The baseball season for Aurora prep teams stretched from the first pitch of opening day to the last pitch of the final game.
Regis Jesuit played twice with the Class 5A state championship on the line — and saw it slip away to rival Cherry Creek — while Grandview made it to the penultimate day and Cherokee Trail earned its way into the eight teams that battled it out in the Championship Series.
Those three area programs lend a significant amount of talent to the 2024 Aurora Sentinel All-Aurora Baseball Team, which is picked by the Sentinel in conjunction with balloting of city coaches.
Regis Jesuit earned a chance to play for its first state title since 2019 and did so with help from an excellent collection of pitching and position players.
On the mound, coach Matt Darr’s Raiders had multiple standouts who were led statistically by senior Liam Mosley, who won his first eight games and suffered his only defeat in the first of two state championship games on the final day of the season.
Mosley — who signed with the University of Dallas — finished 8-1 with a 1.79 ERA. In a team-leading 47 innings, Mosley allowed just 12 earned runs, and five of them came in two innings of his championship game start against a hot-hitting Cherry Creek team. The All-Continental League first-teamer struck out 46 against just seven bases on balls.
Darr turned to sophomore Hudson Alpert in the team’s biggest games, and he held the right-hander (who was undefeated as a freshman) back in case Regis Jesuit had to play Cherry Creek again on the final day. He was more effective (as he allowed two runs over five innings) but suffered the loss to finish the season 5-4 with two losses to Cherry Creek, plus one apiece to Championship Series qualifier Chaparral as well as Rock Canyon. Alpert struck out a team-high 52 in 46 innings and had a 2.43 ERA.
In the field, Regis Jesuit was plenty loaded as well with a group that included senior shortstop Andrew Bell, a Duke University recruit who led Aurora players with six home runs (which tied him for third in 5A). Bell had 17 extra base hits among his 32 for the season, which produced a .390 batting average, and he led his team in runs scored (32) and stolen bases (19), while he tied for the lead in RBI with 25.
The highest batting average among All-Aurora first teamers came from senior Trevor Nordstrom, who fills the All-Aurora designated hitter role. While playing third base, Nordstrom — a Colorado School of Mines recruit — hit a sparkling .476 with a total of 40 hits that led local players, while he drove in 23 runs and scored 24.
Senior outfielder Brody Chyr was a dangerous left-handed bat in the middle of the Regis Jesuit lineup. The All-Continental League second team pick and signee with Division I Loyola Marymount knocked in 25 runs to tie Bell for the team lead. Chyr was an on-base machine — in addition to a .376 batting average, he drew 15 walks and was hit by a pitch five times against just 10 strikeouts.
Grandview’s run to the second-to-last day of the season — where it eventually lost to Centennial League rival Cherry Creek — came much on the strength of depth, but coach Scott Henry’s Wolves certainly had some top talents that were at the center of their success.
Junior Jax Pfister was a fantastic utility player for Grandview as a pitcher or in the field and received All-Centennial League first team honors for his versatility. On the mound, he was again one of the Wolves’ best performers with a record of 4-2 and a 4.36 ERA, while he struck out 50 in 45 innings. Pfister made Grandview’s infield defense its best when he was at first base, and he hit .366 with 30 hits (12 of them for extra bases) with 19 RBI and 23 runs.
The Wolves’ infield was also strengthened by junior Chase Chapman, who provided grit and situational awareness in addition to his statistical contributions. The All-Centennial League second-teamer led Grandview with 26 RBI, while he had a .346 batting average and also stole 16 bases to finish one off his team’s lead.
On the mound, junior Justin Dean had an excellent season for Grandview, as he finished with a 6-2 record — which tied him for the second-most wins among any Aurora pitcher — to go with a sparkling 2.61 ERA. The right-hander pitched a team-high 53 2/3 innings and struck out 55 against just 16 walks in that span. Dean gave up just three earned runs in 11 2/3 postseason innings between regionals and the state tournament.
Cherokee Trail brought back several key cogs from last season’s 5A runner-up team and those known quantities again performed well for coach Jon DiGiorgio’s team as it returned to the Championship Series.
