ARVADA — It felt like Arizona on Wednesday with the temperature at first pitch at 89 degrees at Arvada West High School.

A-West’s baseball team was already used to the heat after playing four games last week at the Boras Classic in Arizona. The defending Class 5A Jeffco League champions that graduated just three seniors from last year’s squad went 1-3 at the elite tournament last week.

“The competition out there was unreal,” A-West junior Cooper Vais said of facing a pair of teams from Arizona and two teams from Nevada. “We saw some top arms. Really good hitters. A bunch of D1 commits. It was a test of who we are. I think it gave us a reality check of the kind of guys we are going to see. If we want to be successful this season we have to get used to that stuff.”

The Wildcats (4-3 record) started off the season with a pair of 10-run mercy rule victories in five innings against perennial 5A powerhouses Cherry Creek and Grandview. 

A-West got the invite to head to the tournament in Arizona that was actually the week before Jeffco Public School’s Spring Break which is this week.

“The one thing good about that tournament is you knew you had to show up every single day,” A-West coach Danny Vais said of the Boras Classic. “You needed to be ready every single day and I love the way our kids competed. It was a great experience for the kids and I couldn’t have been any more please with how they played down there.”

Coach Vais had the same emotions with A-West’s first game back in Colorado against Vista PEAK on Wednesday. 

The Wildcats scored in every inning taking a 8-1 victory. Senior Brayden Reiner was 3-for-4 from the plate with a triple and a pair of RBIs. Seniors Luke Alonso, Beau Friesen, Cooper Vais along with sophomore Holden Goodrich all had a pair of hits.

“We just try to stay consistent,” Cooper Vais said of the A-West’s offense that posted 14 hits against the Bison. “Anytime there is a runner at second or third we try to get the situation done and do our job.”

Cooper Vais showed off his normal dominance on the mound striking out eight in four shutout innings on the hill to pick up the win. Vista PEAK’s best scoring chance against the Wildcats’ ace came in the top of the fourth inning. The Bison had runners at second and third with one out, but the University of Texas-commit got back-to-back strike outs to get out of the inning.

“That is definitely our strength as a team for sure,” Cooper Vais said of the Wildcats’ pitching staff. “Pitching is what keeps you in games. We have a bunch of hitters that are good and a good defense, but pitching is what keeps you in games.”

Vista PEAK might have been relieved to see Cooper Vais not back on the mound in the fifth inning, but the Bison didn’t have any luck against senior Luke Alonso who pitched the fifth or Friesen who pitched the sixth for the Wildcats. Alonso and Friesen both retired every batter they faced.

“I love our pitching,” Friesen said. “We are super deep. We can go to our bullpen whenever we need to. We have to fresh guys every game and we can go to Alonso or me whenever we need to.”

A-West failed to push two more runs across the dish in the bottom of the sixth inning to end the game with the 10-run mercy rule. Senior lefty Cole Eisenreich gave up a lead-off triple and RBI double to lose the shutout bid, but Eisenreich settled in to get a pair of flyouts and a ground out to end the game.

“All the pressure doesn’t fall on one or two guys,” Coach Vais said of the Wildcats’ pitching depth. “I feel confident to whoever I turn the ball over to and mixing it up.”

A-West has non-league games against Mountain Vista, Cherokee Trail and Fort Collins before getting into 5A Jeffco League play against cross-town rival Ralston Valley on April 9.

After a 23-4-1 record last season that included a clean 12-0 sweep in conference play the sky is the limit for A-West. The Wildcats advanced to the 8-team double-elimination 5A state tournament a year ago, going 1-2.

“Every single year I would be lying to you if I said that we didn’t have a chance. I thought we had a chance last year,” Coach Vais said of A-West going after its first state baseball title since 1994. “Do I think we are a little bit more mature and ready for that kind of gauntlet of that one game state elimination stuff looks like? Of course, but we really just take it one game at a time. I know it is really cliche to say that, but one of the things I tell the kids before each game is, ‘Figure out what it will take to win the game.’ It is my job to put them into the right situation to do it.”