Won-loss records may have helped in seeding the Class 3A regional baseball bracket, but none of the teams involved will let numbers make them a fool.
Take Lutheran, for example, with a deceptive 13-10 record, a No. 11 seed and a fresh Metropolitan League district championship under its belt.
What makes a team with a record barely better than .500 one of the scariest in the postseason? Momentum.
The Lights beat Metro League rivals Holy Family, Faith Christian and Denver Christian when it mattered most – at districts.
“That’s the trifecta for us. Those are the three teams that we are always looking up at,” Lutheran coach Dan Gehrke said.
Gehrke credited Daniel Cattau, who bats at the bottom of the order, with timely hits in those three big victories.
“If he hadn’t turned it around and started hitting, we might not have won those games,” Gehrke said.
Lutheran will play sixth-seeded Lamar (17-3) in the first round of regionals that begin Saturday at four sites. Denver Christian (13-6), Holy Family (16-4) and Bishop Machebeuf (19-2) are the three other Metro representatives.
Another reason to toss out records is top-seeded Roosevelt (20-1). No doubt the Roughriders are in full command of their game, coming off wins over Brush (15-5) and Eaton (20-1), winner of four consecutive 3A state titles and state finalists every year since 1998.
But Roosevelt’s Alan Gibson is taking his players to the playoffs for the first time in his three years as head coach, and he has some words of wisdom for them.
“If you choose to live in the past, you will quickly become history. We’ve had a fairly successful season so far, but you can only live off your past for so long,” Gibson said. “This is new territory for us.”
Gibson has three pitchers to choose from, but Roosevelt most likely will see Manitou Springs’ 6-foot-6 Gerard Mohrmann.
Fourth-seeded Bayfield (18-2) is another team with a somewhat deceptive record. Playing on the Western Slope made it hard for the Wolverines to find quality games, but coach Ken Hibbard said he doesn’t mind a little mystery going into the playoffs.
“I know nothing about University (14-8, Bayfield’s first-round opponent) at this point … we just go out and play,” Hibbard said. “It’s kind of interesting being down here in this part of the state. We are always trying to get matchups that will help us.”
But before anybody gets too carried away with favorites and dark horses, only a fool would forget about Eaton.
Some thought last season’s Reds were as vulnerable as they had been in years. Instead, Eaton did what it always seems to do around this time – win.
The Reds own seven state titles since 1994 and are 42-5 in the postseason since 1993. This is their 23rd straight trip to the playoffs, and they have reached at least the semifinals 12 years in a row.
