Not a knock on the big lug. Honest. The hoops wonks on The Grading The Week staff had nothing but pleasant exchanges with Val while he was a member of the Nuggets — a curious calendar year that came to a curious end this past Wednesday when the franchise waived him.

By doing it when they did, yes, Stan Kroenke and Josh Kroenke got $10 million in guaranteed salary off their books, leaving a $2-million cap hit that they’re likely to spread out over the next three seasons.

And sure, the Nuggets’ problems are largely accounting ones now. The franchise is reportedly aiming to stay below the NBA salary cap’s second apron, a hard-ish cap that freezes future draft picks, wipes out mid-level exceptions — and could leave KSE stuck with paying more than $200 million in taxes on top of projected player salaries in the $210-240 million range.

Valanciunas’ Nuggets era — C-minus

To that end, cutting Big Val was the easy part. While the 6-foot-11 Lithuanian was easily the Nuggets’ most skilled backup to franchise icon Nikola Jokic since Mason Plumlee left for Detroit in December 2000, he was probably the slowest Joker backup of the bunch, too. The former Denver center often looked painfully out of step last winter when facing the West’s best teams.

In three late-season tussles versus Oklahoma City from February-March, when the Thunder were actually trying, Big Val, per NBA.com, posted Net Ratings — points scored per 100 possessions versus points allowed — of -31.0, -120.2 (!) and -62.1. In three matchups against the San Antonio before April 10, when the Spurs were trying, Big Val’s Net Ratings were +13.0, -71.8, and -20.9. In four regular-season tussles with Minnesota, Big Val’s Net Ratings were, in order: -4.7, +13.1, -34.4, and -71.4.

That explains, at least partially, why the big man’s court time fell precipitously late last season. Valanciunas averaged just 13.3 minutes per game in February. That number was down to 8.6 minutes per game in March.

Val was one of the reasons the Nuggets didn’t go off the rails without the Joker for a month this past January. But he’ll also turn 35 next spring.

A year ago, the idea of Val and Jokic on the floor together as dual, pass-savvy, physically strong big men made Nuggets Nation’s eyes light up at the possibilities of creating matchup nightmares. In reality, the Denver coaching staff dealt with the nightmares as smaller, faster opponents knew they could probably blow by either one, if not both, whenever opportunities arose.

In no blueprint does Valanciunas, even at age 34, fit with remits of “getting younger” and “getting more athletic.” Even if those two demands are also front office code for “getting cheaper.” The Nuggets’ next cuts, you have a feeling, will be much harder. And more painful.

Tootle’s Colorado legacy  — A

Denver lost a good man and GTW lost a friend recently when former Regis Jesuit and Colorado Mesa football great Jeff Tootle passed away late last month at the age of 63. An NAIA All-American linebacker who went on to play for the New York Giants, Tootle had tackled a run of health-related issues in recent years. But battles to overcome his leg, heart, and prostate never dulled his spirits, his sense of humor, or his love for his family. Jeff’s medical bills were extensive in recent years, and a GTW tip of the cap to those who have already pitched in to help his survivors with impending funeral costs. If you’d like to assist, there’s

Player of the Year

Cooper Vais, Jr. RHP/SS, Arvada West

The Texas commit was an unstoppable force for the Class 5A runner-ups, batting .458 with seven homers plus a 0.62 ERA and 113 Ks on the mound.

Coach of the Year

Matt Eades, Pueblo County

In his ninth season, the 2005 Pueblo County graduate guided the Hornets to their first crown with a 4-0 mark the Class 4A state tournament.

Pitchers

Blake Swift, Sr. RHP, Pueblo County

The CHSAA Class 4A Player of the Year and Otero College commit put the Hornets on his back en route to the title with a 1.51 ERA in 15 games.

Hudson Alpert, Sr. RHP, Regis Jesuit

After returning at midseason from elbow surgery, the Vanderbilt commit had a 1.91 ERA in seven games, and also hit .449 for the Class 5A champs.

Ethan Wachsmann, Sr. RHP, Grandview

The Wake Forest commit touched 100 mph this season as opponents hit .159 vs him; threw a no-hitter, and had a 2.10 ERA in 9 games with 66 Ks.

Hunter Vitello, Jr. RHP, Denver South

The DPS standout threw a no-hitter against Ralston Valley in the Class 5A regional opener. He logged 101 strikeouts and just 15 walks, with a 2.17 ERA.

Gunnar Garrison, Sr. RHP, Eaton

The Arizona State commit with a mid-90s heater was a centerpiece of Eaton’s Class 3A Final 4 team, with a 1.62 ERA in 11 games with 116 strikeouts.

Jake Watts, Jr. RHP, Ralston Valley

The Mustangs’ ace and Evansville pledge posted a 2.50 ERA in 8 games, with 70 strikeouts while limiting hitters to a paltry .146 average.

Colten Smith, Jr. RHP, Legend

The BYU commit with a low-90s fastball was critical in Legend’s Class 5A Final 4 run, posting a 3.00 ERA in 10 games and rising up down the stretch.

Mikey Kroll, Jr. RHP, Regis Jesuit

A one-two punch in the Raiders’ rotation behind Alpert, Kroll threw four shutout innings in the Class 5A title game and had a 2.73 ERA in 8 games.

Josh Weaver, Sr. RHP, Fruita Monument

In addition to being a force in the lineup, the Wildcats’ ace and Cowley commit had a 1.52 ERA in 11 games, including 92 Ks to just 11 walks.

Sawyer Tipton, Sr. RHP, Mountain Vista

With a 1.84 ERA in 12 games, Tipton was the Golden Eagles’ unquestionable ace, and the Lehigh commit also racked up 79 strikeouts to 23 walks.

Max Goldberg, Sr. LHP, Cherry Creek

The Boston College commit dominated this spring, with a 1.79 ERA in 10 games, 73 Ks to 21 walks, and held opponents to a .195 average.

Catchers

Cole Teltschik, Sr., Discovery Canyon

The Thunder’s powerful backstop and Missouri State commit led all classifications with 13 homers while hitting .593 with a ridiculous 2.096 OPS.

Brayden Reiner, Sr., Arvada West

A two-way senior pillar for the Class 5A runner-ups, the Newman University commit had a .410 on-base percentage; also was 11-0 with a 0.92 ERA.

Peter Worth, Sr., Northfield

The Washington University in St. Louis commit dominated with a .492 average, 26 RBIs and a 1.428 OPS in a spring that featured a natural cycle.

Walker Blanchard, Sr., Elizabeth

The Scottsdale Community College commit helped the Cardinals to the Class 3A state tournament, hitting .403 with a .494 on-base percentage.

Infielders

Damian Alvarez, Sr. SS, University

CHSAA’s Class 3A Player of the Year and centerpiece of UHS’s title team hit .546 with 26 extra-base hits; McLennan Community College commit.

Luc Gaca Thiele, Sr. 3B, Fossil Ridge

The Columbia commit batted .479 with a .585 on-base percentage and 33 RBIs as part of a dynamic infield duo alongside junior Brady Bradford.

Bret Baldwin, Jr. SS, Ralston Valley

The Washington commit hit .429 with a team-high seven homers while showcasing range, athleticism and arm strength from the middle infield.

Deion Cesario-Scott, Sr. 1B, Regis Jesuit

The Alabama A&M commit was a feared power presence in the Raiders’ lineup, batting .427 with seven homers, a .780 slugging and 1.344 OPS.

Cory Dean Carver, Sr. SS, Montezuma-Cortez

The Navy commit showcased speed, power and a high-contact approach, with a .580 average, seven homers, 21 steals and a .649 on-base percentage.

Matt Hegerle, Sr. SS, Bear Creek

The athletic UC Davis commit was the heartbeat of Bear Creek; he batted .477 with a .575 on-base percentage, 26 steals and a 1.267 OPS.

Chase Massey, Sr. SS, Regis Jesuit

The Continental League Player of the Year and Boston College commit led the Raiders with nine homers; hit .404 with an .830 slugging, 1.317 OPS.

Hunter Howard, Sr. SS, Palisade

The Glendale Community College commit hit .463 with six homers, 30 RBIs and only six Ks; also dominated on the mound with a 1.22 ERA.

Nick Hernandez, Sr. 2B, Pueblo County

The Hornets’ intelligent, dynamic leadoff hitter was the highlight of a deep lineup, hitting .435 with a .547 on-base percentage and 1.123 OPS.

Bryce Jackson, Sr. 1B, Broomfield

The Fort Hayes State commit was a force to be reckoned with in the box, with a team-high .480 average, .570 on-base percentage and six homers.

Outfielders

Zach Mediavilla, Sr., The Classical Academy

TCA’s do-everything speedy superstar batted .527 with seven triples, 25 RBIs, 31 steals and broke the school record for hits in season with 49.

Jackson Crawford, Jr., Mountain Vista

The Golden Eagles’ preeminent power hitter and USC commit blasted seven homers with a .349 average, .476 on-base percentage and a 1.211 OPS.

Dylan Paulson, Jr., Golden

The Demons’ top hitter batted .548 to lead Golden to its sixth straight Class 4A/3A Jeffco League title; had eight homers, 42 RBIs and a .946 slugging.

Silas Meuli, Sr., Legend

The Chandler Gilbert Community College commit was an offensive pillar for the Titans, batting .392 with four homers and a .568 on-base percentage.

Tanner Craytor, Sr., Fairview

The Knights’ slugger and Wofford commit led Class 5A with 11 homers to help Fairview to the Class 5A state tournament; batted .469, 1.660 OPS.

Baylor Schultz, Sr., Ponderosa

Schultz was key to a youth-laden Mustangs team that made the Class 4A Final 4, batting .393 and posting a 1.30 ERA in 12 games.

Tyce Smith, Sr., Cherry Creek

A multi-year cog in the middle of the Cherry Creek lineup, Smith led the Bruins with a .468 average, .602 on-base percentage and 1.279 OPS.

Jacob Olson, Sr., Regis Jesuit

The Oregon commit consistently flashed leather in center field for the Class 5A champs while hitting .388 with six homers, four triples and a .728 slugging.

Beau Friesen, Sr., Arvada West

A breakout star for the Wildcats en route to the Class 5A state title game, the San Diego pledge hit .438 with 44 RBIs and also blasted nine homers.

Utility

Maddox Burnett, Sr. RHP/UTL, Erie

A BYU commit who could hear his name called in the upcoming MLB Draft, Burnett hit .551 and also posted a 1.77 ERA with 105 Ks in 11 games.

Dane Dial, Soph. 3B/RHP, Pine Creek

Dial was key in Pine Creek’s Class 5A Final Four run, batting .400 with a .504 on-base percentage and seven homers; also had a 1.77 ERA in 12 games.

Aaron Jaquez, Sr. RHP/1B/OF, Falcon

The centerpiece on the Class 4A runner-ups was a two-way behemoth; McLennan Community College commit hit .629, and also had a 2.60 ERA.

Tristan Mullis, Jr. INF/OF, Pine Creek

Mullis paced Pine Creek with a .514 average, which included 6 triples, 6 homers, a .581 on-base percentage, .916 slugging and 1.497 OPS.

Andrew Henderson, Sr. 3B/RHP, Grand Junction

The Indiana State commit was the Tigers’ star en route to the Class 4A state tournament; hit .437, and posted a 1.53 ERA in 11 games with 86 Ks.

That was the message Eades delivered to his team on April 1, following a 9-6 road loss to then-No. 2 and undefeated Falcon. The Hornets bought it: From then on, Pueblo County went 17-1, including a flawless 4-0 in the state tournament to capture the Class 4A title, the first in the program’s history.

That feat earned Eades the honor of The Denver Post’s 2026 All-Colorado baseball Coach of the Year.

“When that game (on April 1) ended, I laid it out there to my team that if this was perhaps the best team in the state (in Falcon), we’re right there, too,” Eades recalled. “We talked about if there was a handicapper for the rest of the season, we’d be the favorite the rest of the way in every game we played. The boys took that to heart, and we really got rolling.”

The Hornets (23-6, 4A South Central League champions) became the first Home of Heroes baseball team to win a title since Pueblo West did so in 4A in 2019. And it was redemption for Pueblo County after losing to Holy Family in the championship two years ago. In that game, Hornets ace Blake Swift made his varsity debut in mop-up work in the 13-6 loss.

Swift was the centerpiece to Pueblo County’s title run this season, Eades’ ninth as head coach and 14th overall in the program. The senior right-hander bound for Otero College was 8-2 with a 1.51 ERA in 15 games, with 78 strikeouts as opponents hit just .184 against him.

An All-Colorado selection and the Swift dominated the state tournament. He pitched a complete-game shutout in a 2-0 win over Grand Junction in the tournament opener, then with still room left in his daily pitch count, started the second game that followed with two more shutout innings in a 6-1 win over top-seeded Palisade.

In the title game, Swift notched a quality start with three earned runs across six-plus innings as the Hornets beat Falcon 9-4. While Swift did the heavy lifting on the mound, the Pueblo County offense — headlined by All-Colorado senior second baseman Nick Hernandez, who was 2-for-4 with 3 RBIs in the title and led the team with a .435 average on the season — couldn’t be stopped.

“When Blake’s on the mound, we were a different team confidence-wise,” Eades said. “And we were deep on offense. We had a lineup that overwhelmed pitching staffs with nine guys that can really swing it.”

The championship marked a pinnacle for Eades, who was overcome with emotion after hoisting the trophy at the Air Force Academy. Eades, a 2005 Pueblo County graduate, didn’t play high school baseball.

But he has long been infatuated with the game and spent his high school days umpiring. From there, his first coaching gig was at the youth level for a 12U team while in college at CSU Pueblo. He coached that team until those players reached high school, then joined the Pueblo County staff as a volunteer assistant in 2013.

“Coaching that youth team gave me that fire like, ‘Man, I would really like to see how I do at the high school level,'” Eades said. “When I finally got the chance, I just ran with it.”

The Hornets haven’t had a losing season with Eades at the helm, as they’ve made the playoffs every year and made five state tournament appearances. The 39-year-old is 148-55 in his tenure, including 18-11 in the playoffs.

Swift says Eades’ combination of leadership, humor and passion helped propel the Hornets to the title. It’s only for a school that’s been open since 1953, joining titles in wrestling (2016 and ’17), softball (1995) and girls basketball (1981).

“We knew this was possible,” Blake Swift said. “We just had to just break through and show the state what we had. (Eades) kept us together and on track all season to reach our ultimate goal.”

All-Colorado Coach of the Year Finalists

Matt Darr, Regis Jesuit — The Raiders’ boss earned his third state title, and second in Class 5A, as loaded Regis Jesuit avenged two straight runner-up finishes with a masterful state tournament performance by beating Arvada West in the winner-take-all championship, 5-3.

Casey Miller, University — The Bulldogs felt short in the Class 3A title four years in a row, but University didn’t leave a doubt this year, rampaging through the state tournament by a combined score of 36-4. That included smashing rival Eaton 19-2 in the semifinals.

Danny Vais, Arvada West — The Wildcats reached their first title since 1995 and came up a few runs short in the championship defeat to Regis Jesuit. Vais coached the core of A-West’s senior impact players, as well as his son, junior superstar Cooper Vais, since elementary school.

The winner, who will be announced next week, receives a trophy, a $1,000 scholarship, an honorary luncheon, and recognition at a Colorado Rockies game.

Position: RHP/MIF GPA: 4.02 College: Vanderbilt

The Raiders’ centerpiece helped the program reach four straight Class 5A state tournaments, including three consecutive title games, as Regis Jesuit returned to the mountaintop with a championship this year. Alpert batted .449 with 33 RBIs, 12 doubles, four homers and a .500 on-base percentage this spring. He returned pitching midseason from elbow surgery and posted a 1.91 ERA in seven games, with a 1.98 career ERA in 38 games. He put in 127 hours through Regis Jesuit’s community service program, including volunteering at the Denver Rescue Mission and serving as a buddy in the Miracle League.

Position: SS GPA: 4.26��College: Navy

Carver led the Panthers to the Class 3A state tournament during a season in which he dominated in all three phases. He hit .580 with 46 RBIs, 13 doubles, four triples and seven homers with a .649 on-base percentage. A career .501 hitter, the speedster who won Intermountain League Player of the Year multiple times finished with 105 stolen bases over four seasons. He volunteered as a youth baseball coach at a local assisted living home and at his elementary school, where he handled various tasks, projects, and fundraisers. He also tutored fellow students and was an assistant athletic trainer at MCHS.

Position: RHP/1B/OF GPA: 4.0 College: McLennan Community College

Jaquez was the headliner on a Falcons team that returned to the Class 4A state tournament and finished runner-up to Pueblo County. A dominating arm with a low-90s heater and a plus sider, Jaquez was capable of shutting down any lineup he faced. He could also rake, as evidenced by his .620 average, 45 RBIs, 20 doubles, three homers and a .682 on-base percentage. He had 56 Ks as a pitcher and just five as a hitter. He helped create a stronger culture within the Falcon program, including serving as a mentor and role model to younger players on the team and participating in school activities.

Position: 3B/1B/RHP GPA: 4.17 College: Arkansas State University Mid-South

Durango made consecutive Class 4A state tournament appearances behind the play and leadership of Romero, a pillar in the lineup and corner infield for the Demons who also contributed on the mound. Romero batted .412 with 23 RBIs and a .479 one-base percentage, and finished his career with a .409 average plus a 4.85 ERA in 35 games. His impact beyond the diamond was profound: Romero founded the school’s Unified Sports Club, serves on the leadership team for the local chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, is heavily involved with DECA, and has tutored his peers in financial literacy.

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The Wolves’ ace with a 100-mph heater is a Top 100 prospect entering next month’s MLB Draft, when he may have the chance to bypass Wake Forest to go straight to the pro ranks. He had a 2.10 ERA in nine games in 2026, including two complete games and a no-hitter against Mullen. Opponents hit just .159 against him as he racked up 66 strikeouts to only 14 walks. He also hit .467 with 13 RBIs in 34 plate appearances. Wachsmann volunteered at youth baseball camps for two local clubs and helped the Wolves’ coaching staff organize camps at Grandview.

Honorable Mention

These players also received votes from the award’s 15-member selection committee: Zach Mediavilla, RHP/OF/SS, The Classical Academy; Matthew Hegerle, SS, Bear Creek (UC Davis); Peter Worth, C, Northfield (Washington University in St. Louis); Brayden Reiner, C/RHP, Arvada West (Newman University); Sawyer Tipton, RHP, Mountain Vista (Lehigh University); Ben McLean, SS/RHP, Forge Christian (Colby Community College); Hunter Howard, SS/RHP, Palisade (Glendale Community College); Christian Ramirez, SS/RHP, Adams City (Northwestern Community College); Hazen Weber, LHP/1B/OF, Platte Valley (York University).

“You don’t make any money doing any of that stuff,” Peter Bayer said with a laugh.

His heart and hope lie inside a grey warehouse a few miles from Highway 34 in Weld County, his heaven a canvas of black netting and neon-green paint. A symphony of popping balls and pinging bats alternate solos while a low, angry chorus of whirring fans wage a losing battle against a 94-degree afternoon.

“These bigger names, they all focus on the college-and-above market,” Bayer, a former Regis Jesuit baseball standout, explained. “What I want to bring is this amazing big space as an oasis to take 13- and 14-year-old kids and build them up, to just have an awesome space to have access to all these things.”

