GREENWOOD VILLAGE — The enjoyment continued Saturday for Cherry Creek, which will take the only undefeated record into next weekend’s Class 5A Championship Series.
“This is really a fun club to coach,” Bruins boss Marc Johnson said after his team downed Adams City 10-0, then finished off Columbine 9-1 to up its mark to 21-0 after winning at home in District 1. “They remind me of some of the teams I had in the 1990s.”
It’s high praise, as Cherry Creek virtually owned Colorado big-school baseball the past decade by winning six championships, including five in succession. But this year’s Bruins, who start six underclassmen in the field, may be as surprising as they are complete.
“We haven’t seen a team like that all year,” Columbine coach Chuck Gillman said.
As they have done throughout 2008, the younger Bruins ripped the ball around the yard, were solid on defense and on the bases, and received another step-up performance on the mound, the latest by junior Alex Blackford, now 7-0. Blackford tossed a five-hitter (all singles), struck out eight and walked only two Rebels.
“I was just trying to throw strikes and help them get themselves out,” he said.
The Cherry Creek lineup banged out eight extra-base hits, three by third baseman Duncan Satherlie, who had two triples and a double. Designated hitter Jeremiah English added two doubles. Alec Mielnicki had two RBIs.
Earlier, the Bruins started slowly before downing Adams City with eight runs over the final two innings. Satherlie and Ricky Sullivan had doubles to back up the four-hit pitching of senior Josh Snyder.
And Columbine’s gritty 7-5 victory over Fort Collins was just as sweet as the Rebels overcame multiple in-house suspensions in an injury-filled season. First baseman Curtis Cunningham, one of the state’s finer multisport athletes of the era, had an RBI double, and Kyler Brady added two hits and drove in three.
But it was about Cherry Creek — again.
“These guys love to come to the yard,” Johnson said.
Columbine 000 001 0 — 1 5 1
Cherry Creek 100 242 x — 9 13 1
Columbine — Blatnik lf-3b 3-0-2-0, Cicchinelli ss 1-1-0-0, Cunningham 1b 3-0-1-1, Anundsen p-lf 3-0-0-0, Spond 2b-ss 3-0-0-0, Hagan rf 3-0-1-0, Brady 3b-p 3-0-0-0, Weibel dh 3-0-0-0, Autenrieth c 1-0-1-0, Tanner 3b 1-0-0-0, Roberts cf 0-0-0-0. Totals 24-1-5-1.
Cherry Creek — O’Connor 2b 4-1-1-1, Satherlie 3b 3-2-3-0, Shantz ss 4-0-2-1, Mielnicki 1b 3-0-1-2, Olsson lf 2-1-1-0, Shoutta c 3-0-1-0, Phillips cr 0-1-0-0, McCabe rf 3-1-1-1, English dh 2-1-2-3, Sullivan cf 2-0-1-1, Baus ph 0-1-0-0, Blackford p 0-0-0-0. Totals 26-9-13-9.
E — Blackford, Hagan. DP — Columbine 2. LOB — Columbine 4, Cherry Creek 5. SB — Blatnik, Sullivan, Cicchinelli, Hagan. CS — Phillips, Tanner, Cunningham.
2B — Satherlie 2, Mielnicki, McCabe, Eng- lish 2, O’Connor. 3B — Satherlie.
Batteries — Anundsen, Brady (5) and Autenrieth; Blackford and Shoutta. W — Blackford (7-0). L — Anundsen (1-2). SF — McCabe, Mielnicki. HBP — Shoutta (by Anund- sen); Cicchinelli (by Blackford); Olsson (by Brady). WP — Blackford. T — 2:18.
CHERRY CREEK 10, ADAMS CITY 0
Adams City 000 00 — 0 4 5
Cherry Creek 002 53 — 10 7 0
Gonzales, Rodriguez (4), Esparza (5) and Mascaronas and Gonzales (4); Snyder and Shoutta. W — Snyder (6-0). L — Gonzales. Highlights — Satherlie, CC, 2-for-2, 2B, RBI; Sullivan, CC, 2-2, 2B, 2 RBIs; Shantz, CC, 1-for-1, 3 BBs.
COLUMBINE 7, FORT COLLINS 5
Columbine 004 012 0 — 7 12 2
Fort Collins 001 103 0 — 5 8 0
Holzkamp, Brady (6) and Autenrieth; Brunner, Beck (6) and Johnstone. W — Holzkamp. L — Brunner (0-4). Highlights — Cunningham, Col., 1-2, RB, RBI, BB, HBP; Brady, Col., 2-for-2, 3 RBIs, run scored; Autenrieth, Col., 2-for-4, RBI; Spond, Col., 2-for-3, 3B, RBI; Becker, Col., 2-for-4, run scored; Broman, FTC, 1-for-4, 2 RBIs; Schmidtdauer, FTC, 2-for-4, 2B, RBI.
