BASEBALL PLAYOFFSTwo area teams host single-elimination district tournaments today. No. 3 seed Air Academy (18-1) went undefeated in conference play this season and will host the 5A District 5 field that includes No. 19 Doherty (12-6).Air Academy senior Ron Burton bats .600 and leads the team with 42 RBIs. Senior pitcher Dexter Price is 7-0.No. 6 Fountain-Fort Carson (16-3) hosts 4A District 6. It faces No. 27 Alameda (10-9) at 10 a.m.”We are preparing just like we would for every game this season, focusing on playing solid fundamental baseball,” Trojans coach Matt Buczkowski said.Buczkowski is confident about his pitching and will send senior Shayne Hulce out at 10 a.m. with junior Chris Howard available for the 3 p.m. game if the Trojans advance to face the winner of No. 22 Liberty (12-7) and No. 11 Fossil Ridge (15-4).GIRLS SOCCERCSCS 9, Frontier Academy 1At Four Diamonds: Colorado Springs Christian School (13-3-1) advanced to next week’s state playoffs, led by Lauren Hammerstrom’s two goals and two assists and two goals and an assist from Reade Tilman.No. 3 Lewis-Palmer 4, Pikes Peak No. 7 Liberty 2At Lewis-Palmer: The 5A Rangers (11-2-2) led 2-0 at halftime. Natalie Wooster scored her first goal of the season to seal the win. The Lancers enter the 4A playoffs at 6-7-2 overall.TRACK AND FIELDRampart boys, Widefield girls win invitational titleAt Spartan/Indian Invitational: The Rampart boys won with 115 points. Devin Mohn moved to relays where he helped the 200-meter relay finish second despite the weather. “We froze,” Rams coach Randy Barringer said. “It was the survival of the fittest and I told my kids it was about courage and to not worry about their times.”The Widefield girls won with 89 points. Joy Warrington won the shot put and discus while Desarey Baloon won the 300 hurdles, edging out Doherty’s Carly Allen and Rampart’s Sara Benson.

Michael Hague, an artist known for his work in “The Wind in the Willows” and “The Velveteen Rabbit,”worked on illustrations for a children’s book in his Broadmoor-area home. Photo by (MARK REIS, THE GAZETTE)