LAKEWOOD | With an undefeated start to the Class 5A Baseball Championship Series, the Regis Jesuit baseball team bought itself some insurance in case it wasn’t able to finish Saturday morning’s contest against Cherry Creek.
That was the case, as the fifth-seeded Bruins started early against the second-seeded Raiders — who played their first game in a full week — and kept piling on as they rolled to an 11-1 victory that forced a rematch for the 5A state title after a short turnaround.
Regis Jesuit and Cherry Creek reprise the contest at 1 p.m. in a winner-take-all final.
With his full pitching arsenal at his disposal, Regis Jesuit coach Matt Darr sent Liam Mosley out for the start, as Cherry Creek had already seen his other starters in sophomore Hudson Alpert and junior Luke Reasbeck.
Mosley brought an 8-0 record into the game, but surrendered a two-run home run in the opening inning and ceded five runs in two innings, while the Raiders managed just a single run in the fifth inning against Cherry Creek junior ace Wyatt Rudden, who had also defeated them 3-0 back in a regular season matchup on April 3.
Regis Jesuit used three relievers to finish out the contest, allowing them to save Alpert and Reasbeck — who threw a complete game, two-hit shutout against the Bruins last week — for the final contest.
The top of the Bruins’ order did the majority of the damage, as leadoff hitter Brayden Yasuzawa, junior Connor Larkin in the No. 2 spot and senior Eddie Esquival in the three-hole combined for seven hits in eight at-bats and combined to score eight runs.
Larkin’s two-run homer as the second batter of the game staked Cherry Creek to a lead that would never be threatened.
Regis Jesuit had potential rallies in the first and third innings, but junior Christian Lopez got thrown out trying to advance on a steal attempt in the first inning and moving up on a wild pitch in the third. Senior Brody Chyr was stranded at second base in the opening inning as well.
The Raiders drew three consecutive walks off Rudden to begin the bottom of the fifth inning and a run scored on a fielder’s chose off the bat of Chyr, but Lopez — who was 2-for-2 in the game and reached base all three times — got left at third base as the game ended to the 10-run rule.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2024 CLASS 5A BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
(5) CHERRY CREEK 11, (2) REGIS JESUIT 1 (5 inn.)
Score by innings (r-h-e):
Cherry Creek 203 51 — 11 11 0
Regis Jesuit 000 01 — 1 4 2
CHERRY CREEK (ab-r-h-rbi)
Brayden Yasuzawa 2b 3-3-3-1, Connor Larkin 1b 3-3-2-2, Eddie Esquivel cf 2-2-2-6, Will Taylor dh 4–0-1-0, Mason Scott 2-0-1-0, Sean Goldy ss 3-0-0-0, Tyce Smith rf 3-0-0-0, Eli Rose c 2-0-1-0, Connor Frank pr 0-2-0-0, Luke Rose lf 2-1-1-0. Totals 24-11-11-9. Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so): Wyatt Rudden (W, 5-4-1-1-4-3)
REGIS JESUIT (ab-r-h-rbi)
Christian Lopez 2-0-2-0, Andrew Bell ss 1-0-0-0, Brody Chyr rf 2-0-1-1, Trevor Nordstrom 3b 3-0-0-0, Hudson Alpert 2b 3-0-0-0, Chase Massey dh 2-0-1-0, Nick Wiley c 2-0-0-0, Gavin Cronin lf 2-0-0-0, Jace Filleman 1b 1-1-0-0. Totals 18-1-4-1. Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so): Liam Mosley (L, 2-5-5-5-1-1), Matteo Momo (1 1/3-5-5-5-1-1), Sam Morton (2/3-1-1-1-1-2), William Houtsma (1-0-0-0-0-1)
2B — Cherry Creek: Mason Scott, Will Taylor. Regis Jesuit: Brody Chyr. 3B — Cherry Creek: Eddie Esquivel. HR — Cherry Creek: Connor Larkin (1 on in 1st inning)
