By Jordan Cantalamessa
Regional Scout 

AURORA, CO - When the week started, there was a new team atop the division, and this time Regis Jesuit was the team who ascended to the top after two consecutive weeks of a power shift by beating the Mountain Vista Golden Eagle on Wednesday 2-0.

The Regis Raiders rode in to the game against Mountain Vista with a 9-0 record in the always tough Continental League, and were on a scorching 11-game winning streak.

The game featured two quality pitching prospects in Mountain Vista’s hard throwing Nick Leonard (Washington State commit) who is making a strong bid for pitcher of the year, and Regis right handed senior Brent Schwarz (Rice commit).

In a game where it seemed the gale force winds figured to be the biggest factor between then two teams, the experienced Raiders dug in against the always tough Leonard.  The Raiders stuck early, in the very first inning they put up two runs on flyballs that on a normal day would be relatively easy outs.  But the wind gods on this day had other plans, and the routine flyballs turned into an adventure and a 2-0 lead for the Raiders.

Regis sophomore outfielder Quin Cotton led off for the Raiders and drove the ball into right field that turned into a wind-blown double.  This brought up senior shortstop Max George (Oregon State commit) who hit an identical ball to rightfield, that proved to be a triple because of George’s exceptional speed, which scored Cotton giving the Raiders a 1-0 lead. Senior DH, Justin Thaxton (Pacific commit) tallied an RBI as he brought home George on a groundout to the infield.

From this point, the game turned into a defensive battle, which was played strongly by both teams but most notably by the Raiders pitching performances by Brent Schwarz who gave up only 4 hits and zero runs in five strong innings, followed by the closer David Peterson (Oregon commit) who dominated 2 innings pitched giving up only 1 hit on zero runs.  Max George, the two-time All-Colorado selection also provided some flash in the infield turning a pair of double plays on the day.

Schwarz, Peterson and Mountain Vista’s Leonard who notched another complete game, combined for 13 shutout innings.

Mountain Vista didn’t go down without a fight, earning multiple chances to get back in the game with runners in scoring position, but didn’t ever get the timely hit they needed to get them back in the game.

This was by no surprise, as Peterson entered the game in the 6^th inning and looked dominate.  The tall 6-foot-6, 230-pound lefty threw his 4 seam fastball consistently around 88-89mph, topping out at 90, and had pinpoint control, which proved to be the proverbial nail in the coffin, securing the Regis Raiders as champs of the Continental Division.

The Raiders now await the district pairings, which are due out in a week. 

Notable Stats and Stars:

Regis Raiders: 

Brent Schwarz faced 18 batters on 5 innings pitched.  Allowed 4 hits on zero runs, striking out 4 batters on zero base on balls

David Peterson faced 7 batters on 2 innings pitched.  Allowed 1 hit on zero runs, striking out 3 on 1 base on balls.

Max George went 2-for-3 with an RBI triple.  Had 6 put outs on 6 total chances with zero errors.