Head 7 miles east of the Scheels in Johnstown, turn right in the middle of nowhere, and you’ll eventually run into the , a 22,000-square-foot indoor training facility that opened Saturday to more than 200 curious kids, parents, coaches, and patrons in its first 90 minutes.

The place puts the “art” in state-of-the-art. It’s wired with Trackman technology, the same kind used at Major League stadiums across North America, including Coors Field. Two new HitTrax machines are on the way. The bulk of the complex is taken up by six long batting cages, at least four extendable pitching mounds and a 100-feet-by-30-feet practice field.

“If I was 12 years old, what would I want to do?” “And that’s what I’m trying to do here.”

“Do the parents of those 12-year-olds know?” I wondered, “that it’s run by a guy on Major League Baseball’s ineligible list?”

“I get it every so often,” Bayer said. “It’s obviously less now than it was before … it’s not like I’m out there lying to kids about what I did. At least this way, I can be a positive role model.”

***

Bayer turned 31 in March. The way he sees it, the baseball gods put him on the scenic route to his life’s calling: Teaching. Kids. Paying it forward.

He grew up in Parker, under the shadow of Ponderosa High School. He grew into a 6-foot-4 fireballer, a righty who helped anchor Regis Jesuit’s state title winners in 2011. Atlanta Braves manager Walt Weiss was a family friend and mentor.

His college chapter started at Richmond and ended at Cal Poly Pomona. He discovered Driveline, one of the country’s cutting-edge baseball labs. His fastball velo max went from 88 mph before Driveline to 95 mph after. Tampa Bay selected him in the ninth round of the 2016 MLB amateur draft.

“‘OG,’ that’s what the kids call me,” Bayer chuckled. “‘You’re like a Driveline OG.'”

The Rays traded him to the Athletics in 2018. Two years later, COVID-19 shut down the minor-league season entirely. A $400 stipend wasn’t cutting it. Bayer delivered for DoorDash. He wasn’t just looking for a quick buck. He was looking for any buck. He took up online betting. He went to online forums. He found betting experts. It became a short-term, competitive fix.

“You get your sport taken away from you, so you resort to something else to fulfill a competitive thing in your mind,” Bayer says. “This was something I could do. I was sitting at home and going crazy because I couldn’t play my sport.”

MLB’s investigation found he had conducted 100 baseball-related wagers from May-August 2020. It accused him of placing at least 25 wagers worth $1,000 or more, and at least a dozen involving the A’s, his organization at the time.

Bayer doesn’t deny the action. He denies the volume and specifics of MLB’s report.

“I think I had a stupid mindset,” he said. “(It was), ‘I have nothing left to lose. I can’t play.'”

In February 2021, Major League Baseball launched an investigation into the pitcher and placed him on administrative leave. In April 2022, he was moved to the ineligible list.

A spokesperson for Major League Baseball emailed the following statement to The Post: “After a thorough investigation, it was determined that Mr. Bayer repeatedly bet on baseball in violation of Major League Rule 21 and MLB’s Policy on Sports Betting and engaged in other misconduct that was not in the best interests of baseball. Therefore, he was placed on the ineligible list, where he remains.”

Rule 21 (d) (1) says that any “player, umpire, or Club or League official or employee, who shall bet any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which the bettor has no duty to perform, shall be declared ineligible for one year.”

Bayer applies for reinstatement every November. Kids he’s worked with shot video testimonials pleading on his behalf. Former teammates did, too. , now with the University of St. Thomas, has worked with Bayer since 2019 and was so moved that he emailed MLB commissioner Rob Manfred directly last fall to ask for clemency.

“He’d be great as a college coach,” Phillips says. “The decision (MLB) made to not even let him be a coach, it was tragic. He could still be a player, even. He’s really special.”

Initially, he was told it would be a one-year suspension. Only that one year keeps marching into perpetuity.

“The thing that was unfortunate, to be honest with you, was that my mental health got really (expletived),” Bayer said.

“Anybody in my shoes, it’s like, ‘Oh, man.’ You’re just holding onto hope. It was a lot. So ultimately, it was like, I don’t know. I had to move on.”

He played independent ball. Mexico. The Rocky Mountain Vibes in Colorado Springs. Dancing around the periphery, staying sharp in case a window opened up. It never did.

“The insane thing is, if I try to go to Coors Field and say, ‘Hey, I want to work for the Rockies as a sales rep,’ and sell tickets, I can’t do that,” he says. “I literally can’t be involved.”

Friends and former confidants on college baseball staffs still went out of their way to recommend him. He’d inquired about becoming a coach at a collegiate program at least three times since 2022.

“The (athletic department) would say, ‘With his background, we don’t want to risk it,'” Bayer said.

“And I’m not saying that this isn’t justified. Or isn’t fair. But there are so many MLB players out there that did horrible things and they’re just, ‘Oh, whatever, that’s fine.’ As bad as the thing is, there are still a lot of people in my corner, a lot of friends who know the type of person I am.  And that I am a good person. I just get to now build this (facility) out, so now that’s where my focus is.”

***
Bayer can still bring the heat. Quietly. He was at Coors Field a couple weeks ago and took a turn at the speed-pitch booth, just for giggles.

BAMI

Ninety-six. No warm-up.

“I know, 100%, I could still play professional baseball,” Bayer says. “That’s the crazy part of it.

“It’s been a whirlwind of life. A whirlwind of a 10 years. A lot of people would’ve lost their mind or would go off the deep end. I obviously did that in 2020 for a little bit. But I think (I’m) slowly but surely picking up the pieces. I’m doing the right things.”

With the right people. Pete got the coaching bug early. He worked with 40-45 players last year as an independent contractor. His clientele included two players from greater Loveland who were driving all the way to Centennial for workouts. One of them was the son of Endless Garage owner and entrepreneur Justin Summers, who knew of a warehouse in southwest Greeley already set up for softball training.

“(Summers said), ‘There’s this amazing facility up here, we think you’d be the perfect guy to run this,'” Bayer recalled.

“It’s kind of how it was supposed to happen. In a crazy, weird, stupid way, maybe this was all kind of happened for a … I don’t know.”

“For a reason?” I asked. “For a purpose?”

“I can’t obviously change the past. But I can make the best out of every day and build the future. That’s what this is about.”

With that, a staffer in glasses closes in, just behind Bayer’s right shoulder, and hovers. Question for the boss.

“Sorry to interrupt,” he said. “But do you know where the microphones are?”

Bayer points to a far wall. Then he cocks his head back wearily and smiles, the grin of a man who bet on himself. And won.

