By John Cackowski
Colorado State Director

 

When looking at the 4A District Bracket the first thing that stands out is the good teams playing against each other in the first game. Just because you are a host team does not mean you got a break in first round. The #5 Seed Pueblo East at 15-4 on the season gets a tough draw in #28 seed Mesa Ridge with a record of 14-5. Another good game has a #22 seed Elizabeth at 15-4 facing a strong hitting #12 Seed Green Mountain team at 13-6. #9 Lewis Palmer with 16 wins gets a tough draw with #24 Fort Morgan at 14-5. Read below on some players to watch in the 4A district playoffs. In the review, the first paragraph is the 10:00 game, the 2nd paragraph is the 12:30 game. The winner of these games will play for a birth in the final 8 at 3:00

District 1

#1 Seed Montrose draws a Coronado team led by Junior Emilio Martinez: (3 HR, 21 RBI, .462 BA), and Seniors Mason Telander (.475 2 HR 21 RBI) and Carter Gerber (.407 12 2B and 21 RBI). Coronado comes in with only a 7 and 12 record but has an arm in Martinez who threw 41 innings on the season collecting 54 k's with a 2.52 ERA. 

#16 Erie at 12-7 brings a team with a strong balanced pitching staff led by Senior Caleb Crites 2.97 ERA in 30 IP and 34 Ks and junior Kyle Leahy with a 1.29 ERA in 21 IP and 26 K's. They will face a #17 seed Palmer Ridge Team at 13-6 who is being led by the offensive production of Junior Cole Huford (.493 BA, 3 HR, 11 2B, and 23 RBI's) and Junior Jake Grubesic who has been strong on the mound this year posting a 7-1 record with a 1.75 ERA in 40 IP.  

District 2

Evergreen is a very strong #8 seed with a 16-3 record. They have had balanced offensive production throughout the team led by Daniel Gibbins (.500 BA, 6 HR 21 RBI) But the real strength has been their dominant pitching. Senior Oregon commit Brock Burke has 66 Ks in 33 innings backed by a 1.06 ERA and Jake Englehart 1.68 ERA in 33 IP. Their team ERA is 1.72. They will face #25 seed Air Academy at 12-7. Air Academy will bring an offense that could compete with Evergreen's strong pitching. In 57 AB's Senior Ryan McCarthy brings a .526 BA to the game and Senior Jeremy Hockmuth is hitting .439 in 57 AB's as well. Sophomore Bailey Hanson leads the team with 22 RBI backed up by a .429 BA and 7 2B. 

Lewis Palmer with a 16-3 record was only awarded the #9 seed for their strong season.  Sophomore Paul Tillotson has been outstanding scoring 28 runs, hitting .618 and has 3 HR, 9 2b 22 RBI on the season. Lewis Palmers pitching staff has been dominating led by Junior Colin Cicere 7-0, 44 IP, 61 K's 0.80 ERA and Sophomore Paul Tillotson who won 6 games and also had over 60 k's in 38 IP backed by a 1.81 ERA. Their matchup against #25 seed Fort Morgan at 14-5 could be a low scoring affair because they too bring a balanced pitching attack led by Senior Jared Bohm who won 7 games on the season to go with a 57 Ks in 48 innings backed by a 2.88 ERA and Sophomore Kyle Daniels who won 6 games to go with 59 ks in 47 IP backed by a 2.35 ERA. This looks like a good matchup. 


District 3

#4 Seed Delta brings a 17-2 record to this district. They have been dominating all season. In their 17 wins, 8 have come by run rule. They will match up against #29 Pueblo West at 8-10 on the season. Their go to guy on the mound is Junior Tyler Evans who has thrown 41 innings on the season posting a 1.54 ERA. Senior Zac Drury brings a .531 BA in 64 AB's. Juniors Javy Garcia and Chase Trujillo help lead a balanced offensive attack both hitting over .460. 

