PARKER | Seeding may have said otherwise, but there was nothing Cinderella about the Cherokee Trail baseball team’s two upsets to win Monday’s Class 5A Region 8 tournament.
At No. 25, the Cougars were the lowest of the four seeds in the field for the three-game tournament at Legend High School, but a program steeped in tradition that had taken a few tough losses that hurt its record proved dangerous.
Coach Jon DiGiorgio’s Cherokee Trail team showed its best during a 5-2 victory over eighth-seeded Legend followed by a 4-1 defeat of No. 9 Pine Creek that put the Cougars back into the 5A Championship Series, which starts Friday. Cherokee Trail lost by a run in the semifinals of last season’s Championship Series.
FULL CLASS 5A BASEBALL REGIONAL RESULTS, HERE
Cherokee Trail opened the day with a victory over the host and eighth-seeded Titans, the Continental League champions, behind a dominant effort on the mound from Logan Reid. The junior lefthander scattered four hits and allowed two runs with three strikeouts in a complete game.
In a 1-1 game through five innings, the Cougars came up with a four-run rally in the sixth inning that was punctuated by a two-run double by senior Bowen Tabola.
Reid allowed a run in the bottom of the sixth, but slammed the door shut in the seventh to win his third straight decision and improve to 3-2 overall and drop his ERA to 3.14.
In the regional championship game, Cherokee Trail faced a Pine Creek team that edged No. 24 Fort Collins 4-3 in the opening game.
Sophomore Carter Wilcox gave the Cougars a second straight outstanding effort on the mound as he threw a complete game and struck out 11 in a four-hitter. Wilcox picked up his first win since March 14 and bettered his season-best in strikeouts by two.
Sophomore infielder Brody Ceyrolles doubled and knocked in three of the four runs for Cherokee Trail, which joins Regis Jesuit as Aurora representatives in the 5A Championship Series.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports