Saturday’s prep roundup: Cheyenne Mountain advances to 4A girls’ soccer final
GIRLS’ SOCCER
4A Semifinals
(21) Cheyenne Mountain 1, (8) Silver Creek 0
At Aurora: Lisa Long put Cheyenne Mountain ahead to stay with 7:06 left in a weather-delayed first half, and the Indians held off Silver Creek to advance to the 4A state championship game for the first time since 2015.
Cheyenne Mountain (11-8) started the season with four straight losses and didn’t get over the .500 mark until an overtime win at Mead in the first round of the playoffs.
“Throughout the season, each game was getting a little bit better,” Indians coach Nikki Athey said. “We were getting more connected as a team. We just started to gel where we were playing with and for each other. You could see that progression.”
In the first half alone, lightning caused three 30-minute delays.
Cheyenne Mountain will meet No. 3 Evergreen at 5 p.m. Wednesday at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City. Earlier this season, the Indians beat the Cougars 2-0.
“That was one of our best games, and they’re going to want redemption,” Athey said. “We’re going to have to find another gear to maintain this. It’s going to be a challenge, and my kids will have to step up and play with a lot of heart and want it more.”
Athey previously served as head coach at Cheyenne Mountain from 2005-09, leading the program to state crowns in 2005 and 2007 and was an assistant to Jack Busher when the Indians hoisted the trophy in 1997.
(3) Evergreen 3, (7) Sand Creek 1
At Aurora: Elizabeth Rapp’s goal with 16:55 left in the first half broke a scoreless tie, then Evergreen put the game away with two goals late in the second half as the Cougars ended Sand Creek’s season one game shy of the state-championship contest.
Sydney Lasater scored for the Scorpions (16-3) off an assist from Jadyn Ledoux in the game’s final seconds to prevent the shutout.
“We came out hard in the second half, and I thought we were going to tie it up,” Sand Creek coach Jeremy Tafoya said. “We had a couple of really good chances in each half that we just didn’t finish. They finished their chances. We didn’t.”
BASEBALL
5A Region 6
Chaparral 7, Pine Creek 3
Pine Creek 3, Broomfield 0
At Pine Creek: Riley Cornelio tossed 6 2-3 innings of no-hit ball to pace Pine Creek past Broomfield in the semifinal, but Chaparral banged out three, two-run homers in the finale to advance to next week’s 5A state tournament.
Kyle Matthews put the Wolverines (16-9) ahead to stay with a two-run shot in the first inning, then McKown added blasts in the third and sixth innings that increased the advantage to 6-0.
Parker Gregory had a two-run single in the seventh inning for Pine Creek (17-8).
Earlier, Cornelio fanned 10 batters, and Kenny Steele got the final out for a combined no-hitter in the Eagles’ shutout of Broomfield. Kit Wigington had two RBIs for Pine Creek.
4A Region 1
Pueblo West 6, Palmer Ridge 3
Palmer Ridge 6, Conifer 1
Pueblo West 12, TCA 5
At Pueblo West: Kyle Jameson’s two-run double highlighted a six-run third inning as Pueblo West, the 4A state runner-up last season, swept play at its home-based regional to return to the state tournament.
Bridger Havens scored on an error in the second to give Palmer Ridge (17-8) a 1-0 lead.
Jack Wotta tripled and drove in three runs in early action as the Bears built a big lead in a win over Conifer. Havens and Jai Leister also drove in runs for the Bears.
TCA (16-8) gave the Cyclones a scare in the opener, falling behind 6-0 early before Noah Lasecki’s bases-clearing double that brought the Titans to within 6-5 in the fifth.
4A Region 5
Pueblo Central 8, Lewis-Palmer 5
At Longmont: A five-run second inning, aided by three errors and a walk, was Lewis-Palmer’s undoing as the Rangers couldn’t recover in a region semifinal loss to Pueblo Central.
The Rangers (15-9), down 8-1 late, scored four runs in the sixth inning to make it close. Jason Shuger had an RBI single and struck out 13 batters in five innings of relief.
3A Region 7
Manitou Springs 10, Sterling 8
At Sterling: Manitou Springs scored the day’s biggest upset as the Mustangs, ranked No. 8 in the regional and 30th in the 32-team playoff field, shocked host and No. 3-ranked Sterling.
The Mustangs (11-13) won’t know who they’ll play until later Sunday. The other semifinal between Buena Vista and Lutheran was suspended, and action is scheduled to resume at 2 p.m.
With Manitou Springs’ graduation ceremonies scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday, the decision was made to move all of Sunday’s games to western El Paso County.
3A Region 8
3A Region 8
St. Mary’s 7, Brush 2
St. Mary’s 14, The Academy 4
At Grace Center: Eddie Romo and Anthony Depner each pitched complete games, while St. Mary’s got an offensive boost from Josh White, who drove in eight runs to help the Pirates beat The Academy and Brush to advance to the 3A state tournament for the first time since 2016.
“Pitching and defense have been carrying us,” Pirates coach Bill Percy said. “We knew that once we got to this stage, we’d have to start producing runs.”
White had missed eight weeks after suffering a broken wrist at a tournament in March and just recently returned to the St. Mary’s lineup.
Romo added a 5-for-6 combined effort with a pair of doubles, while Sam Baldwin drove in six runs.
2A
Rye 10, Calhan 0
Calhan 18, Holyoke 1
At Pueblo: Rye, which edged upset-minded Limon 4-3 in nine innings in early action, blew out Calhan later to move into next weekend’s 2A state semifinals.
The sixth-seeded squad in the 16-team field, Calhan (17-6) started the day with an 18-1 drubbing of Holyoke that was fueled by a 13-run first inning. Ty Mitchell had three RBIs for the Bulldogs, while Eddie Glaser and Logan Glaser had two each.
Saturday’s prep roundup: Cheyenne Mountain advances to 4A girls’ soccer final
GIRLS’ SOCCER
4A Semifinals
(21) Cheyenne Mountain 1, (8) Silver Creek 0
At Aurora: Lisa Long put Cheyenne Mountain ahead to stay with 7:06 left in a weather-delayed first half, and the Indians held off Silver Creek to advance to the 4A state championship game for the first time since 2015.
Cheyenne Mountain (11-8) started the season with four straight losses and didn’t get over the .500 mark until an overtime win at Mead in the first round of the playoffs.
“Throughout the season, each game was getting a little bit better,” Indians coach Nikki Athey said. “We were getting more connected as a team. We just started to gel where we were playing with and for each other. You could see that progression.”
In the first half alone, lightning caused three 30-minute delays.
Cheyenne Mountain will meet No. 3 Evergreen at 5 p.m. Wednesday at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City. Earlier this season, the Indians beat the Cougars 2-0.
“That was one of our best games, and they’re going to want redemption,” Athey said. “We’re going to have to find another gear to maintain this. It’s going to be a challenge, and my kids will have to step up and play with a lot of heart and want it more.”
Athey previously served as head coach at Cheyenne Mountain from 2005-09, leading the program to state crowns in 2005 and 2007 and was an assistant to Jack Busher when the Indians hoisted the trophy in 1997.
(3) Evergreen 3, (7) Sand Creek 1
At Aurora: Elizabeth Rapp’s goal with 16:55 left in the first half broke a scoreless tie, then Evergreen put the game away with two goals late in the second half as the Cougars ended Sand Creek’s season one game shy of the state-championship contest.
Sydney Lasater scored for the Scorpions (16-3) off an assist from Jadyn Ledoux in the game’s final seconds to prevent the shutout.
“We came out hard in the second half, and I thought we were going to tie it up,” Sand Creek coach Jeremy Tafoya said. “We had a couple of really good chances in each half that we just didn’t finish. They finished their chances. We didn’t.”