Cade Filleman stood on the mound, 60-foot-6 inches away from delirium. All the junior right-hander had to do was retire Arvada West’s Levi Lueck with the tying runs in scoring position and nobody in the restless crowd sitting at All-Star Park.

You know, the easy stuff.

“He is just relaxed enough that nothing bothers him,” Regis Jesuit coach Matt Darr said. “No moment is too big.”

Filleman came set at his waist, raised his leg and fired a fastball. Lueck was sitting on a heater, and did not miss, lining a shot to right field. If the ball hooks or drops, Arvada West might have have celebrated a state title three decades in the making.

Instead it stayed up. And red caps no longer stayed on. They flung in the air. The dugout emptied. The Regis Jesuit Raiders captured the 5A state championship, toppling Arvada West 5-3 for their first crown in seven years.

No more runner-up to Cherry Creek. No more coming up short. This victory was as undeniable as the bond between the seniors on this team who did everything but draw up a pact to avoid a third-straight disappointment on the season’s final day.

“Oh my gosh, we did it. We are extremely close. We have been playing together for what feels like forever. No one was selfish,” said Carter Rathbun, a University of San Francisco commit. “It really sucks losing like we did before. This feels so much better.”

It might have sounded simple when looking at the final score. It was not.

Having the pressure of falling in this spot, especially for three-year starters, weighed heavy. Losing the morning game to Arvada West junior ace Cooper Vais, whose snap dragon slider produced 10 strikeouts in a 3-2 muzzling, could have siphoned confidence.

“Actually, our belief was strong. It felt like this was the game we were going to win,” said Vanderbilt-bound right-hander and slugger Hudson Alpert, who threw a gem in the opener. “We felt like we had more pitching depth and that we were in a good position no matter what. Whoever was on the mound, we were going to ambush to them.”

The assignment fell on Arvada West crafty lefty Cole Eisenreich.

He recorded two quick outs in the first, and then collided with trouble, unable to escape the inning. His command betrayed him, and when he needed his best pitch, Rathbun was ready for it. After a pair of curveballs missed up in the zone, Rathbun laced a fastball that practically dented the right field wall. The bases-clearing double plated three runs and allowed Regis Jesuit to exhale with a five-run lead.

It barely held, a testament to Arvada West freshman Jake Richards and senior Beau Friesen performing damage control, holding Regis Jesuit to three hits over the final 16 outs.

For the Raiders to win, it took third baseman Brady Wright turning his glove into an obituary for hard groundballs and choppers.

It took Mikey Kroll, who will be one of the state’s best returning pitchers next season, to answer the offensive uprising with four scoreless innings with four strikeouts. He would say later that failure was not an option, that he could not let down his brothers. “We are all super close.”

It took patience, waiting out a 1 hour, 20-minute lightning delay that sapped their momentum as the players gathered their thoughts in the dugout.

It took resolve as the fifth-inning brought back bad memories. A high popup was misplayed in shallow right field. A blooper went uncaught. Two bad throws — one on a missed cut, another on a wild pickoff — caffeinated the Arvada West offense. A comfortable cushion became a two-run advantage — Lueck and Vais delivered big hits — enough to create squirms given how the previous two state title Saturdays played out.

“The difference this time? This group was just so invested in making this happen. It started with the culture created by Hudson and Chase (Massey),” Darr said. “When the other kids saw how hard they worked and what it meant to them, how could they not fall in line?”

In the end, the Raiders knew there would be accompanying drama.

Filleman is a good pitcher, but after a shaky fifth inning, he had his work cut out for him. Darr never wavered. Filleman is the kind of kid you want to get off the bus first. He looks like a linebacker — 6 foot-3, 200 pounds — because he is one. He plays for his father Danny at Regis.

Cade has been described as quietly intense. Someone you always want on your team because he hates to lose.

So when the seventh inning rolled around, his nerves were not frayed. Dad’s were. He sat in front of the press box with his heart beating through his chest, a defibrillator a distinct possibility with every pitch.

“Oh man,” he said. “I was anxious.”

No need.

Filleman never flinched. He gave up hits, but commanded the strike zone. If the Wildcats were going to beat him, they were going to have to string together several good at-bats.

In the end, Filleman made sure this game went the way it was supposed to go. Arvada West was a worthy competitor — good luck to any team facing Vais next season — but this was Regis’ time, this was Regis’ team to soothe past heartbreak.

“Yeah, 100 percent it felt better because of what it took to get here. The losses made me want it so much for this group,” said Alpert, who could have skipped the season to slowly recover from elbow surgery, but never considered it. “I was at the point where I was going to do anything to get a state championship. That was my my only priority.”

Alpert smiled as he relived the achievement. He let out a deep breath. That was the appropriate response to the Raiders’ long-awaited masterpiece.

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 , 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.

“Relief,” Matt Darr said. “It feels good. For some of our players, they’ve been through a lot of this heartbreak (the last few years). You can say the pressure of not winning in years past doesn’t matter, but it does — being here at state, being close, being in this spot two years ago against Cherry Creek when they (beat us twice on the final day) and came back to win.

“… All of (the championships I’ve won) are special, but this one feels a little more special because of the years leading up to it, and the failures, the second places, and thinking, ‘Oh God, if I’m second again, I don’t know if I can handle that.'”

But this season would be different, even after Arvada West put the pressure on with an initial win.

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.

“We knew we were still in a good spot, and we were very confident (despite the opening loss),” Hudson Alpert said. “We felt like we had more pitching behind me. … I’ve been through two losses in the finals, and I was tired of seeing other teams happy. I wanted us to be happy for once, and I never lost faith we could get there to that feeling.”

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 . 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.

“We had momentum still, and we jumped on them,” Darr said. “That was key.”

Eisenreich didn’t make it through the first, and freshman Jake Richards came on in relief. The right-hander pitched like a vet, 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 in the fifth 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.

“When we won it in 2019, we had the exact same scenario — an hour-and-a-half delay,” Darr said. “It felt like it was time to get Kroll out of the game. … You could tell the moment was getting to us, all that time thinking about it in the dugout. But we re-grouped.”

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 with two outs before getting Lueck to line out to right to end the game with runners on second and third.

Filleman used mixed heavy slider usage with his mid-80s fastball and an occasional changeup to prevent the Wildcats’ comeback from completing.

“They had a couple hits happen to fall (in the seventh), but I knew I just needed to keep throwing strikes to get us over the finish line,” Filleman said.

Regis Jesuit, the Continental League champions, finished 23-7. Arvada West, making its first title appearance since 1995, finished 26-5 and the Jeffco League champions’ lone in-state losses came to the Raiders.

