LAKEWOOD | The road to the first state championship for the Grandview baseball team grew longer and more difficult Saturday afternoon.
The top-seeded Wolves needed a win over Centennial League rival and second-seeded Cherry Creek at All-Star Park to put themselves in the driver’s seat in the Class 5A Baseball Championship Series and within a single victory of their first title.
But Grandview got the best from the defending state champion Bruins, who came up with the clutch hits when they needed and got a strong performance from the deeper end of their pitching staff in a 7-1 victory. That puts Cherry Creek in prime position for a repeat, while the Wolves will have to win three games on the final weekend and defeat the Bruins twice if they are to claim the 5A state crown.
Coach Scott Henry’s Grandview team was held to just two hits and a single run to finish off a 2-1 opening weekend of the tournament, after which it will join Cherry Creek (3-0), No. 5 Broomfield (2-1) and No. 6 Regis Jesuit (2-1) in final group of four teams.
The Wolves will take on the winner of the elimination contest between the Eagles and Raiders at 12:30 p.m. May 30 at All-Star Park. That winner advances to the 10 a.m. May 31 title game against Cherry Creek, which must be defeated twice.
Grandview got strong pitching efforts from junior Ethan Wachsmann and senior Jax Pfister in wins over Castle View and Broomfield, respectively, which allowed it to have a strong compliment of arms to try to get the important win.
Senior Nick Martensen shut down the Bruins in the opening inning, but they struck for three runs in the top of the second inning. Grandview got one back in the bottom of the inning when Cherry Creek starter Connor Larkin allowed a single to sophomore Matthew Schimberg and issued walks to junior AJ Maroni, senior Kyle Cacciavillani and senior Jack Weiss, the last of which forced in a run.
The Bruins turned to Cael Knobbe, who escaped without giving up anything else in the inning. Knobbe allowed just one baserunner in the final four innings, while Cherry Creek added multiple runs to its total in the third and fifth innings.
Grandview fell to 1-2 against the Bruins this season after the teams split a pair of Centennial League contests.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2025 CLASS 5A BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
(2) CHERRY CREEK 7, (1) GRANDVIEW 1
Score by innings (r-h-e):
Cherry Creek 032 020 0 — 7 9 0
Grandview 010 000 0 — 1 2 3
CHERRY CREEK (ab-r-h-rbi)
Ari Rothman lf 4-0-1-0, Connor Larkin p-1b 3-1-0-0, Mason Scott 3b 4-0-1-1, Sean Goldy ss 3-3-2-0, Lucas Schultz dh 4-1-1-0, Tyce Smith rf 3-1-2-2, Walker Rudden 2b 1-0-0-0, Cooper Campbell ph 1-0-1-1, Eli Rose c 2-0-0-0, Owen Elser cf 3-0-1-2, Tyson Thome cr 0-1-0-0. Totals 28-7-9-6. Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so): Connor Larkin (1 1/3-1-1-1-3-4), Cael Knobbe (W, 5 2/3-1-0-0-2-3)
GRANDVIEW (ab-r-h-rbi)
Kayden Bohmeyer c 4-0-0-0, Chase Chapman ss 3-0-0-0, Jax Pfister 1b 3-0-0-0, Justin Dean 2b-p 3-0-0-0, AJ Maroni 3b 1-1-0-0, Matthew Schimberg dh 3-0-2-0, Kyle Cacciavillani rf 2-0-0-0, Jack Weiss ph 0-0-0-1, Ethan Wachsmann ph 1-0-0-0, Kyler Vaughn cf 2-0-0-0, Jakson Bush 2b 0-0-0-0. Totals 23-1-2-1. Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so): Nick Martensen (L, 2-5-4-4-1-4), Justin Dean (4-4-3-2-1-3), Josiah Giron (1-0-0-0-0-1)
2B — Cherry Creek: Mason Scott
