5A Baseball: New Coach, Same Result, Cherry Creek Repeats

LAKEWOOD — Last season, the Cherry Creek baseball team had emotion on its side in its quest to win the Class 5A state championship with Marc Johnson coaching his final season at the end of a 52-year career.

The Bruins traditionally come into seasons expecting to get the best from every team they go against, but especially so this season as they started a new chapter with Joe Smith at the helm and a title to defend.

In the end, nothing could prevent the awesome momentum of a group of Cherry Creek’s 12 seniors — including seven Division I signees — from rolling to the program’s 10th all-time state championship, which it secured with a thorough 8-1 victory over Regis Jesuit Saturday morning at All-Star Park.

“It’s about the culture and these seniors set a tone for the underclassmen and they know the expectations,” Smith said. “They know how hard it is to be Cherry Creek in the state of Colorado because of what Marc Johnson built. He built a family and a culture that we always have a target on our backs.”

Smith accepted the job shortly after the conclusion of last season — which ended with Cherry Creek winning twice on the final day to defeat Regis Jesuit to send Johnson out on top — and his first season at the helm started 1-4-1, though all four of the losses came at a tournament in Arizona.

Once back in Colorado play, the Bruins — who senior shortstop Sean Goldy describes as a “bunch of goofy guys that just love to play ball and have fun” — got back to their winning ways and suffered only one defeat in their last 23 games, which was a 3-2 Centennial League loss to Grandview back on May 9.

“They never hesitated, they never staggered, they just put their heads down and worked,” Smith said of his senior-loaded team, which finished 23-5-1. “That’s what it was about, working through adversity, just like in life.”

Armed with an outstanding pitching staff and a potent hitting lineup, nobody was able to stop Cherry Creek once it got to the postseason.

Regis Jesuit (22-9) came closest in a second round state tournament game, but the Bruins rallied for a 4-3 walk-off victory that they followed with a defeat of top-seeded Grandview to take the coveted spot without a defeat going into the final weekend.

That meant Cherry Creek could await whatever team emerged from the semifinals — which turned out to be sixth-seeded Regis Jesuit, which ousted both No. 5 Broomfield and Grandview on Friday — with a rested pitching rotation that needed just one victory to win the title.

That allowed the Bruins to send University of Michigan-bound ace Wyatt Rudden to the mound, knowing they had plenty in reserve if needed.

Rudden gave Cherry Creek exactly the type of effort it needed to win the title, as he allowed just a single run on three hits in five innings of work.

The right-hander (who finished the season 9-2 with a 2.46 ERA) made his biggest escape from trouble in the top of the fifth inning when he struck out Regis Jesuit pinch-hitter Deion Cesario-Scott and got a force out off the bat of Luke Reasbeck as the Raiders left the bases loaded.

Meanwhile, the Bruins’ patient offense was able to work against a Regis Jesuit pitching staff that was without junior ace Hudson Alpert — who exited the opening game of the tournament due to injury was unable to pitch again — and without Reasbeck and sophomore Mikey Kroll, who both threw complete game victories the previous day.

Cherry Creek got two runs off Regis Jesuit starter Ryan Neumann in the second inning, then got run-scoring base hits from seniors Lucas Schultz and Mason Scott along with sacrifice fly from junior Tyce Smith in a three-run third-inning rally that gave Rudden plenty to work with.

Smith knocked in two more runs with a single in the fifth, and junior Ari Rothman singled and scored on a wild pitch in the sixth to further extend the lead.

Senior Anthony Graziano sealed the victory with a scoreless inning of relief.

“We were ready to play today,” said Goldy, who had two hits and scored twice. “We came out here to win the first one and there was no looking back. We didn’t want to play the second one like last year. Once we won that first one, we felt like we had the upper hand, so to win the first one today is a big deal.”

Coach Matt Darr’s Regis Jesuit team got three hits from senior Christian Lopez, who scored the lone run after he singled, advanced to third on junior Chase Massey’s sacrifice and scored on a wild pitch, but couldn’t find another big hit to gain further momentum.

Cherry Creek will move forward without much of its outstanding pitching staff (which also included Washington State-bound Ryan Falke, who threw a complete game in last season’s 5A state title clincher) and loaded lineup with players such as Scott (Army), Goldy (West Virginia) and Connor Larkin (Oklahoma), but the standard has been maintained and further strengthened for the future.

“There were a lot of young guys here today, so showing them what it takes and the attitude you need coming in every day sets the bar really high for the next class coming up,” Goldy said.

Smith was emotional about the victory and was just starting to process it as he watched the joy exhibited by his players.

“I don’t think it’s sunk in yet to be honest with you,” he said. “It started last year about this time when I accepted the job and we won the state tournament. It’s kind of been a whirlwind since then, but seeing my two daughters (ages 4 and 2) coming running up after the game, it’s hard not to get emotional. My family has supported me through all this. Coaching takes a lot of time, and the community has been great, but I can’t wait to go home and hug my girls and celebrate with them.”