DENVER | The senior-heavy Cherokee Trail baseball team scrapped until the final out of its 2018 season, which came on the second day of the Class 5A Championship Series.
The Cougars finished 1-1 on the opening day of the double-elimination tournament — with a walk-off win over Rocky Mountain followed by a loss to Arapahoe — which put them in an elimination game against Mountain Range Tuesday at All-City Stadium.
Cherokee Trail led early, watched Mountain Range go in front in the later innings and then got the bases loaded with one out in the final inning with a three-run deficit. The Cougars could only bring one run home, however, in a 6-4 season-ending loss.
Senior Ethan Leisge pounded out three and drove in two runs for Cherokee Trail, which fell despite an 8-4 advantage in hits over Mountain Range.
The Cougars finished 16-8 in the first season under coach Steve Eaton.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Sentinel Prep Sports
MOUNTAIN RANGE 6, CHEROKEE TRAIL 4
Score by innings:
Mtn. Range 000 302 1 — 6 4 1
Cher. Trail 020 100 1 — 4 8 3
MOUNTAIN RANGE (ab-r-h-rbi)
Mike Polson 3-0-0-0, Angelo Domenico 4-1-1-0, Braden Courter 2-1-0-0, Ryan Trinkaus 4-0-0-1, Jacob Simmons 3-0-2-3, Asutin Mee 1-2-0-0, Justin Hoffman 4-1-2-1, Tristan Wolf 3-0-0-0, Demarques Ortega 1-1-0-0. Totals 25-6-5-5. Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so): Matt Brocklander (3 1/3-6-3-3-3-1), Brandon Rojas (W, 3 2/3-3-1-1-1-2)
CHEROKEE TRAIL (ab-r-h-rbi)
Colten Chase 4-1-1-0, Blake Mackintosh 4-0-1-0, Chris Rush 3-0-0-0, Gavin Bell 3-1-1-0, Isaac Hayen 3-1-1-1, Jake Barker 3-0-0-1, Nick Gonzales 1-0-0-0, Kody Kellogg 2-0-1-0, Ethan Leisge 4-1-3-2, Wilfredo Matos 0-0-0-0, Ryan Jones 0-0-0-0. Totals 27-4-8-4. Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so): Blake Mackintosh (4-3-5-2-4-4), Ethan Leisge (1-1-1-0-0-0).
2B — Mountain Range: Justin Hoffman 2, Jacob Simmons; Cherokee Trail: Isaac Hayen, Ethan Leisge.
