The furious sprint to the finish of the baseball regular season has paid off for six Aurora teams.
When the dust cleared on a weather-created logjam of games in the last week-plus, six city teams made the cut for the 32-team May 11 district round of the Class 5A playoffs.
Centennial League runner-up Grandview received the No. 4 overall seed and will play host to one of the four-team district tournaments, as will eighth-seeded Regis Jesuit.
Aurora’s four other playoff qualifiers — No. 20 Smoky Hill, No. 23 Cherokee Trail, No. 29 Rangeview and No. 32 Gateway — all play in district tournaments on the road, but Smoky Hill and Rangeview don’t have go far as they will play at Grandview.
Rangeview was nearly eliminated from postseason contention in the East Metro Athletic Conference, but a doubleheader sweep of rival Gateway and Aurora Central on the final weekend of the regular season lifted coach Mike Hamilton’s team into the postseason.
The Raiders get a rematch against a Grandview team that beat them 10-0 in the district round of last season’s playoffs. The Aurora teams are slated to play at 10 a.m.
Coach Dean Adams’ Wolves dropped a 5-2 decision to Cherry Creek on May 4 in a Centennial League showdown, but finished the season 16-3 and feel good about their chances to return to the 5A championship series.
Grandview will play in the district round on its home field for the fifth straight season.
Smoky Hill was a glaring omission from the 5A playoffs two seasons ago and coach Scott Henry feared the Buffaloes would be victimized by the Colorado High School Activities Association’s new power points system that gave more value to teams who played out of state competition.
But Henry’s team posted clutch victories over Cherokee Trail and Mullen in its final two games to assure itself of a spot in the postseason. The Buffaloes (11-8) make the short trip to Grandview, where they will take No. 13 Monarch (12-7) at 12:30 p.m., with the winner to meet Grandview or Rangeview at 3 p.m.
Like Grandview, Regis Jesuit plays districts at home for the fifth straight season and the 13-5 Raiders steam into the postseason as the hottest ballclub in Aurora.
Coach Mike Anderson’s Regis Jesuit team won its last 10 regular season games, including a 6-1 victory against defending state champion and Centennial League champion Cherry Creek, and have back a handful of key players from last season’s run to the 5A semifinals.
Cherokee Trail is one of only four teams in the playoff field with a sub-.500 record. The Cougars finished the regular season 7-12, but seemed to benefit in the point standings from games against quality opponents.
Coach Allan Dyer’s team received the No. 23 seed and is set to play No. 10 Mountain Vista (11-7) at 12:30 p.m. District 6 tournament at Dakota Ridge.
Gateway made the 5A postseason for the first time in 15 seasons thanks to a fourth-place finish in the EMAC. Coach Brian Dossey’s Olys have a tough task, as they head to top-seeded Rocky Mountain for a 10 a.m. game.
Reach Sports Editor Courtney Oakes at sports@aurorasentinel.com or 303-750-7555
GO OLYS!