Centennial League baseball teams beat each other up over the course of the league season, which can mean somewhat ugly win-loss records and lowered RPI.
It also forges a toughness that makes Centennial League teams a major threat when they reach the postseason, no matter what seed they get, which was evidenced in district play May 14.
All four league teams that appeared in the 32-team Class 5A district playoffs — which were determined by RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) for the first time — advanced to the double-elimination 5A Championship Series, which opens Friday, representing half of the eight-team field.
No matter how the seedings appeared, nobody is surprised that Grandview (the No. 6 seed), Mullen (No. 8), Cherokee Trail (No. 13) and Cherry Creek (No. 18) remain in a group that has two teams from the Jeffco League (Dakota Ridge and Ralston Valley), plus one each from the Front Range (Rocky Mountain) and Continental (ThunderRidge).
“The league is fun to play in, it’s tough and it’s a grind every day, but that’s what you love,” Grandview senior outfielder Zach Sundine said after the Wolves’ got past No. 27 Douglas County and No. 11 Columbine to win the 5A District 8 tournament.
“In times like these, you can really battle because you’ve been there before,” he added.
Wolves coach Scott Henry — who spent several seasons in the league previously at Smoky Hill — didn’t bat an eyelash when he heard the three other league teams qualified.
“Everybody knows everybody,” Henry said. “If we can get our pitchers throwing strikes and our hitters get hot, we’re fine. It will come down to some little things and hopefully we can execute those little things in practice this week so we can get after it Friday.”
Nothing the Wolves will face — in their Championship Series opener at 10 a.m. May 20 against Ralston Valley at Bishop Machebeuf High School or in subsequent rounds — will be more than they’ve prepared for in Centennial League play.
The Wolves had to grind their way through wins over Douglas County and Columbine in games in which they found themselves trailing after just half an inning.
Sundine and Travis Parker had two-run singles in Grandview’s rally past Douglas County in a 4-3 win and Cade Crader threw a complete game and Tyler Smith’s two-run double sparked the Wolves past Columbine 5-2.
Grandview returns to the Championship Series after making a run to the Final Four of last season’s tournament in the finale for retiring coach Dean Adams.
Cherokee Trail’s RPI suffered when weather forced it to cancel a Spring Break trip to Arizona and set up a three-game set with Mountain Vista — which finished 6-13 — but coach Allan Dyer’s Centennial League champions used seeding as motivation.
“We can’t take care of that piece (seeding), but we just focus on ourselves and go out and play ball,” Dyer said. “We just went out and tried to survive two games and we felt like we had a chance in both of them. When our guys put their minds to it, they play some pretty good baseball.”
Riding the pitching prowess of senior Jerome Bohannon and two-RBI games from juniors Eric Cox and Michael Morris, the Cougas handled Broomfield 8-3 in the District 3 opener, then junior Conner Nantkes spun a complete game four-hitter in a 2-1 win over No. 3 Heritage to earn the program’s first spot in the 5A Championship Series since 2011.
“We’ve had a couple of down years, but it is what it is and the guys got us back here this year,” Dyer said. “We plan to be in it for the long haul.”
Cherokee Trail opens with a 12:30 p.m. contest on May 20 against Dakota Ridge at All-City Field.
The Cougars go into games against the other Centennial League games with confidence, as they swept the two-game slate from Mullen in league play and split with Cherry Creek (dropping an 11-10 game they could have won) and Grandview.
The four teams who win at least two games over the first two days of the double-elimination tournament advance to the Final Four, which concludes May 27-28.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel
2016 CLASS 5A BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Site 1: All-City Field; Site 2: Bishop Machebeuf H.S.
FRIDAY, MAY 20
Game 1: No. 8 Mullen (16-5) vs. No. 1 Rocky Mountain (15-6), 10 a.m., All-City Field
Game 2: No. 5 Dakota Ridge (15-6) vs. NO. 4 CHEROKEE TRAIL (17-4), 12:30 p.m., All-City Field
Game 3: N0. 6 GRANDVIEW (16-5) vs. No. 3 Ralston Valley (15-6), 10 a.m., Bishop Machebeuf H.S.
Game 4: No. 7 ThunderRidge (15-6) vs. No. 2 Cherry Creek (15-6), 12:30 p.m., Bishop Machebeuf H.S.
Game 5: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 3 p.m., All-City Field
Game 6: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 3 p.m., Bishop Machebeuf H.S.
SATURDAY, MAY 21
Game 7: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 10 a.m., Bishop Machebeuf H.S.
Game 8: Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 10 a.m., All-City Field
Game 9: Loser Game 6 vs. Winner Game 7, 12:30 p.m., Bishop Machebeuf H.S.
Game 10: Loser Game 5 vs. Winner Game 8, 12:30 p.m., TBD
Game 11: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 3 p.m., All-City Field
(Four remaining teams advance to Final Four, May 27-28)
