The beginning of postseason baseball Saturday came with its usual dose of upsets, come- from-behind victories and whitewashings.
Leading the upset surge in Class 5A was Green Mountain, which began the 32-team field seeded 18th.
In their first outing, the Rams knocked off No. 15 Coronado 5-3 in eight innings. Then Green Mountain shocked the field by downing No. 2 seed and Jefferson County League rival Bear Creek 11-7.
Matt Raabe’s three runs batted in paced the Rams’ first victory; three home runs against Bear Creek ignited the second. Ted Jamison pitched in both victories, including a complete game against Bear Creek.
Elsewhere, Smoky Hill’s Rory Devlin knocked a two- run, pinch-hit homer in the bottom of the sixth inning to lift the No. 3 Buffaloes to a come-from-behind, 8-6 victory over No. 14 Fort Collins in its district championship. Earlier, Smoky Hill downed Boulder 12-2 and Fort Collins handled Rangeview 6-2.
No. 29 Dakota Ridge scored the biggest upset of the day, dropping No. 4 Arapahoe 10-5 in the opener. No. 13 Regis took advantage by downing No. 20 Brighton 10-0, then slid past Dakota Ridge 5-4 in the final after trailing by two runs and down to its last strike.
Top-seeded Rocky Mountain blasted North, then handled Columbine 5-2.
No. 5 Grand Junction held serve by downing Doherty 12-4, then shut out Mullen 10-0.
And No. 6 Arvada West, which has lost three games by a combined five runs, slipped past Chaparral 6-4, then blasted Northglenn 16-6. Left-handed star Anthony Capra earned both decisions in relief.
It leaves big schools with three Jeffco teams, two from the Centennial and one each from the Continental, Front Range and Southwestern leagues.
In 4A, top-seeded Niwot rolled North 19-0 and Montrose 13-0. The defending state champion Cougars have won 42 in a row, three short of Eaton’s state record.
Meanwhile, No. 2 seed Pueblo South won two close games, 6-4 over Elizabeth and 4-2 over Cheyenne Mountain to improve to 20-1.
Four other host seeds failed to advance, and the powerful Northern League took five of the eight spots for the next round. In addition to Niwot, Broomfield, Longmont, Northridge and Sterling made the cut for the Northern. Golden made it two Jeffco teams in 4A, joining Ralston Valley.
