Friday’s prep roundup: Cheyenne Mountain, Peyton baseball advance to state tournament
BASEBALL
4A Region 7
At Cheyenne Mountain
Cheyenne Mountain 7, Ponderosa 5
Trailing 3-1 entering the bottom of the fifth inning, the Cheyenne Mountain (20-4, 13-1 5A/4A Pikes Peak) offense exploded for five runs, taking the lead for good to advance past Ponderosa (10-14, 3-7 5A/4A Continental).
Junior Hank Morley knocked in three RBIs for Cheyenne Mountain, while juniors Devin Dodson and Grant Mondejar combined to craft a pitching performance that proved enough for the Indians to advance.
Roosevelt 3, Air Academy 2
The season came to an end for Air Academy, as the Kadets (13-11, 8-6 5A/4A Pikes Peak) fell in a close game with Roosevelt (16-8, 11-5 5A/4A Tri-Valley).
Cheyenne Mountain 7, Roosevelt 5
It was a case of same day, same score for Cheyenne Mountain in the next round, as the Indians (21-4, 13-1) beat Roosevelt (17-8, 11-5). The game was such a carbon copy of the matchup with Ponderosa that Cheyenne Mountain again scored five runs in the bottom of the fifth on the way to the win.
Juniors Ryan Berkhoff (three RBIs) and Michael Ellis (two RBIs) helped pace the Cheyenne Mountain offense. Sophomore Brad Helton and Mondejar split the work on the mound, each going just over three innings, again doing their job to give the Indians the openings that made the difference.
The Indians are one of eight teams still standing in the 4A tournament.
2A Regionals
At Runyon Complex, Pueblo
Peyton 3, Sargent 0
No. 1 overall seed Peyton (20-1, 6-0 2A District 8) handled a game Sargent (11-9, 7-3 2A District 1) team to advance to the next round.
Senior Rodney Gregg was masterful on the mound for the Panthers, pitching a one-hit complete game with 16 strikeouts.
Peyton scored one run in the third inning and added two in the sixth for good measure.
Peyton 10, Holly 0 (5 innings)
After a slightly less comfortable victory in round one, the Panthers (21-1, 6-0) cruised by Holly (17-5, 6-2 2A District 6) to advance to the state semifinals on May 25, where 12 seed Wiggins awaits.
Seven runs in the bottom of the fifth inning ended the game, as five Peyton players recorded RBIs.
BOYS SWIMMING
4A State Preliminaries
At Veterans Memorial Aquatics Center, Thornton
Friday at state swimming was good for the Discovery Canyon Thunder. One swimmer from each grade helped Discovery Canyon win the 200 medley relay prelim, as freshman Quintin McCarty, sophomore Andrew McGill, junior Tommy Rauchut and senior Braden Whitmarsh combined to record a time of 1:34.51. The teams for Cheyenne Mountain (sixth, 1:39.50) and Coronado (tenth 1:40.65) also advanced.
That wasn’t all for the Discovery Canyon foursome, as each swimmer from the medley relay found success in individual events as well. Whitmarsh advanced in the 200 freestyle, recording a time of 1:43.93, good enough for sixth place. McGill did the same in the 200 IM, coming in sixth at 1:57.09. McCarty dashed to finish first in the 50 free with a time of 21.09, and Rauchut recorded a 51.67 in the 100 butterfly to finish fourth.
The prolific Discovery Canyon quartet also won the 400 free relay with a time of 3:09.97.
Other local schools to find success included Cheyenne Mountain, which saw Gabe Grauvogel qualify in fourth in the 200 IM (1:56.34) and third in the 100 breaststroke (58.61), Raglan Ward finish seventh in the 100 free (48.49), and the team of Grauvogel, Ward, Forrest Buck and Ryan Leach take fifth in the 200 free relay (1:29.49).
Teams from Air Academy, Discovery Canyon, and Coronado joined Cheyenne Mountain in the top 10 of the 200 free relay.
Joshua-Ryan Lujan from Pine Creek finished first in the 100 breaststroke by almost a full second, recording a time of 57.78. Griffin Ayotte of Air Academy led local finishers in the 100 freestyle, finishing fifth with a time of 47.24. The same was true in the 50 free, where Ayotte tied for fourth in 21.66 seconds.
Finals are Saturday in Thornton.