Here’s what happened on day one of the 2A-5A baseball state tournaments

GREELEY – The top two seeds in the Class 3A state tournament will meet Saturday to determine one of the two teams in next week’s championship game.

Friday at University’s Tom Roche Field, Eaton (25-2) came from behind to defeat Colorado Academy 7-5 and then made quick work of Sterling, 17-6, in four and a half innings.

Over at Butch Butler Field, University (23-4) won a close game, defeating Manitou Springs 5-3 before storming past Lutheran, 10-0.

The teams will meet at 2 p.m. at Butch Butler with the defending champion Reds looking for their second title game appearance in a row.

It was a tale of two games for Eaton on the first day of the tournament. The Reds had to come from behind to defeat Colorado Academy before leading wire-to-wire against Sterling.

The Tigers went into their contest against Eaton having just come from behind themselves to defeat Resurrection Christian 8-6, but the Reds scored early and in bunches to send Sterling to the playback bracket.

Eaton scored at least three runs in every inning against the Tigers, led by their No. 3 and 4 hitters, Walker Martin and Ryder True. True was 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles and four RBIs. Martin was 2-for-3 with a pair of home runs and five RBIs.

“That was actually my first two-home run game,” Martin said. “That was the first one of my career so that was pretty exciting, for sure. I felt good. Really I was just kind of being selective at the plate. My first home run, I didn’t really think it was going to go out, but it did. I just felt good. I felt really confident.”

Martin’s first home run came in the second inning. His two-run home run was part of a six-run inning in which all those runs came with two outs. His three-run home run in the fourth inning gave the Reds 17 runs and put the game well out of reach for the Tigers.

True had a two-run single in the first that gave the Reds their first runs of the game. He doubled and scored in the second and then had a two-run double in the third.

“They compete every time they step up to the plate,” Eaton head coach Todd Hernandez said. “They go up there with the intention of doing damage. They are in scoring position when they step up to the plate, which is always nice. I think the key is that they have learned not to try to overswing. They just try to hit their pitch.”

Eaton starting pitcher Mitch Haythorn picked up the win. He went four and one-third innings, allowed six runs on nine hits and struck out seven. He struck out four batters in the first inning. One reached base when the third strike on him got away from the Reds catcher.

Haythorn allowed a pair of runs in the top of the fourth and had two runners on when he was relieved by Jared McCormack, who got the final two outs.
That set up today’s showdown with University. The teams have met twice already this year, with Eaton winning both games by one run each time.

After getting past Manitou Springs to open the day, the Bulldogs watched Lutheran defeat Bayfield, 14-4 before they turned the tables on the Lions, winning in six innings.

“It is going to be tough,” Hernandez said. “It is tough to beat a good team three times and we were able to get them twice this year. They are well-coached. They do everything right. They do all the little things so it is going to be an uphill battle for us, probably, tomorrow.”

Before Eaton and University play to determine the first spot in next weekend’s championship games, Colorado Academy will face Resurrection Christian at 9 a.m. in an elimination game with the winner facing Lutheran at 11 a.m. at University.

Bayfield will face Manitou Springs in an elimination game at 9 a.m. at Butch Butler. The winner will then face Sterling at 11:30 a.m.

CLASS 5A

There were upsets aplenty in the Class 5A bracket, as when the action was all said and done on day one, No. 3 seeded Chaparral and No. 5 Broomfield were the two teams left standing without a loss in the double elimination bracket.

Getting things started in the first round, No. 8 Douglas County upended No. 1 Regis Jesuit, 5-4. That was followed by No. 7 Cherokee Trail taking out No. 2 Legacy, 6-2.

The second round of games were more in line with seed, as No. 3 Chaparral handled No. 6 Vista Ridge, 11-6, thanks to a late grand slam from the Wolverines. Meanwhile Broomfield brought out the bats in their matchup with No. 4 Valor Christian, winning 14-3.

In the second round, Chaparral kept up the momentum with a 5-3 triumph over Cherokee Trail, while Broomfield cooled down Douglas County with an 11-5 victory.

Day two of the state tournament resumes tomorrow with the elimination games between No. 1 Regis Jesuit and No. 4 Valor Christian, as well as No. 2 Legacy vs. No. 6 Vista Ridge.

The winners of those games will then play Cherokee Trail and Douglas County, respectively. Then the winners bracket matchup between Chaparral and Broomfield will be played at 2 p.m.

CLASS 4A

The Class 4A baseball bracket is just as muddled as the 5A, as No. 5 Erie and No. 6 Ponderosa will meet in the winners bracket after going 2-0 on day one.

The defending champion Mustangs had hot bats all day, winning in round one 14-2 over No. 4 Northfield. They followed that up with a 13-8 win over No. 8 Cheyenne Mountain.

On the other side, Erie knocked off No. 3 Golden, 8-6, and followed that up with a 9-3 triumph over No. 2 D’Evelyn.

In the first round, Cheyenne Mountain took out top seeded Palisade, 12-7, while D’Evelyn handled No. 7 Severance in extra innings, 3-2.

Tomorrow in the playback, Palisade will meet Northfield for the right to play D’Evelyn, while Golden will take on Severance, with the winner playing Cheyenne Mountain.

Then the winners bracket game between Ponderosa and Erie will take place at 2 p.m.

CLASS 2A

The semifinals are set for the 2022 Class 2A championship, and it has a couple of familiar faces.

Defending champion No. 1 Limon is back, taking care of business with a run-rule 16-1 victory in four innings over No. 8 Wiggins. The Badgers are seeking their seventh championship appearance all-time.

Joining them there is the defending runners-up, Peyton. The No. 2 seeded Panthers fended off the upset minded No. 10 seeded Buena Vista. They will look to get to their fourth-consecutive title game appearance.

On the other side of the two reigning title game teams will be No. 5 Highland, who will face Limon. The Huskies handled No. 13 Denver Christian, 10-4, and get back to the semifinals. They are seeking their second championship game appearance all-time, and first since 1976 when they won the title over Nucla.

No. 6 seeded St. Mary’s is the fourth semifinalist, as they will face Peyton. The Pirates edged out No. 3 Rye, 7-6, and get to the semis where they will seek their first ever state championship appearance.