5A Baseball: Cherry Creek Wins Ninth Championship For Retiring Coach Marc Johnson

LAKEWOOD – Cherry Creek avenged its 3-0 semifinal round loss to Regis Jesuit in stellar fashion to send legendary head coach Marc Johnson off into the sunset with his ninth state championship title, at All-Star Park in Lakewood.

On Friday, Cherry Creek – playing out of the consolation bracket after losing to rival Regis Jesuit 3-0 in the semifinals last weekend – got its bats cooking with a nail-biting 11-9 victory over Grandview to set up the rematch with the Raiders.

That offensive spark then carried into Saturday’s first game, with the Bruins’ pitching and fielding locked in to match their bats.

Creek opened Game 1 with a two-run first inning, courtesy of a Connor Larkin two-run shot, to pull ahead. The Bruins soon followed that up with three-run third inning (highlighted by an Eddie Esquivel two-RBI triple), a five-run fourth inning (featuring an Esquivel three-RBI double) and a one-run fifth inning before the Bruins had even allowed a run. With the score at 11-0 entering the bottom of the fifth inning, Regis Jesuit was on the verge of losing by way of CHSAA’s run rule, and although the Raiders finally managed to get on the board, it wasn’t enough to avoid the early defeat.

The 11-1 five-run victory flipped the matchup on its head and placed Cherry Creek in the driver’s seat, with all of the momentum residing in its dugout.

“All the pressure was on Regis,” second baseman Brayden Yasuzawa remarked. “They had to win just one game, so all the pressure was on them. Everyone was saying that they were going to win and that all the pressure was on us, but we just played our game, like we know how to do.”

The Raiders’ pitching got back on track early in the second game though, as they shutout the Bruins through the game’s first four innings. Unfortunately for Regis Jesuit though, Cherry Creek’s pitching held serve, resulting in a 0-0 tie as the winner-take-all contest turned over into the fifth inning.

“Our defense has been lockdown and that’s what we’ve always prided ourselves on,” Yasuzawa added. “Hitting will always come and it’s always ups and downs but you can always rely on a lockdown defense, like we do.”

In the fifth, the bats finally came alive for both sides. Creek notched two runs in the top of the frame, while Regis responded with a run of its own. The Bruins would refuse to let the Raiders back into the game though, adding another run in the sixth, and two more in the seventh, to put Regis Jesuit’s back against the wall, 5-1, in the bottom of the contest’s final inning.

Regis Jesuit managed to add a run to its final tally, but it was too little too late, as Cherry Creek held on to bring home its ninth state title.

The victory was made that much sweeter by the fact it was the last game ever for Coach Johnson, the longtime figurehead of the Bruins’ program and one of the state’s most legendary coaches.

“It means the world,” Esquivel said. “All we could ever ask for is to send ‘J’ (Coach Johnson) off with this championship, and we really just did it for him.”

Johnson was at a loss for words following the incredibly emotional victory.

“I can’t explain it. I mean, how would you explain something that just seemed like just everything fell into place,” the legendary Cherry Creek skipper said. “Trust me on this, it wasn’t because of me. It was because of these guys. It was because of my coaching staff, our players and all the people who believe. We love the family — our Cherry Creek baseball family.”