4A Baseball: All Eight Regional Champions Awarded

AURORA — All eight of the 4A Baseball State Championship state qualifiers have been determined through regional play, as Pueblo County, Falcon, Durango, Golden, Severance, Windsor, Palisade and Cheyenne Mountain all won regional championships and will advance to state.

The 4A state championships will be played at Air Force Academy and University of Colorado Colorado Springs beginning next weekend.

In Region 1, No. 1 Pueblo County swept No. 32 Gatewy, 15-0, and then No. 16 Roosevelt, 1-0, to clinch the spot in the state bracket. Roosevelt advanced to the regional finals by defeating No. 17 Silver Creek, 4-1, in the first round.

Region 2: No. 2 Falcon blanked No. 31 Centaurus in the first round, while No. 15 Mead knocked off No. 18 Air Academy, 11-5. Although Falcon’s defense couldn’t keep Mead off the board in the regional final, the offense did enough to lift Falcon to the state bracket with a 5-4 win.

Region 3: No. 3 Lewis-Palmer blanked No. 30 Rifle in the first round of the regional, but it wouldn’t be enough to get it past No. 19 Durango in the regional final, as Durango used a 13-8 win to snag the bid to state. Durango’s first upset of the regional came in the first round, as it knocked off No. 14 Summit, 15-12.

Region 4: No. 4 Golden used a 15-0 win over No. 29 Longmont, and No. 20 Pueblo South upset No. 13 Glenwood Springs, 6-5, to send the two teams to the regional final where Golden used a 10-2 win over Pueblo South to advance to state.

Region 5: No. 5 Holy Family shutout No. 28 Evergreen, 10-0, but would be unable to sustain the momentum into the final, as No. 21 Severance upset its way to the state tournament. Severance knocked off No. 12 Lutheran, 8-7, in the first round and then defeated Holy Family, 6-3, in the regional final.

Region 6: No. 6 Windsor extended its season by defeating No. 27 Fort Morgan, 9-4, and No. 11 Grand Junction, 5-2. Grand Junction had advanced to the regional final by knocking off No. 22 Pueblo East, 1-0, in the first round.

Region 7: No. 7 Palisade edged No. 26 Cañon City, 6-4, in then first round and then squeaked by No. 23 Mullen, 7-6, in then regional final to advance to the state tournament. Mullen had narrowly upset No. 10 Ponderosa, 3-2, in the first round to advance to the regional final.

Region 8: No. 25 Green Mountain came up with the biggest upset of the first round, taking down No. 8 Discovery Canyon, 7-6, in the first round. No. 9 Cheyenne Mountain, which knocked off No. 24 Pueblo Central, 17-16, in the first round stoped Green Mountain in its tracks though, as Cheyenne Mountain used an 18-4 victory in the regional finals to advance to state.