Niwot is another 16-win team with a tough seeding at #13. Senior Pate Katechis for the Cougars has 26 RBI's 3 HR and senior Tanner Kirkpatrick is hitting .481 with over 20 RBI's. Soph Ford Ladd leads the pitching staff with a 6-0 record and 2.33 ERA. #20 Seed Canyon City comes in with at 12-7 record. Canyon City always scrappy started the season off 6-2 but struggled a little down the stretch but won their last two games to regain their early season momentum.  


District 4

District 4 looks like the one any four can come out of. #5 Seed Pueblo East won their last seven games of the season including the final one against Pueblo South 16 to 13 to win the South Central League to finish 15-4. Senior Ryan Laydon finished 7-1 with 48 Ks in 47 innings including 3 shutouts. Junior Sonny Arellano led the offense with a .433 BA, 8 2B, and 29 RBI and Senior Wes Martin who hit .444 on the season with 19 RBI's. Also don't forget about Sioux Falls commit Dylan Gavin who hit .356 this season.  They will match up against a pretty strong #28 seed in Mesa Ridge who is 14-5 on the year. Junior Logan Beatty and Senior Jake Grotelueschen have had outstanding seasons. Beatty is hitting .592 with 4 HR and 35 RBI's. Grotelueschen is keeping pace with his teammate hitting .586 with 3 HR and 32 RBI's. Grotelueschen also has 6 wins on the season with 62 Ks in 44 IP with a 1.57 ERA. Should be a great game. 


#12 Seed Green Mountain at 13-6 brings their home run hitting attack with 7 different players with the ability to hit the long ball lead by Sophomore Wyatt Featherston with 6 HR, 29 RBI, and Junior Cole Shetterly hitting .481 with 5 HR and 30 RBI's.  Junior Josh Ramirez paces team on the mound with 7 wins. They will face an Elizabeth team coming in with a 15-4 record as the #21 Seed. They have outscored their opponents by over 100 runs 195-80. Senior Brandon Severinson leads an offense where it seems everyone is hitting over .400. Severinson is hitting .531 with 3 HR and 19RBI's. Junior Sean Herr and Senior Bill Kinsely are a combined 10-1 on the mound. 

District 5

#2 seed Windsor brings in a team 1.97 ERA lead by Senior Garrett Hammond (4-0, 1.67 ERA), Senior Greg Medina (5-0, 1.80 ERA) and Junior Cole Brandon being the anchor at 8-0 and a 1.30 ERA. Windor's only loss on the season was to 15-4 Pueblo East 6-5. They cannot overlook a Broomfield program that brings a ton of playoff tradition winning a 4A state championship as recently at 2012. #31 Seed Broomfield comes in at 9-10 but have a phenomenal arm in Junior Brandon Bailey who posted an 11-0 record and only gave up 49 hits in 75 innings to combine with 112 K's and 1.21 ERA. After Bailey they have Senior Jackson Lockwood who almost posted similar stats with a 10-2 record giving up 46 hits in 73 innings with 99 K's and a 1.62 ERA. Might not be a lot of runs in this game. 

#15 Seed Longmont brings a 12-7 record to the table against #18 Seed Thomas Jefferson who is 11-8. Marshall commit Andrew Bladt  leads a Longmont offense hitting .438 on the season with 24 RBI's 8 2B an 3 HR. Senior Cameron Yee has also had a good season leading the team with 24 runs, and also hitting .437. Longmont was looking strong with a 12-4 record but would lose their last 3 games of the season going into Districts. Thomas Jefferson also struggled down the stretch losing their last 4 games in a row. Garden City CC commit Corey Bowermaster has had a good season for T.J. hitting .386 with 4 HR and 23 RBI's. Senior Sam Reed has been very strong on the mound this year going 5-1 with a 1.87 ERA. Reed has 82 K's in 44 innings. 

