DENVER | The Cherokee Trail baseball team earned itself two chances to win the Class 5A state championship on Sunday, but the way the Cougars are playing, they may only need one.
Coach Allan Dyer’s team picked up where it left off on the first weekend of the 5A Championship Series with a 9-2 win over Mullen on Saturday morning at All-City Field, knocking the Mustangs out of the double-elimination series and moving to 4-0 in the process.
Senior left-hander Keven MacKintosh pitched seven strong innings for Cherokee Trail, allowing Dyer to save senior Jerome Bohannon and junior Conner Nantkes for Sunday, when the Cougars play with their first chance to win the state title at 10 a.m.
A loss in the first game t0 Rocky Mountain — which eliminated Cherry Creek with a 17-4 victory Saturday — would give the Cougars their second opportunity in a 12:30 p.m. contest.
Cherokee Trail (21-4) took the lead in the third inning when Eric Cox singled in Jerome Bohannon and the Cougars added on with three runs in the fifth and five more in the top of the seventh.
Nick Perez’s two-run double highlighted Cherokee Trail’s seventh inning rally and he joined a group of eight different players (Bohannon, Cox, Nantkes, Ryan Sullivan, Travis Lynch, Matt Meraz and John-Michael Osley) with at least one run driven in.
MacKintosh benefitted from the offensive output and posted seven strikeouts in a seven-inning stint. He scattered seven hits and allowed single runs in the fifth and sixth innings as the Cougars moved to 3-0 against Mullen on the season.
Cherokee Trail is in search of its first 5A state championship and the second baseball title in program history following its 4A title in 2007.
Full 5A Championship Series scoreboard & schedule, here.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel
2016 CLASS 5A BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
CHEROKEE TRAIL 9, MULLEN 2
Score by innings:
Cherokee Trail 001 030 5 — 9
Mullen 000 011 0 — 2
WP — Cherokee Trail: Keven MacKintosh (7 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K). Cherokee Trail hitting: Nick Perez 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI, run; Jerome Bohannon 1-2, RBI, 2 runs; John-Michael Osley 1-3, RBI, run; Michael Morris 1-3, 2B, run; Ryan Sullivan 1-4, RBI, 2 runs; Eric Cox 1-4, RBI; Conner Nantkes 1-4, RBI, run; Travis Lynch 1-4, RBI, run; Matt Meraz 0-2, RBI, run
