LAKEWOOD — Regis Jesuit bats were scorching Saturday afternoon at Keli McGregor Field at Blue Sky All-Star Park.
The Raiders piled up 16 hits in a 14-8 victory over Arvada West to grab the driver’s seat in the Class 5A baseball double-elimination state tournament.
“It feels good,” Regis senior Jack Manthey said after the Raiders went 3-0 over the first two days of the state tournament. “As a team we have worked so hard to be here and be in this moment to compete at this level with a great team like A-West.”
No. 3 Regis ended top-seed A-West’s 22-game winning streak as the Raiders (22-6 record) automatically advances to the 5A title game Saturday, May 30, back to All-Start Park. The other three remaining teams in the 5A tournament are Legend, Pine Creek and A-West.
Legend and Pine Creek will play in an elimination game at 10 am Friday, May 29, at All-Star Park, with the winner facing A-West in another elimination game at 12:30 p.m. Friday. The survivor of Friday’s games will then have to defeat Regis twice on Saturday.
Regis has been in this position recently. In the 5A state baseball tournament in 2024, the Raiders went 3-0 during the first week of the tournament. However, Cherry Creek battled through the consolation bracket and then defeated Regis twice to rip the state title away from the Raiders.
“Two years ago we were in the same spot and lost both games,” Manthey said. “We’ve got to have a great week of practice and compete at our best next Saturday.”
The recent history will defintely be on the mind of the Regis players and coaches this week.
“Our coaches have learned from the past,” Regis junior Brady Wright said of the ending of the 2024 state tournament. “We can’t be too cautious. You have to leave everything out on the field every single day no matter the circumstances.”
Wright got the offensive festivities started for the Raiders against the Wildcats (24-4). The senior ripped a 2-run double in the top of the first inning to give Regis an early 2-0 lead.
“We prepare so much for these type of moments,” Wright said. “Our coaches are always putting pressure on us to show up in practice and practice like it is a game. That really helped us and I think we are the calmest team out here.”
A-West, who hadn’t lost a game since March 20 during its out-of-state Spring Break trip, did take the lead 4-3 in the bottom of the third inning with a solo home run by senior Levi Lueck.
However, Regis scored eight unanswered runs putting up crooked numbers in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to grab a 11-4 lead. The biggest blow with a bases clearing 3-run double by Manthey in the fifth inning to push the lead to 8-4.
“It felt great,” Manthey said of his 3-run double that highlighted the 4-run fifth inning for Regis. “These past two days or so I’ve been struggling a little at the plate. I saw that pitch well. It looked like a beachball up there.”
A-West eventually used five different pitchers against Regis. Senior Brayden Reiner and junior Cooper Vais got the wins on the mound in Friday’s victories over Chatfield and Pine Creek, but the Wildcats gave up a season-high 14 runs in the loss.
“In these types of weekends it about who is the grittiest and who has the most arms,” Manthey said of catching five different pitchers in the win. “We were able through. Everyone pithed in and did their part. That is what really matters.”
Fittingly, Wright who started the offensive fireworks ended up getting the final outs on the mound for the Raiders. He gave up a 2-run double to A-West junior Jeramiah Gonzales in the bottom of the seventh inning, but got Reiner to pop out to third base to end the game.
“I haven’t had much of an opportunity on the mound all year,” said Wright, who pitched just under 10 innings this season in three pervious appearances. “I know my coaches trust me and I trust my team. That trust around us is the biggest thing we have.”
The biggest thing Regis has next Saturday is having to just win one games to claim the program’s fourth state baseball championship and first since 2019.