DENVER — A 90-feet dash to home plate ended the Class 3A Region 8 tournament late Saturday afternoon Saturday, May 16, at D’Evelyn Junior/Senior High School.

D’Evelyn senior Jack Meiser scrambled home for the game-winning run. When a low through got away from Colorado Academy freshman catcher Kaden Rossiter, the Jaguars could celebrate a 7-6 victory and a regional title.

“I was really confident the first two steps, but a little worried coming in,” Meiser said. “I saw the throw coming in and the ball was low. I slid in and was ready to go celebrate with my boys.” 

D’Evelyn had the winning run at third base with one out. With two strikes, sophomore Cameron Holthaus was able to put the ball in play with a chopper back to Colorado Academy pitcher Jordan Bell. 

“Coach (Dan Porreco) told me the pitch before that on any little dribbler you have to get home,” Meiser said. “I saw Cam have that beautiful 2-strike approach and got the ball down. I had a good jump and went for it.”

The aggressive move on the bases sends D’Evelyn (18-7 record) to its first trip back to the 8-team double-elimination state tournament since 2022 when the Jaguars were in the 4A classification.

“It feels good, obviously,” D’Evelyn coach Dan Porreco said of the Jaguars back into the state tournament for the first time in four years. “These guys have been working hard. They get along, which makes it wonderful. We brought this ‘believe’ thing out and we’ve been going with it ever since. Things just have gone our way and you need that a little bit.”

D’Evelyn had a 3-game losing streak in the middle of 4A/3A Jeffco League play, but righted the ship since the calendar turned to May. The Jaguars are on a 6-game winning streak when they begin the 3A state tournament Friday, May 22, in Greeley.

The No. 6-seeded Jaguars will face No. 3 Montezuma-Cortez (20-5) at noon Friday, May 22, at University High School. 

“Those first two games are really important,” Porreco said of Friday’s game against Montezuma-Coretz and then that winner facing the winner of Elizabeth/Eaton later Friday at University High School. “There are so many great teams in 3A.”

Colorado Academy came into the regional championship game after a 7-1 morning victory against Alameda. The Mustangs were attempting to atone for getting upset as at No. 2 host seed last season by Valley in the Region 2 title game.

The Mustangs jumped out to a 3-0 lead early against D’Evelyn, but D’Evelyn answered back with a 3-run bottom of the second inning. Colorado Academy plated a run in the fourth and sixth inning to regain the lead 5-3.

“We just needed to get some runs. There wasn’t any difference in the thought process when we were done,” D’Evelyn sophomore Leo Vigil said of the Jaguars trailing 5-3 heading to the bottom of the sixth inning. 

Freshman Jake Seda scored on a passed ball to cut the lead to 5-4. Vigil had the big hit with a 2-run single in the bottom of the sixth inning.

“It was pretty loud and it was pretty fun,” Vigil said of his 2-run single that gave D’Evelyn its first lead of the game at 6-5. “I was just thinking about macaroni and cheese. I saw fastball and hit it.”

Colorado Academy answered scoring a run on an error in the top of the seventh inning to tie the game at 6-6. The Jaguars didn’t flinch having to answer back to get the victory and punch their ticket to state.

Meiser singled and Seda reached on an error to set the table for Holthaus to put the ball in play to give Meiser a chance to end it.

“We made things happen, which was good,” Porreco said of the Jaguars eking out the game-winning run on the bottom of the seventh inning. “It was a great game with two really good teams. You hate to see one go down.”

Porreco was limited with his pitching options. Seda has been one of the Jaguars top pitchers this season, but has been dealing with a sore arm. Senior Darian Valdez-Berriel picked up the win against CA, coming in relief of senior Kevyn Feldon in the top of the sixth inning.

Kudos to those three seniors,” Porreco said of Meiser, Feldon and Valdez-Berriel, who carried the pitching load for the Jaguars on Saturday. “They came in and got the job done.”

Porreco said he doubts Seda will be able to pitch during the first two days of the state tournament coming up May 22 and 23, but he said the freshman might be able to play a position. Seda was D’Evelyn’s designated hitter in both regionals games.

“There was a lot of pressure of course,” said Meiser, who pitched a complete-game 5-inning shutout victory in D’Evelyn’s regional opener against La Junta. “We are always ready to step up and do what we need to do to get the job done.”