DENVER | A handful of some of Aurora’s top senior baseball players get to finish their prep careers in style by playing at Coors Field.
Cherokee Trail’s Eric Cox and Nick Perez, Regis Jesuit’s Jimmy Hollinger and Caleb Sloan and Grandview’s Tyson Hays were selected to play on the Senior Team in the annual Colorado Rockies Futures game, a nine-inning affair scheduled for 2 p.m. Thursday on the Colorado Rockies’ home field.
The Senior Team will play the Underclassmen Team with rosters selected by scouts and coaches in the Rockies organization.
Aurora teams were shut out of the Class 5A Championship Series with Regis Jesuit (15-6) and Grandview (9-11) going down in the regional playoffs.
Sloan had a difficult start for Regis Jesuit against Broomfield in regionals, but the Texas Christian-bound right-handed pitcher finished the season with an 8-2 record and a 3.71 ERA, plus 57 strikeouts in 39 2/3 innings. He is the only one of the five Aurora players who is unable to play in the Futures Game.
Holinger led the Raiders with 14 RBI to go with a .361 batting average.
Hays — a catcher who has signed with Illinois State — pounded the baseball all season long for Grandview and sported a team-high .471 batting average and also led his club in hits 24 (including 10 for extra bases) and RBI with 16.
Coming off a state championship in 2016, Cherokee Trail missed out on the regional playoffs as five one-run losses during the regular season scuttled its RPI, the tool used to decide the teams in the postseason.
Cox and Perez — two of the main holdovers from the championship club — did their best to help a young team along.
Cox, a Metro State signee, hit .388 and led the Cougars in hits (26, including seven home runs) and RBI (25), while he also threw 24 2/3 innings and finished with a 4.82 ERA.
Perez hit at a .410 clip and finished second behind Cox in hits (24), homers (4) and RBI (16).
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel
