For those who are fans of grudge matches, feel free to stay home for the first round of the Class 3A state baseball playoffs, since no team has faced its first opponent during the regular season. But those who enjoy great baseball should find themselves at one of the four regional sites Saturday.
In Region 1, top-seeded Eaton (21-1-1) headlines the show as the Reds attempt to return to the dominance they displayed the first part of the decade.
The Reds’ only loss this year was to Loveland, a 5A school, by one run.
“We’re spending a lot of time trying to get ready for the speeds and types of pitching we’ll face this weekend,” said Jim Danley, who has coached Eaton for the past 32 years.
The Reds will face Ignacio (10-9) first, while the other half of the quadrant is filled out by Colorado Academy (17-6), the Metropolitan League champion, against Brush (17-6), which only lost one game to a team that wasn’t Eaton or Roosevelt, the top two seeds in 3A.
Eaton was 3-0 over the regular season against Brush, but has no preference of opponent.
“We’re not worrying about events we can’t control,” Danley said.
At Grand Junction High School in Region 2, No. 4 Olathe (17-4) looks to continue its recent run. The Pirates are 12-1 since the start of April.
Their first opponent will be Manitou Springs (13-7), with defending champion Bishop Machebeuf (19-4) looming.
The Buffaloes are well-tested, with their only losses coming against teams that are alive in the hunt for the title. The Buffaloes’ pitching staff is no longer under the radar, having pitched 11 shutouts this season, second only to Roosevelt.
They will be joined by Roaring Fork (10-10), the second seed from the Western Slope League.
Tri-Peaks champion and No. 3 seed La Junta (17-3) is the highest-seeded team in Region 3 and will open against Basalt (10-7). The Tigers’ only black marks are an early-season loss to 4A Pueblo South, and the second games of doubleheaders against league rivals Trinidad and St. Mary’s.
Also, Monte Vista (15-6) will face sixth-seeded Faith Christian (18-3-1), which has won nine games by the 10-run rule this season.
In Region 4, second-seeded Roosevelt (20-2) is looking to finish stronger than in 2005, when the RoughRiders lost to Bishop Machebeuf in the championship. Their pitching staff has been solid, posting 17 shutouts. Their batting shouldn’t be ignored, either, as they scored 233 runs this season, with 13 wins by the 10-run rule.
First-round opponent St. Mary’s (10-13) will be hoping to score at least three runs – no team that lost to Roosevelt scored more than two runs.
Also look for University (17-6), which has lost only to Eaton and Roosevelt over the past month and defeated Roosevelt last Saturday 11-9 in the Patriot League semifinals. Lamar (15-6) will be the Bulldogs’ first-round opponent.
