LAKEWOOD | Backs against the wall in the Class 5A Championship Series, the Regis Jesuit baseball team came out swinging Saturday afternoon at All-Star Park.
Hours after they managed just one run against Valor Christian in their first loss of the double-elimination tournament (STORY, HERE), coach Matt Darr’s third-seeded Raiders piled up 12 hits and 15 runs on their way to a 15-5 win over No. 13 Mountain Vista to move into the final weekend as one of four teams left standing.
Twelve of Regis Jesuit’s 15 runs came in a third-inning explosion, which was highlight by a grand slam by junior Andrew Bell, who drove in seven of his team’s runs.
FULL CLASS 5A CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES SCOREBOARD & SCHEDULE, HERE
Sophomore Luke Reasbeck — who earned the pitching win in relief — had three hits, while Bell, senior Nate Lewis and sophomore Christian Lopez had two apiece and junior Brody Chyr tripled in a pair of runs for the Raiders, who surpassed the 13 runs they scored in a win over the Golden Eagles on May 3 in Continental League play.
Regis Jesuit (20-8) will meet No. 25 Cherokee Trail (16-12) at 10 a.m. June 2 at All-Star Park to decide which Aurora program will play the subsequent game against No. 5 Rock Canyon. The winner of that game moves on to a June 3 contest against No. 15 Valor Christian, which finished the first weekend of the tournament 3-0.
No. 1 Broomfield — the 2022 5A state champion — No. 6 Chaparral, No. 10 Rocky Mountain and No. 13 Mountain Vista were eliminated from the tournament on the opening weekend of play between games at All-Star Park and All-City Stadium.
In its third game of the weekend, Regis Jesuit started junior Matteo Momo, who allowed three hits and a run before he had to leave in the second inning due to injury.
Reasbeck came on and finished out the inning as well as the next three, as he limited damage despite giving up eight base hits.
It was just what the Raiders needed as they followed up two scoreless innings against Mountain Vista starter Chase Ruden with a 12-run third inning.
Included in the rally was a ball drilled into the right field corner for the lefty-swinging Chyr that brought in two runners and also a blast by Bell, who drilled his second home run of the tournament (and eighth of the season) with the bases loaded.
Regis Jesuit — which opened the tournament with a 9-1 win over Chaparral May 26 behind freshman Hudson Alpert’s complete game (STORY, HERE) — moves on to face Cherokee Trail, which defeated Chaparral 9-4 in an elimination game. The two Aurora programs met in an elimination contest in last season’s Championship Series as well in a game won by the Cougars.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2023 CLASS 5A BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Elimination bracket, May 27 at All-Star Park
(3) REGIS JESUIT 15, (13) MOUNTAIN VISTA 5
Score by innings:
Mountain Vista 012 20 — 5
Regis Jesuit 00(12) 03 — 15
WP — Regis Jesuit: Luke Reasbeck (3 1/3 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 1 K). Regis Jesuit hitting: Luke Reasbeck 3-3, RBI; Nate Lewis 2-2, 2B, RBI, 3 runs; Christian Lopez 2-2, RBI, 3 runs, SB; Andrew Bell 2-4, HR, 7 RBI, 2 runs; Brody Chyr 1-3, 3B, 2 RBI, run; Grant Gedrose 1-3, run; Evan Di Tanna 1-3, RBI, run; Max Devlin 3 runs