AURORA — In the greatest game that ever was, Smoky Hill has been ruled out in 2011.
Head coach Scott Henry, ordinarily an amicable sort who had a hit as a schoolboy off none other than Roy Halladay, considered going all Billy Martin on state officials, but the 32-team district baseball field that was released Wednesday wouldn’t have included his Buffaloes even if he did.
“This isn’t good for Colorado baseball,” he said.
No, it’s not.
Technically, Smoky Hill finished the regular season 14-5 overall, 9-5 in the Centennial League and in a three-way tie with Cherry Creek and Mullen for the historically powerful suburban group’s third and fourth seeds into the postseason.
And since the Buffs failed to at least split a home-and-away series with league winner Grandview, the Buffs are fifth (of eight Centennial teams) and relegated to the stands.
Henry insists his argument goes beyond technical aspects and makes more sense than the sterile district qualifying rules that stipulate virtually all upper halves of leagues advance to the playoffs.
Smoky Hill sports, er, sported senior right-hander Matt Ogden, arguably Colorado’s top pitcher in a lean season on the mound. He was a draw. How many times, Henry asked, have we seen a solid team carried by a front-line pitcher to heights in the postseason? And Buffs catcher Shane Fessel belted eight home runs in 12 at-bats on the way to leaving the yard 12 times — his slugging percentage was higher than 1.200 — in a 14-game league season within a formidable lineup.
Not only did the Buffs beat Cherokee Trail when it was ranked first, they downed preseason No. 1 Cherry Creek. Smoky Hill also beat Mullen when it was ranked as well as nearby Regis Jesuit, which eventually finished in a tie with Ponderosa for the Continental crown.
The Centennial went 21-4 in nonleague games this season, and the Buffs went 5-0.
Smoky Hill had climbed to No. 6 in The Denver Post/9News Class 5A poll, yet, according to in-state postseason rules, it can’t be any better than No. 33.
Does anyone who follows the game really consider Smoky Hill an also-ran? A team that didn’t face strong foes or wouldn’t do well in the playoffs? And wouldn’t Smoky Hill have proven to be a serious challenger in any 5A league?
“I’m sick for Smoky Hill,” said coach Marc Johnson of Cherry Creek, which had to scramble to avoid missing the playoffs for the first time in 30 years. “This isn’t a team that’s close to being borderline. . . . This is a team that can win it all.”
Bert Borgmann, the assistant commissioner of the Colorado High School Activities Association who oversees the game, acknowledged the Buffs’ situation, although he pointed out that Smoky Hill knew the rules going into the season, it didn’t defeat all the teams ahead of it in league play and that the baseball committee has opted for equal representation across leagues.
While Henry and others yearn for a move such as the victory- point system in place to determine football playoffs or the panel that scouts games to seed upper classes of basketball, Borgmann said it’s “getting harder and harder” to fill those positions.
He agreed with Henry that Smoky Hill could serve as the “poster child” for some type of modification, a kind of “alternative qualifying for a team because of their competitive ability.”
Bottom line, no Smoky Hill in this year’s districts makes the postseason weaker. And how about the irony? Even in an age when everyone and their brother in Colorado seem to qualify, a talented team such as Smoky Hill can’t advance?
“Something has to be changed,” Henry said.
Neil H. Devlin: 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com