District 6

When some teams look at the 4A bracket they might question why #7 seed Durango gets to host with a 11-8 record but they had 8 games on their schedule against traditionally tough 5A opponents and they went 5-3 in those games. They have a very balanced offense with Senior Jeremy Szura (.435, 5 3B and 23 RBI's), Senior Blake Dunlap (.439, 19 RBI's 2HR), Senior Isaiah Mayberry (.441 20 RBI's), and Junior Casey Dunlap (.455 18 RBI's and 2 HR) They meet #26 seed Eagle Valley who went 10-8-1 on the season. Senior Travis Edgar led Eagle Valley with a .528 BA with 22 RBI's and 2 HR. He also was their #1 pitcher going 4-0 with a 2.38 ERA in 53 IP and had 73 K's. Senior Cody Byres hit .393 on the season with 20 RBI's as well. 

#10 Seed Ponderosa played in the tough Continental League of 5A, which is not just the best league in the state but maybe in the Rocky Mountain Region. Junior Bryan King, a mid 80's throwing lefty held is own going 4-1 on the season striking out 60 in 44 innings. A very scrappy team offensively they have a lineup 1 through 9 that are all tough outs and can beat you in a lot of different ways. They will play #23 Seed Rifle from the Western Slope coming in at 12-7. Bailey Hoffmeister was the main guy on the mound going 7-2 with 50 IP and a 1.96 ERA. Senior Teig Hauer is hitting .481 on the season. 

District 7

#3 Seed Valor Christian (14-5) is led by Grand Canyon commit Hayden Gerlach. Gerlach has had an outstanding year hitting .441 on the season with 6 HR and 24 RBI's. His teammate senior Justin Falls has kept pace with a .413 BA, 3 HR, 26 RBI and 12 2B. Valor also had 7 games against 5A opponents going 4-3 in those games. They will face #30 seed Widefield out of Colorado Springs who went 9-10 on the season. A player to watch for Widefield is Junior Isaiah Volcic. Volcic hit .481 on the season with 13 2B and 20 RBI's. His senior brother Jacob Volcic went 4-2 on the season pitching 29 innings with 30 K's and a 3.30 ERA. 


#14 Seed Skyline at 12-7 have three pitchers that can get the job done in Garrett Angstead (2-1, 1.89 ERA 28 IP) Thomas Hoog (4-4, 38 IP 2.56 ERA) and Aaron Soriano (5-1, 42 IP and a 3.12 ERA) Looks like Skyline can run a little with 44 stolen bases on the season. The Falcons will play #19 seed D'Evelyn who comes in at 11-8. Junior Grant Witherspoon showed some power this year hitting 7 HR to go with a 5 2B, 25 RBI, and a .475 BA. Hit teammate sophomore Dylan Nelson hit .466 with 4 HR, 22 RBI's 10 2B. 

District 8

In the last district you get always tough #6 seed Wheat Ridge who went 16-3 this year. The Farmers always have strong offensive teams prevalent to their 203 runs scored this season. Senior Nick Ricigliano hit .455 backed by 6 HR and 26 RBI's. His sophomore teammate Chase Powell hit .554 with 2HR and 20 runs scored. The Farmers won 14 out of their last 15 games. They will face #27 Seed Denver North coming in at 11-8. The Vikings had a good year from senior Abel Gonzalez on the mound who went 4-3 in 40 IP and 45 K's carrying  2.08 ERA. He also hit .464 on the season. 

#11 Seed Palisade went 13-6 on the season and 32 RBI's and 2 HR from Troy Levinson. Cameron Cambell also hit well batting .423  to go with 20 RBI and 10 2B on the season. They will face a tough #22 seed in Pueblo South who went 12-7 on the season. Senior Cory Voss had 4 HR on the season hitting .469 with 22 RBI's, and his sophomore teammate Brandon Maes had another 4 HR, 25 RBI's and hit .426. Senior Rick Ausbun hit .469 scoring 25 runs for the Colts.