The Denver Post Preps staff looks at Saturday’s Class 5A, 4A and 3A district baseball playoffs:
Class 4A
Kenebrew on power trip
Evan Kenebrew had a nice month Saturday. The senior blasted four home runs and drove in 12 runs — yes, 12 — as Widefield knocked off district host and eighth-seeded Golden 16-12 at Colorado School of Mines.
The national records for a single game are five homers and 17 RBIs.
The usual inclement weather in Colorado springtime moved the title game of District 2 — Widefield, seeded 25th in the 32-team field, will play Castle View, which downed Niwot 10-9 on Saturday — to today at All-Star Park in Lakewood at 1 p.m.
Kenebrew, who hit nine homers in 2008, entered with only two this season and has been walked intentionally 26 times. He had one of the more unique box score lines — 5-4-4-12.
Affected by the weather, Broomfield (District 1), Mountain View (District 5) and Delta (District 6) also held serves at home to advance to Friday’s beginning of the 4A double-elimination rounds, but no games in District 4 were played Saturday. They will be played today at the Runyon Complex.
In all, four Northern League teams account for half the double-elimination field, with Skyline still alive today in Pueblo.
Class 5A
To be continued . . .
If there were lights at Lakewood’s All-Star Park, they might still be playing. As it is, Green Mountain versus Smoky Hill for the District 4 title will be completed today at noon with Smoky Hill leading 7-4 in the top of the 14th inning with one out and runners at the corners. The game was suspended because of darkness.
Elsewhere, only half of the top eight seeds survived the two-victory district test.
The two-time defending 5A champion Rocky Mountain Lobos, No. 3 overall, had little trouble advancing with 11-0 victories over Ponderosa and preseason Jefferson County favorite Chatfield.
Cherry Creek (District 5), the second overall seed, won twice by a combined 30-4. Grandview (District 6) used two pitching victories by Kevin Gausman to advance.
Then it turned interesting. Cherokee Trail, which won 4A in 2008, came out of District 2 with a victory over nearby Regis, and Heritage surprised in District 8 by handling Front Range runner-up Fort Collins 10-7 in eight innings. Rampart, the surprise top seed from Colorado Springs, had its site washed out Saturday and will host three other teams today.
Class 3A
Three and out
Three of the top eight seeds went out, though the classification again is fueled by traditional powers.
Hosts No. 5 Brush, No. 7 Middle Park and No. 8 Lutheran were bested by, in order, Faith Christian, Kent Denver and Valley. Lutheran went out in the first round, 4-2 to Aspen.
Otherwise, the program names are familiar. In addition to Faith Christian and Kent Denver, perennial power Eaton handled two Metropolitan teams by a combined 28-0. Gunnison and Manitou Springs survived with one-run wins.
Holy Family impressed with 11-1 and 11-3 victories. Lamar had to outlast Erie 13-12, and Valley dealt with upstart Aspen — winning 17-7 — one of the multiple teams in Colorado that did not have a regular-season home game.
