The Classical Academy’s baseball team is exactly where it hoped to be at the start of the year: the final weekend of the season. 

TCA’s road required to reach that coveted gold plaque doesn’t matter. The Titans craved an opportunity to win the 3A state baseball tournament. It’s a doozy of a journey, but the Titans don’t mind the challenge. 

The Classical Academy will travel to Greeley on Friday and needs four consecutive wins to secure the state title. Titans coach Bart Jennings said he and his players aren’t looking ahead to Saturday nor to a potential second game Friday afternoon. Just their 10 a.m. showdown with No. 6 D’Evelyn in the third-round consolation game. 

“This is one game at a time and that’s the way we’ve had to approach our season as well,” Jennings said. “This is another piece of what our program is trying to get to. … To win those four games, we’re going to have to break it down and simplify it and make it one game and one pitch at a time. If we do what we’re supposed to do and execute when it’s necessary, I think we’re going to be hard to beat.” 

The Titans, the No. 4 seed, began the year 0-2, but haven’t dropped consecutive games since and own multiple four-game winning streaks. The Titans (20-7) also boast consecutive wins against Falcon, which is in 4A’s fourth-round consolation game, and Pueblo County, which qualified for Saturday’s 4A state title contest. The win against Pueblo County marked the first in five tries for the Titans. 

Execution. That’s what the Titans managed against the Hornets, Falcons and throughout the year. That also illustrates TCA’s capabilities and what players hope to demonstrate in their next, hopefully, four games. 

“The biggest thing is putting pressure on defenses and putting the ball in play,” senior Zach Mediavilla said. “We can beat any team when we do that and that has to be our approach. Putting the ball in play and limiting strikeouts.”

Against top-seeded University on May 21, the Titans struck out 13 times, just the second time for double-digit strikeouts for TCA this season. Mediavilla said they’ll face top-tier pitching the remainder of the tournament and, as “the table setter” the Titans senior will do whatever is required to avoid another such rut.

“Whether it’s a walk, a single, hit by pitch, I just need to get on base,” Mediavilla said. “I have Grady (Ortiz), I have Chase (Rorabaugh), and I have CJ (Mullen) coming up behind me. When they’re hitting stuff in the gap, I can score from second. The biggest thing for me this year has been knowing my role in the offense.”

Mullen is thankful to have a shot at the title and to still be playing for the Titans. Mullen missed most of April with a fractured left orbital after a scary moment at Eaton’s tournament. 

“I was playing shortstop and I closed in on the runner on second base,” Mullen said. “The pitch was thrown and the ball was hit to my backhand side. I dove for the ball and it took a bad hop and hit me in the eye.” 

Mullen said he was partially blind but “by the grace of God, I’m doing better than ever.” Mullen is also on a five-game hitting streak and was one of a few Titans hitters not to strike out against a stout University pitching staff. Mullen knows the Titans will require that sort of resilience and brilliance against D’Evelyn. 

“Solid defense and excellent hitting,” Mullen said. “That’s how we’re going to beat them. This is going to have to be a game of extra-base hits. Getting guys on base.”

And to do that … 

“We have to execute,” Jennings said. “We’re preparing to win games and not to go the other way. This is baseball, so things can happen. But we don’t think about that. Our mindset is to go out and make a result happen. If we need to will one, then we’ll will one.”