The defending champs are gone, the remaining field is deep and everybody still playing is aiming to go to Pueblo for the Championship Series.
The regional riddle in Class 2A baseball won’t be solved until May 20-21, when four surviving teams will play in the Championship Series. But this weekend’s regionals will get us one step closer to determining who has the best team in 2A.
“This is an unbelievably deep field,” said Peyton coach Kelly Nickell, who, like many other coaches, probably won’t take the lineup card out of his hands all day Saturday. “I wouldn’t be at all surprised if a double-digit seed gets it done.”
Nickell’s Panthers hadn’t advanced this far since a 1993 quarter- final loss to Crowley County, and even with the No. 10 (seed) to the left of their name on the bracket, Peyton’s hopes remain high.
The Panthers (14-4) already have seen some of the state’s best pitchers heading into Saturday’s showdown with No. 7 Resurrection Christian (15-2) at the Runyon Complex in Pueblo. The Panthers have defeated Evangelical Christian’s Ryan Rosenhahn and Community Christian’s Joe Wolfers, and up next could be Resurrection’s hard-throwing Chris Carls.
“We faced (Carls) two years ago, and he dominated us then. … He may very well be the best in the state,” Nickell said. “But from everything we’ve heard about them, they are solid 1-through-9.”
The Panthers have a solid lineup as well, headed by two-time all-state selection Travis Irwin. The senior, who has been selected to play in the Colorado Rockies Top 40 Senior All-Star Game at Coors Field, has a .600 batting average.
“He is the kind of kid, that if he doesn’t go 5-for-5, he’s back home hitting balls off the tee for two hours,” Nickell said of Irwin, whose arm injury has limited his pitching availability.
Second-seeded Las Animas (18-2), the state runner-up last season, plays Holly (13-5) in the second game of the regional. The Trojans used seventh-inning rallies to sweep Holly in a doubleheader April 12.
Top-seeded Limon (16-1) is familiar with Wray (13-9), and the 16th-seeded Eagles would like nothing more than to avenge their 42-2 defeat in a Class 1A football game last fall.
The Badgers, whose only loss this season was 4-3 to Crowley County, are deep and have as much talent as any team in the 2A bracket. Tyson Liggett, Bo Randolph, Steve Martin, Tyler Verevers and Ben Cummings are underclassmen. Seniors Tad Butler and Mike Lockhart also are key players for Limon.
“We only lost three starters from last year’s team, and we are still starting a bunch of juniors and sophomores, but this is a good team,” Limon coach Les Layton said. “It’s a gamble what you do with your top pitchers this weekend. Do you gamble and get them in there early or do you hope to survive and save him for the second game? It’ll be interesting.”
Awaiting the winner of the Limon- Wray game at Byers High School will be Rocky Ford (13-7) or Rye (12-6).
In the regional at Delta Middle School, Paonia, 17-4 and the 2003 state champion, meets Nucla (12-8) in the first game at 10 a.m. Akron (17-5) is seeded fifth and likely will see Evangelical Christian’s Rosenhahn, who was responsible for knocking out defending champion Academy of Charter in district play last week.
In the regional at Bishop Machebeuf High School, Custer County (15-4) plays Wiggins (13-9) and Haxtun (16-4) meets Eads (11-4). Haxtun is trying to add a state title in baseball to championships in Class A 8-man football and Class 1A basketball.
Jon E. Yunt can be reached at 303-820-5446 or jyunt@denverpost.com.