BASEBALL
5A Region 6
Chaparral 7, Pine Creek 3
Pine Creek 3, Broomfield 0
At Pine Creek: Riley Cornelio tossed 6 2-3 innings of no-hit ball to pace Pine Creek past Broomfield in the semifinal, but Chaparral banged out three, two-run homers in the finale to advance to next week’s 5A state tournament.
Kyle Matthews put the Wolverines (16-9) ahead to stay with a two-run shot in the first inning, then McKown added blasts in the third and sixth innings that increased the advantage to 6-0.
Parker Gregory had a two-run single in the seventh inning for Pine Creek (17-8).
Earlier, Cornelio fanned 10 batters, and Kenny Steele got the final out for a combined no-hitter in the Eagles’ shutout of Broomfield. Kit Wigington had two RBIs for Pine Creek.
4A Region 1
Pueblo West 6, Palmer Ridge 3
Palmer Ridge 6, Conifer 1
Pueblo West 12, TCA 5
At Pueblo West: Kyle Jameson’s two-run double highlighted a six-run third inning as Pueblo West, the 4A state runner-up last season, swept play at its home-based regional to return to the state tournament.
Bridger Havens scored on an error in the second to give Palmer Ridge (17-8) a 1-0 lead.
Jack Wotta tripled and drove in three runs in early action as the Bears built a big lead in a win over Conifer. Havens and Jai Leister also drove in runs for the Bears.
TCA (16-8) gave the Cyclones a scare in the opener, falling behind 6-0 early before Noah Lasecki’s bases-clearing double that brought the Titans to within 6-5 in the fifth.
4A Region 5
Pueblo Central 8, Lewis-Palmer 5
At Longmont: A five-run second inning, aided by three errors and a walk, was Lewis-Palmer’s undoing as the Rangers couldn’t recover in a region semifinal loss to Pueblo Central.
The Rangers (15-9), down 8-1 late, scored four runs in the sixth inning to make it close. Jason Shuger had an RBI single and struck out 13 batters in five innings of relief.
3A Region 7
Manitou Springs 10, Sterling 8
At Sterling: Manitou Springs scored the day’s biggest upset as the Mustangs, ranked No. 8 in the regional and 30th in the 32-team playoff field, shocked host and No. 3-ranked Sterling.
The Mustangs (11-13) won’t know who they’ll play until later Sunday. The other semifinal between Buena Vista and Lutheran was suspended, and action is scheduled to resume at 2 p.m.
With Manitou Springs’ graduation ceremonies scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday, the decision was made to move all of Sunday’s games to western El Paso County.
3A Region 8
3A Region 8
St. Mary’s 7, Brush 2
St. Mary’s 14, The Academy 4
At Grace Center: Eddie Romo and Anthony Depner each pitched complete games, while St. Mary’s got an offensive boost from Josh White, who drove in eight runs to help the Pirates beat The Academy and Brush to advance to the 3A state tournament for the first time since 2016.
“Pitching and defense have been carrying us,” Pirates coach Bill Percy said. “We knew that once we got to this stage, we’d have to start producing runs.”
White had missed eight weeks after suffering a broken wrist at a tournament in March and just recently returned to the St. Mary’s lineup.
Romo added a 5-for-6 combined effort with a pair of doubles, while Sam Baldwin drove in six runs.
2A
Rye 10, Calhan 0
Calhan 18, Holyoke 1
At Pueblo: Rye, which edged upset-minded Limon 4-3 in nine innings in early action, blew out Calhan later to move into next weekend’s 2A state semifinals.
The sixth-seeded squad in the 16-team field, Calhan (17-6) started the day with an 18-1 drubbing of Holyoke that was fueled by a 13-run first inning. Ty Mitchell had three RBIs for the Bulldogs, while Eddie Glaser and Logan Glaser had two each.