Arvada West head coach Danny Vais — who returned to the dugout Saturday afternoon after serving a two-game suspension for what he says was an unwarranted ejection in last weekend’s semifinal — saw the bright side in the Wildcats’ defeat, even as his players were visibly emotional.

Vais has coached a majority of Arvada West’s current seniors and a few of the Wildcats’ juniors, including his son Cooper, since that group was in elementary school.

“To get back and be able to finish this with them, and fight after going down early, and be in it until the last at-bat — that’s something I’ll remember forever,” Vais said. “Obviously you want to win these games, but it’s so much more than just chasing the elusive goal of winning the state championship. I’ve been on a decade-long journey with these kids in their baseball career. I hope that these are the best baseball memories of their lives.”

Each year, 10 junior college baseball teams from across the country make the pilgrimage to the largest city in western Colorado for the right to compete for a national title in the NJCAA Division I Junior College World Series.

Grand Junction has been home to JUCO, as it����ap simply known by locals and junior college ball clubs, since 1959. The tournament has not only energized the city of nearly 72,000 people in the six decades since its arrival, but also much of Mesa County and the baseball community on Colorado’s Western Slope.

Teams from across the U.S. battle through 60-game seasons for the right to play in Grand Junction. Those teams then duke it out in a week-long, double-elimination tournament until one is left standing on the final weekend of May.

It����ap not some folksy, podunk event. The fireworks game on Memorial Day usually fills or nearly fills the 10,000-seat stadium. The tournament also draws top-end talent. What Omaha’s College World Series is to four-year Division I schools, Grand Junction is to the JUCO world.

Kirby Puckett, the namesake for the tournament����ap MVP award,. in the late 1990s. Bryce Harper starred for the College of Southern Nevada in 2010 before being drafted No. 1 overall by the Washington Nationals in the MLB draft. And, in 2022, Milwaukee Brewers’ budding ace pitcher Jacob Misiorowski touched triple digits on the radar gun in a hail-delayed win for Missouri’s Crowder College. On Thursday, ESPN’s Jeff Passan called the JUCO World Series “the purest form of baseball” that he’s seen in ages.

Dusty Hart, the head coach of Blinn College in Texas, one of this year’s finalists, is well-acquainted with the tournament. He played for Texas’ Grayson College in the 1998 JUCO tournament and coached Grayson back to the tournament. He guided Blinn to the 2024 national championship.

“It����ap incredible. We’ll go eat lunch in the afternoon, and there’s 10 kids trying to get you to sign their Chick-fil-A bags at lunch,” Hart said. “I’ve had players that have played in Omaha after they played in Grand Junction. And they tell me, man, Omaha is awesome, but Grand Junction is right up there with it.”

This year’s field featured Blinn, Harford Community College (Maryland), Johnson County Community College (Kansas), Louisiana State University Eunice, Midland College (Texas), Miami Dade College (Florida), Salt Lake Community College (Utah), Seminole State College (Oklahoma), Wabash Valley College (Illinois) and Walters State Community College (Tennessee).

As of Friday, Blinn and Johnson County are the last two teams standing.

Grand Junction’s pastime

The first JUCO World Series was played in 1958 in Miami, Oklahoma. As the story goes, attendance was weak, the weather was bad, and the tournament experience was just lacking. So, JUCO moved to Grand Junction in 1959. Then-Mesa College earned auto bids early on as the hosts, though it eventually had to earn its way into the tournament. In all, Mesa made 13 JUCO tournaments before transitioning to a four-year school.

The Grand Junction Baseball Committee, also known as the JUCO Committee, had a series of short-term contracts with the NJCAA to host the tournament. It had to continually bid on those deals to keep the tournament in town. In 2010, the committee secured a 25-year contract with the NJCAA with the promise that it would construct a tower for special seating and a press box, and more seating in the stadium. That contract has since been extended, so .

JUCO is played at Suplizio Field, which also hosts independent baseball and high school baseball. Suplizio shares a facility with Ralph Stocker Stadium, a football stadium that also hosts track meets.

“The $10 million upgrade to the tower over there was done because of grants, income from the sales of tickets here, and getting people to contribute to it without having a tax increase in the facility, ” said Jamie Hamilton, who was the chairman of the JUCO Committee from 2003-2024 and first volunteered with the tournament in 1986. “People own this facility. High school players get to play in this facility. The community gets to walk on the football field and the track.”

Hamilton was born in Grand Junction, raised in Arvada, won a state baseball title with Regis Jesuit High School, played for Mesa State College and for the then-California Angels in their minor league system before returning to Grand Junction and helping out with JUCO.

Patti Arnold, a longtime Grand Junction sportswriter and JUCO volunteer who died last year, wrote in a 2017 book on the tournament that fans would camp in front of Suplizio Field the night before the first JUCO game, before seating was expanded at the stadium. She also wrote that, when putting together a special JUCO section for the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, coaches “bent over backwards” to help out when they heard “Grand Junction.”

Once the 10-team field is set and everyone arrives, the fun begins. Players and kids participate in a baseball clinic, and some teams get to play Challenger Baseball with kids who have physical or mental disabilities. Each team and some community members then attend a banquet the night before the first day of games to honor the latest inductees into the NJCAA Hall of Fame. The likes of Tony La Russa and Drew Goodman have delivered the keynote speech at the JUCO Banquet.

For Darren Coltrinari, the current JUCO committee chairman, the annual tournament is about community and tradition.

“You sit through a nine-inning game that could be two-and-a-half hours, it could be four-and-a-half hours. In baseball, less now, but there is dead time and a lot of the time, you’re sitting there talking,” said Coltrinari, who graduated from Grand Junction Central High School and played baseball at New Mexico. He’s also Hamilton’s godson.  “You’re reviewing the last pitch, you’re talking about what you’re doing tomorrow, things like that. There’s a social aspect to baseball.”

Coltrinari added: “Our goal as a community is to make this the best tournament possible.”

That effort comes through partnerships with local partners — the school district, business community, government, media outlets and about 83 volunteers. The regulars’ hearts are heavy this year following the deaths of longtime volunteers Arnold, the former sportswriter, and Greg Hazelhurst.

“Losing both of them was hard because they’re really the anchors; they’re really the rocks of everything that goes on up here,” said Jermaine Williams, who helps run media operations for JUCO. “(Saturday morning) was tough to not have them here. Obviously, we will continue to move on and do what we need to do. But both of them just meant a lot … I wish we had taken the time to hug them one more time.”

