Among baseball teams from Douglas County schools, only one was
able to squeeze through districts.
Mountain Vista High School played host to the District 3
playoffs May 2 at the school in Highlands Ranch and walked away
with the D-3 title after five-inning wins over both Westminster and
Dakota Ridge.
This is the third season in four years the Golden Eagles have
been hosts to the district tournament.
Against Westminster, the Golden Eagles handled the Wolves to a
14-0 final in five innings. Tucker Cross was on the hill for the
entire opening game.
He said Vista’s offense early in the game is one of its
strengths.
“Being able to score runs in the first innings, and just being
able to score in every inning, that gives us a lot of help, ‘cause
we always play good defense, and we can pitch it,” Cross said. “I
was noticing [the Wolves] couldn’t really catch up to a fast ball,
it was just about trying to locate that. And every once in a while,
locate a change up or a curve ball.”
Westminster helped the Eagles out with a few unearned runs, but
Vista has learned to take every opportunity it can as it enters the
Class 5A state championship series May 8 at All-City Field in
Denver.
“We just want to keep our momentum going and run the bases well,
and capitalize on their mistakes,” Cross said.
Vista won the district title in five innings against Dakota
Ridge 10-0. They are the No. 4 seed of the 5A playoffs, carrying a
17-4 record. They face No. 5 Green Mountain in their state
opener.
In the District 5 fight, ThunderRidge, the No. 15 seed, won a
hard-fought opening game at Cherry Creek High School in Greenwood
Village against No. 15 Durango with a 6-4 final.
The Grizzlies’ Chase Newman started on the bump against Durango,
with Tim Jenkins coming in for the save.
T-Ridge saw the end of its season in the district finals against
hosts Cherry Creek. The No. 2-seeded Bruins beat the Grizzlies 6-3
and finished their season with a 14-7 record.
Highlands Ranch was unable to pick up a win against Grandview in
its opening game of the District 6 tournament.
The No. 26-seeded Falcons lost to the Wolves, the No. 7 seed,
8-4 and finished their season with a 10-10 record.
In the District 7 race, Ponderosa, the No. 30 seed, had a brutal
contest against No. 3 Rocky Mountain.
The Mustangs saw the end of their season after an 11-0 loss to
the Lobos in their district opener.
Ponderosa finished the season 12-8.
Lutheran High School-Parker was more fortunate in its race for
the Class 2A championship.
The Lions finished as the runner-up in the District 8 playoffs,
giving them a spot in the regional/state bracket.
Lutheran-Parker plays at 10 a.m. May 9 at Northglenn High
School.
The Lions’ opponent was not determined by press time.