Chatfield charging towards Colorado big-school championship game

When the Chatfield (Littleton) baseball team cracked the district bracket two weeks back, it seemed like a heartwarming story. The Chargers began the season 1-8 after all, and qualifying as the No. 28 seed was commendable after making an in-season coaching change.

When the Chargers went to Fruita Monument, upset the powerhouse Wildcats and soon moved on to state, the story gained traction. The Chargers weren't going to do much at state, most figured. But they sure had splendidly turned around their season.

Then the Chargers knocked off Monarch (Louisville) 6-3 in the opening game at All City Field last weekend. Then they skirted past top seed and longtime power Cherry Creek (Greenwood Village) 2-1. Then, in the contest that determined which team enters the final weekend with zero losses in the double-elimination tournament, Chatfield edged Mountain Vista (Highlands Ranch) 3-2 in nine innings. The latter two games were won in walk-off fashion.

"We don't have the big players; we don't have the MLB recruits," Chargers coach Matt Johnson said. "We have a scrappy team that believes in itself. We've instilled the fundamentals of baseball, to where this is how the game should be played."

Johnson, a former Level 3 coach, was in Mexico watching his wife receive an award when the varsity job suddenly became vacant. Upon his return, the question was posed as to whether he could build a staff. Because of his job managing a team of software engineers, his time was constricted anyway and he almost skipped coaching altogether this season.

But Johnson rounded up three coaches who served various roles within the program in Mark Brown, Larry Chamberlain and Rich Binkley to compose the new varsity staff. The staff has worked wonders, and Chatfield (14-10) enters Friday's contest at All City Field against Rock Canyon (Highlands Ranch) as winners of 12 of 13.

"These kids have been through a lot the last few years, so that's where Coach Brown and I decided, hey, let's see this through and do the best we can for them," Johnson said. "Never in our wildest dreams did we expect we'd be here."

The Chargers have been using their entire roster to win games. Reliever Mike Lucero pitched 5 1/3 innings in the three state games and escaped with two wins and a save. Kyle Winkler, Sean O'Dell and several others have contributed as well. Johnson's son, Tanner Johnson, provided 3 1/3 innings of scoreless relief against Mountain Vista.

While Rock Canyon (20-4) and ace Bryce Dietz will aim to stay alive against the Chargers, Grandview (Aurora) (15-9) and Mountain Vista (16-8) will meet in an elimination game.

Chatfield is in stellar shape. With a win, the Chargers will eliminate Rock Canyon and take on the Grandview-Mountain Vista winner in the title game. But that team will need to beat the Chargers twice.

With a loss, Chatfield will still advance to the title game, but in a straight-up situation against the surviving team.

The 4A tournament has been most affected by the weather and will play into next week. The classification is scheduled to catch up Thursday with all of its games at Metro State. Some teams enter having played only one game, others two.

Defending champion Green Mountain (Lakewood) recorded narrow wins in the opening rounds against Erie (5-4) and Jeffco League-rival Wheat Ridge (8-7) to join Ponderosa (Parker) as the classification's only unbeaten squads. The Green Mountain-Ponderosa game (2 p.m., Thursday) will determine which squad is in the driver's seat when play resumes Tuesday with four teams remaining.

The 3A tournament had a Patriot League flavor as it was, with five of the eight qualifiers hailing from the powerhouse conference. Now it's a straight-up Patriot League tournament, with Eaton, Sterling, Brush and University (Greeley) the remaining squads.

Eaton, naturally, is the favorite. The Reds (24-0) opened state last week winning three games by a combined 16-1 tally and get back to action Friday at Butch Butler Field against Sterling. The Tigers are looking to avenge 17-0 and 10-0 losses to Eaton in the regular season.

University and Brush meet in an elimination game after splitting the regular-season series in wildly different games. After University blanked the Beetdiggers 1-0 on April 20, Brush came back two days later to record a 14-4 win behind two homers from Kyle Rosenbrock and one apiece from BJ Hirshfeld and Alec Petterson.

In Class 2A, top seeds Rye and Resurrection Christian (Loveland) remain on a collision course to face each other in what could be an epic final. But despite Rye's lofty 23-0 record, the Thunderbolts and standouts Trenton Hughes and Luis Ortiz, Jr. are no lock to reach the title game. That's because they'll take on Hotchkiss in the semifinals Saturday at Runyon Complex.

The No. 4 Bulldogs (21-2) didn't allow a run in the first two games of state, getting shutouts from Devan Rupe and a combined one from Cesar Gonzalez and Johnathan Gonzalez. Hotchkiss has blanked eight opponents this season.

Defending-champ Resurrection Christian (17-4) and standout Luke Mondt cruised to lopsided wins in the opening weekend and will take on upstart Burlington. The No. 14 Cougars, who entered state 9-9, upset No. 3 Sedwick County and then defeated Limon in the quarterfinals to reach the semis.

The 1A championship game was decided Saturday at All City Field, with Dove Creek holding on for its first title, an 8-5 win against Granada. Pitcher Jordan Ernst earned the win by striking out eight in five-plus innings.