Thousands of people pack the stands for the first weekend of games. Chatter echoes through the ballpark, only to be interrupted by the smack of an aluminum bat, cheers and a foghorn sound effect after a player hits a home run. Sometimes, you’ll even hear the ball thumping off a car in the parking lot beyond center field.

Each team has a deck of baseball cards for sale. Local food vendors line the concourse, serving up foot-long corn dogs out of a 20-foot red tent, ice cream, or kettle corn, to name a few. No alcohol is served at the games, keeping in line with the family-friendly atmosphere.

Williams has been involved with JUCO since 2009. He once worked in athletics for Colorado Mesa University and is now an assistant athletics director at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. He and his family — wife Shayla, daughter Emma, and son Jaxon — still make the 1,600-mile trip every year for JUCO.

Williams has worked in athletics at five universities. While he hasn’t been to Omaha, he thinks it����ap hard to compare many college sports events to JUCO.

“The big events that I’ve been a part of are events that drop into a city, they’re there for four days and then they move on to the next city. The NCAA Regional or a Final Four or something like that,” Williams said. “The difference for me is just the homegrown feel of this event. It����ap been here for (67) years, and you’ve got people who grew up watching JUCO baseball that are now helping. You got families, kind of like ours, that are either in the Grand Valley or on the Front Range or anywhere in the country, and they come back for this week.

“And I think that����ap what makes it special.”

‘This was my big leagues’

Hunter Smolinski, the lead-off second baseman for Blinn, is from nearby Fruita.

Smolinski played for Division I Grand Canyon last season and was there until last fall, when it seemed unlikely he’d be an everyday player, he said. So, Smolinski got in touch with Hart, the Blinn coach, and got a spot on the Buccaneers’ roster.

Smolinski is one of three Colorado kids who played in this year’s tournament. The others were Erie’s Holden Pantier (Walters State) and Montrose’s Gage Wareham (Salt Lake).

When he was growing up, Smolinski’s parents would drop him off at the stadium for the morning game. He’d meet his friends there — they, too, dropped off by their parents, he said — and they’d spend all day hanging out at the stadium and watching baseball.

“There’s no money, no nothing involved in this. This is just straight passion for the game,” said Smolinski, who was hitting .500 with a 1.245 OPS on 20 at-bats as of Thursday.

Smolinski added that he thinks that mindset is clear to Grand Junction fans.

“I think that����ap the reason you see so many people coming out to watch these games,” he said.

Most of the schools that make it to JUCO come from areas of just a few dozen thousand people. And even those from larger areas — Miami Dade and Salt Lake, for example — are far from the main event in their communities.

And because many of these JUCO players won’t reach Omaha, let alone the majors, JUCO is their time to have that big-league attention.

Many JUCO teams don’t report their game attendance. Generally, though, those games are lucky to have 100 folks in the stands. Playing in the nightcap fireworks game on Memorial Day, Johnson County and Walters State drew a crowd of more than 11,000 people.

Hart����ap Buccaneers are on the precipice of another championship. His kids are in the midst of a week they’ll probably remember for a long time. It����ap been 30 years since Hart played in JUCO and he can still recall that experience.

Hart hit leadoff for Grayson in 1998. In his team’s second game, sent the first pitch he saw into Suplizio’s left-field bleachers.

“That����ap literally my best memory as a player … I don’t even remember going around the bases. It����ap just such a surreal moment,” said Hart, who admitted he probably played in front of bigger crowds later on in his career, “but never in a World Series type environment … This was my big leagues.”

All-Star Park, Lakewood

Consolation Game #1: Friday, 10 a.m. — Legend vs. Pine Creek

Consolation Game #2: Friday, 12:30 p.m. — Arvada West vs. Legend/Pine Creek

Championship Game #1: Saturday, 10 a.m. — Regis Jesuit vs. TBD

Championship Game #2 (If Nec.): Saturday, 12:30 p.m. — Regis Jesuit vs. TBD

Regis Jesuit, runner-up the last two seasons, will likely roll out ace Hudson Alpert on Saturday morning. The senior righty and Vanderbilt commit can shut down any of the lineups left. Legend is playing for the Titans’ late teammate, Tyler Harvey. Pine Creek sophomore third baseman/right-hander Dane Dial is one of the top young players in the state. And don’t count out Arvada West, which is chasing its first crown since Roy Halladay led them to 1994 championship. The Wildcats’ two aces (Cooper Vais and Brayden Reiner) could pitch them to the if-necessary title game.

Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs

Consolation Game #1: Friday, 10 a.m. — Ponderosa vs. Palisade

Consolation Game #2: Friday, 12:30 p.m. — Falcon vs. Ponderosa/Palisade

Championship Game #1: Saturday, 10 a.m. — Pueblo County vs. TBD

Championship Game #2 (If Nec.): Saturday, 12:30 p.m. — Pueblo County vs. TBD

are within one win of the program’s first title, and feature ace right-hander Blake Swift. The senior has a 1.34 ERA in 14 games, and threw a complete-game shutout against Grand Junction in the tournament opener. Ponderosa features a young lineup, but senior outfielder/southpaw Baylor Schultz is the Mustangs’ catalyst. Palisade, which beat Ponderosa 1-0 in the tournament opener, features five players with three homers or more. And Falcon, which is capable of three wins this weekend, is headlined by senior right-hander/first baseman Aaron Jaquez, .

Butch Butler Field, Greeley

Consolation Game #1: Friday, 10 a.m. — D’Evelyn vs. The Classical Academy

Consolation Game #2: Friday, 12:30 p.m. — Eaton vs. D’Evelyn/The Classical Academy

Championship Game #1: Saturday, 10 a.m. — University vs. TBD

Championship Game #2 (If Nec.): Saturday, 12:30 p.m. — University vs. TBD

University is seeking its sixth title and first since 2019 after smashing rival Eaton in the semis. The Bulldogs lost 3-2 to Coal Ridge , and are making their fifth straight championship appearance — with the prior four all ending in runner-up. So University, headlined by senior Damian Alvarez and junior Derek Casillas, has no shortage of motivation. D’Evelyn features sophomore star Leo Vigil, while The Classical Academy has senior stalwart Zach Mediavilla. And don’t count out (15 titles) beat University 5-2 on April 4.

