LAKEWOOD — Regis Jesuit baseball got its championship breakthrough a half-decade in the making.
In the Raiders’ fifth straight state tournament appearance, and after consecutive runner-up finishes, Regis Jesuit finally got back to the top on Saturday at All-Star Park. The Raiders beat Arvada West in the Class 5A winner-take-all championship game, 5-3, after the Wildcats pushed them to the brink in the double-elimination tournament by topping Regis Jesuit earlier in the day.
The triumph marked Regis Jesuit’s fourth state title, and first since 2019, when the Raiders also won under head coach Matt Darr. In his sixth title game appearance, Darr came away with his third ring. He also won one with Denver Christian in 2013.
Saturday’s morning game featured a showdown of aces between two of the top players in the state. Regis Jesuit threw senior right-hander , a Vanderbilt commit, while Arvada West rolled out junior right-hander Cooper Vais, a Texas pledge. Both stars threw complete games as Regis Jesuit, in the driver’s seat of the bracket after going 3-0 last weekend and beating Arvada West in the semifinal, failed to clinch the crown on the first try.
The Wildcats nicked Alpert for two runs in the second inning, then tacked on another in the third via Levi Lueck’s RBI single. Vais held the fort from there, showcasing a plus slider and changeup along with a fastball touching 90. Regis Jesuit plated a couple runs in the top of the seventh, but Vais induced a groundout to end the game and strand the tying runner in a 3-2 Wildcats’ win.
Vais’ stellar performance came after the Wildcats used their other top pitcher, senior right-hander Brayden Reiner, to beat Pine Creek 2-1 in Friday’s consolation semifinal. With Vais and Reiner unavailable on Saturday afternoon, the Raiders took advantage immediately.
Regis Jesuit plated five runs in the opening inning off senior Cole Eisenreich, using three hits and four walks to take command early. Raiders senior Carter Rathbun had the frame’s big hit, a bases-clearing double that ignited the red-clad fanbase down the first base line.
Eisenreich didn’t make it through the first, and freshman Jake Richards came on in relief. He pitched well, throwing up zeros in the second, third and fourth, but Arvada West couldn’t get to Raiders junior pitcher Mikey Kroll. The 6-foot-4 right-hander shut out Arvada West for four innings before an hour and 20-minute lightning delay, whereupon the Raiders turned the ball over to junior right-hander Cade Filleman.
That’s when the tenor of the game changed. The Wildcats scored three runs as Regis Jesuit lost its composure on several plays, allowing Arvada West to gain momentum. Arvada West had three RBI hits, including a two-out double by senior Luke Alonso to cut the deficit to two.
Beau Friesen pitched the fifth and sixth for the Wildcats, and the senior right-hander stranded the bases loaded in the former inning and left two men on in the latter. That set up a last chance for Arvada West, but Filleman battled through two soft hits before getting Lueck to line out to right to end the game.
Regis Jesuit, the Continental League champions, finished 23-7. Arvada West, making its first title appearance since 1995, finished 26-5 and the Wildcats’ lone in-state losses came to the Raiders.
