Cameron Maldonado is kind of like Bigfoot. Local folks have seen him many times and they all rave about him, but hardly anyone else has caught a glimpse.
That will all change Friday, when Maldonado and the rest of his remarkable teammates emerge from their Cañon City hideout to try to continue their run in the Class 4A state championship series.
Maldonado is a 6-foot-3, 225-pound junior right-hander who is 7-1 on the mound this season, has a 1.54 ERA, 92 strikeouts in 63 innings and can throw the ball 92 miles per hour.
Once those numbers sink in, a question suddenly becomes very obvious: How has Maldonado stayed so low on the radar everywhere except the South Central League?
“I don’t know,” he said. “I guess it’s just a small town. Not many people heard of it.”
Some fans got to hear a lot about Cañon City last weekend, when the 24th-seeded Tigers turned Class 4A’s District 2 on its head by pummeling No. 9 Golden 10-0 and downing No. 8 Mountain View 4-3.
The Tigers (12-8) did it all without a senior on the team and are squeezing every ounce of motivation out of their underdogs’ mentality.
Maldonado, a three-sport student- athlete who broke his fibula and dislocated his ankle during football, has been the workhorse for the Tigers, along with pitcher Miles Gorham.
Although excited to test his stuff this weekend, Maldonado still likes to maintain some mystery.
Ask him how many pitches he throws and he’ll give you the kind of junk that would make Rip Sewell proud.
“It’s kind of a secret,” Maldonado said. “I have a lot of pitches.”
For the record, Maldonado throws four pitches comfortably and will use three in high-pressure situations.
Cañon City has been in the pressure cooker for a while now, fighting for every win to make it to the district tournament. Their biggest victories prior to last week were two in league over 2005 state runner-up Pueblo South, in which Maldonado was first clocked at 92 on the radar gun.
“We knew we could do it, but it was a matter of proving to everyone else we could do it,” said coach Bret Meuli, who has the Tigers dreaming of their first significant run in the postseason since they lost 4-2 to Sterling in the 1992 4A state final.
Of course, everything has changed since Saturday. The Tigers have lost their element of surprise as they will take on No. 1 Ralston Valley (17-3 with super sophomore Matt Skipper) at Englewood (Site 1) to kick off the eight-team, double-elimination field.
Ralston Valley’s balance of hitting, pitching and tournament experience maintains the Mustangs as the favorites to win their first baseball title. Coach Shane Freehling said he would throw Casey Schmidt in the first game, a game that pits him against Maldonado.
No. 4 Cherokee Trail (20-1), behind ace Bradshaw Perry, and No. 5 Broomfield (15-6), which has ace Andy Herrman and all-state shortstop Chris Grandinetti, also will play at Englewood on Friday.
Greeley’s Butch Butler Field will host the other four teams, headed up by hometown heroes Northridge (15-6), which knocked off Greeley West in districts.
The Grizzlies, who have won eight of their past nine games, will open with No. 6 D’Evelyn (16-4).
No. 2 Liberty (19-2) opens against No. 7 Thomas Jefferson (14-7), another team that remained under the radar for most of the season.
The Spartans will start seven sophomores, including ace Brett Nathan. Thomas Jefferson battled to the wire in its first district game and needed a walk-off home run from senior Danny Qiu, who came up to the plate in an 0-for-30 slump, to beat Elizabeth.
“We’re not too bad,” Spartans coach Tory Humphrey said.
Although loaded with juniors, Liberty is an experienced bunch. According to coach Lance McKorkle, the bulk of his team watched a talented team underachieve as freshmen, then battled tooth-and-nail as sophomores to forge a tough crew.
“This group of kids has acted the same all year long,” said McKorkle, who has preempted practices with flag football games and movies.
Liberty’s bats have been strong all season and it can throw five pitchers after left-handed ace Steve Falconi.
