top seed. The Bruins (13-1-1) have not lost to an in-state foe this season – the lone loss came to Incarnate Word Academy of St. Louis at a tournament in mid-April. Cherry Creek, led by Molly Pomeroy’s 10 goals, have outscored opponents 42-7.
Rounding out the top four seeds are No. 2 Fairview (the Front Range League champion) and Colorado Springs Metro League rivals Pine Creek, the third seed, and No. 4 Air Academy. Chatfield is the defending champion and is seeded 15th.
In Class 4A, Colorado Springs Metro League champion Lewis-Palmer (15-0-0) is the top seed, as expected, while 2009 state runner-up Valor Christian is the top seed on the other side of the bracket. Cheyenne Mountain, which suffered its only loss to Lewis-Palmer, is the third seed, with defending champion Wheat Ridge rounding out the top four.
The Classical Academy, the only unbeaten team in Class 3A, is the top seed in the small-school bracket. Freshman Joanie Jacks leads the Titans with 23 goals, fifth-best in the classification. TCA has turned in one of the most impressive seasons in recent memory, outscoring its 15 foes 75-1. The lone goal scored against the Titans came on April 1 in a 4-1 victory against Evangelical Christian.
The Titans have beaten six teams in the field, including the Nos. 3, 4 and 5 seeds in defending champion St. Mary’s, Manitou Springs and Peak to Peak, respectively. Metro League champion Holy Family is the No. 2 seed.
ETC.
Girls tennis will be the first spring sport to complete its season, as the Class 5A state tournament will be competed at the Gates Tennis Center and the 4A event at Pueblo City Park this weekend . . . Girls golf regionals will be done by May 14, with qualifiers advancing to play the state meets May 24-25 . . . Class 3A and 2A track regionals are set for this weekend, while boys swimming has a light week in advance of the state meets May 21-22.
Gerry Valerio is the former high school sports editor of the Rocky Mountain News and has covered preps for more than 20 years. Send news and notes to gerry.valerio@gmail.com. Also, follow Valerio on Twitter for Colorado high school sports updates.