Pitching was the Cougars’ definite strength with a rotation headed by University of Houston-bound left-hander Logan Reid.
Chosen as the Centennial League’s Pitcher of the Year, Reid finished with a 6-2 record with a 2.25 ERA and a whopping 64 strikeouts (vs. 14 walks) in 53 innings. He pitched 13 1/3 of a possible 14 innings in two postseason starts (regional and Championship Series) and gave up three unearned runs with 19 strikeouts. Reid’s ability as a well-rounded baseball player showed as he played in the field when not on the mound and had a .310 batting average, knocking in 16 runs.
Cherokee Trail also had strength in the infield in senior shortstop Braedan Reichert, an All-Centennial League first-team performer who had a sparkling .381 batting average, while 13 of his 32 hits went for extra bases. He knocked in 23 runs, scored 26 and most impressively struck out just seven times while he drew 14 bases on balls.
In right field for the Cougars lurked senior Akoi Burton, who built on a strong junior campaign with an even better senior season that landed him on the All-Centennial League first team. Burton had the highest batting average of any area regular in the outfield at .412, which led his team, as did his 35 hits and 28 RBI. The Garden City Community College recruit also used his speed tracking down balls and threw out two runners from the outfield, including one in a Championship Series win.
Eaglecrest’s season finished with a flourish, as coach Tory Humphrey’s team went 5-2 in the final two weeks of the regular season, qualified for the 5A postseason and promptly knocked out No. 1-seeded Fossil Ridge in regionals before Grandview kept the Raptors out of the Championship Series.
The Raptors had one of the top talents in the area in junior infielder Noah Brown, who managed to earn All-Centennial League honors while also trying his hand at track & field for the first time (and winning a 5A state championship with a relay team and finishing second in the state in the 100 meters in the process). Brown’s .439 average led his team and tied him for second among Centennial League players, while he led the area with 19 stolen bases, scored 26 runs and drove in 20.
Senior John Rossi earned All-Centennial League first team honors in the outfield for a second straight season. With a smooth left-handed swing that got him quickly out of the batters box, Rossi had a .339 batting average.
The University of Texas-Permian Basin commitment finished the season strong as he was 7-for-15 in the Raptors’ final five games, which included a game with two home runs against Cherry Creek in a Centennial League Challenge semifinal along with two hits apiece in a key late-season walk-off win over Rocky Mountain as well as two hits and two runs scored in the Raptors’ regional upset of Fossil Ridge. Rossi scored 21 runs and drove in 13 runs.
Behind the plate, senior Brayden Stufft earned All-Centennial League second team honors for a season that included a .328 batting average and 21 RBI.The Raptors were 9-2 in games in which Stufft had at least one run driven in and he added 10 stolen bases to boot.
Vista PEAK Prep earned a program-record 16 wins on the season and the multiple contributions of sophomore Abel Salinas had a lot to do with it.
The right-hander finished the season as the area’s only undefeated starting pitcher with a 7-0 record. Salinas tied for the most innings thrown for the Bison with 40 2/3, over which he struck out 60 with an ERA of just 2.17, while as a regular when not pitching, he hit .327 with 20 RBI, which was just one off the team lead for the Bison.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2024 AURORA SENTINEL ALL-AURORA BASEBALL TEAM
FIRST TEAM
Pitcher: Hudson Alpert, soph., Regis Jesuit; Justin Dean, jr., Grandview; Liam Mosley, sr., Regis Jesuit; Logan Reid, sr., Cherokee Trail. Catcher: Brayden Stufft, sr., Eaglecrest; Infield: Andrew Bell, sr., Regis Jesuit; Noah Brown, jr., Eaglecrest; Chase Chapman, jr., Grandview; Braedan Reichert, sr., Cherokee Trail; Outfield: Akoi Burton, sr., Cherokee Trail; Brody Chyr, sr., Regis Jesuit; John Rossi, sr., Eaglecrest; Designated Hitter: Trevor Nordstrom, sr., Regis Jesuit; Utility: Jax Pfister, jr., Grandview; Abel Salinas, soph., Vista PEAK Prep
Full 2024 Aurora Sentinel All-Aurora Baseball Teams, here