Hobbs Field at the Runyon Sports Complex, Pueblo

Consolation Game #1: Friday, 10 a.m. — Denver Christian vs. Yuma

Consolation Game #2: Friday, 12:30 — Monte Vista vs. Denver Christian/Yuma

Championship Game #1: Saturday, 10 a.m. — Forge Christian vs. TBD

Championship Game #2 (If Nec.): Saturday, 12:30 p.m. — Forge Christian vs. TBD

Forge Christian, that also won titles in 2007, ’11 and ’16 as Faith Christian, won its first two tournament games by a combined score of 27-3 before edging Monte Vista 3-2 in The Fury feature a dominant freshman pitcher, right-hander Jake Stocker, who has a 0.97 ERA. Senior shortstop Ben McLean paces the offense. Denver Christian, last year’s runner-up and the champs in 2023 and ’24, has a trio of capable arms. Yuma boasts sophomore catcher Jesus Rodriguez. And Monte Vista’s stars are senior Azariah Hurtado and junior Judah Howe.

The Raiders, Class 5A runner-up to Cherry Creek the past two seasons, beat top-seeded Arvada West in Saturday’s semifinal at All-Star Park to return to the championship for a third straight year.

Regis Jesuit won 14-8 in a high-octane, see-saw game where both teams had to dig deep into their pitching staffs after using their aces to win twice on Friday. Arvada West head coach Danny Vais was ejected in a pivotal fifth inning where the Raiders took control for good.

“(The vibe) feels pretty excited, but our business is not done,” Regis Jesuit head coach Matt Darr said. “Today, we executed some little things, and it turned into a big inning (in the fifth). We’ve been preaching bunting and getting guys over and just adding on runs, and then the next thing you know, it breaks open. And that’s what this game was, because I knew it was going to be a higher-scoring game as the third game of the weekend.”

The drama started to build in the bottom of the fourth, when Regis Jesuit led 5-4. After a leadoff walk, Arvada West’s Brayden Davies was picked off by Raiders southpaw Finn Judge. The Wildcats were incensed about the play, arguing that Judge crossed the 45-degree mark on the pickoff, and thus the play should’ve been ruled a balk.

Brayden Reiner tripled later in the inning, which would’ve scored Davies and tied the game 5-5, further compounding the Wildcats’ frustration.

That frustration boiled over in the fifth. After Regis Jesuit opened the top of the frame by drawing consecutive walks, it got a bunt single by Carter Rathbun to load the bases, Jack Manthey drilled a bases-clearing double down the right-field line to make it 8-4. Vais then pulled pitcher Jake Richards, and while senior Beau Friesen was warming up, Vais was ejected after having words with first-base umpire John McFarland.

Vais, who said he has never been ejected during a CHSAA game as Arvada West’ boys basketball and baseball coach, was incensed about what he said was an unwarranted ejection by McFarland. Vais said he wanted an explanation on the non-balk call in the fourth inning, and McFarland refused to give him one.

“I said (to McFarland), ‘This is the biggest game of the year, and I can’t even have a conversation with you?'” Vais said. “He warned me when I said that… and then he restricted me to the dugout. I was walking away, and I said (again), ‘This is the biggest game of the year,’ and that’s when he launched me. I didn’t cuss.

“… That ejection was probably more off of my reputation than off of what was said. (CHSAA baseball commissioner John) Sullivan said the same thing to me when we talked (after the ejection): ‘I’ve heard good things and I’ve heard bad things about you… That you’re intense.’ But what are we supposed to be? We’re playing in the friggin’ Final Four, man. Are you supposed to just be soft, and it’s everybody gets cupcakes, and it’s all rainbows out here?”

By CHSAA bylaw, Vais has to serve a two-game suspension due to the ejection. That means he would only be eligible to return in the if-necessary championship next Saturday should the Wildcats beat the winner of Legend/Pine Creek and then beat Regis Jesuit in the first of two possible title games.

Sullivan said there is no appeal process for coach ejections, but that CHSAA would review the umpire game report to get a full understanding of McFarland’s decision. Vais vowed to fight the suspension.

After Vais’ ejection, Regis Jesuit scored another run in the fifth via an infield single, then tacked on two more runs in the sixth with a sacrifice fly and an RBI single to push the score to 11-4. Arvada West got a run back in the bottom of the sixth, then Friesen had a chance to get the Wildcats back in the game when he came up with the bases loaded. But Lucas Stavenger struck out Friesen, who leads Arvada West with nine homers this year.

a Vanderbilt commit, then put the game on ice in the seventh with a towering three-run homer off Liam West that landed in the parking lot beyond left field to increase the Raiders’ lead to 14-5.

“Our approach today was to just compete every at-bat and consistently find ways to get on-base, and we did that,” Alpert said. “We had a lot of hits (with 16), a lot of baserunners, and good at-bats leading up to that homer.”

The Raiders grabbed the momentum in the top of the first, using Brady Wright’s two-out, two-RBI single off Luke Alonso to take an early lead. Arvada West got one back in the bottom of the frame via a wild pitch by Ryan Neumann, cutting the score to 2-1, but stranded a couple of runners.

A leadoff triple in the second by the Raiders’ Greyson Glasheen led to Chase Massey’s sacrifice fly to make it 3-1. But Arvada West tied the game in the bottom of the frame using Reiner’s RBI single and Cooper Vais’ sacrifice fly.

Arvada West took its first lead in the third, when Levi Lueck blasted a homer to right field off Judge. That made it 4-3, but the scoreboard swung back to Regis Jesuit in the fourth, when Jacob Olson’s two-RBI double off Arvada West’s Cole Eisenreich made it 5-4.

Regis Jesuit didn’t relinquish the lead from there.

“Regis is a really good, mature offensive team,” Danny Vais said. “They can beat you in a ton of different ways… We’ve got to go back to the drawing board next weekend. Cooper and Braiden have to win us two games on the mound, then we need somebody to step up and make some pitches (in the if-necessary championship game).”

The Wildcats’ loss snapped a 22-game win streak and was their first defeat in Colorado this season. While the road to their second state title and first since 1994 just got steeper, Regis Jesuit is in prime position to win its fourth title and first since 2019. The Raiders will undoubtedly start Alpert, who returned earlier this season from offseason elbow surgery, in that first championship shot next Saturday.

The right-hander threw four-plus innings of two-run ball in the opening-round win over Mountain Vista on Friday, with 68 pitches. Alpert said he is ready to run his pitch count up to approximately 80 pitches next Saturday, which would be a season high, as the Raiders attempt to clinch the title on their first try in

“His pitch count has slowly gone up where he can throw a little bit more, a little bit more, and his value on the mound is huge but it’s bigger than that for this team,” Darr said. “Here’s a kid who’s committed to Vanderbilt and who could have just very easily said, ‘I’m not going pitch,’ because he’s got a huge future ahead of him.

“There’s a lot of kids that would do that, but he wants a ring. That’s motivating for the rest of our players, because he’s our leader. They know how much he wants to win after coming up just short the last couple years.”