Delta coaches Luis Meza, center, and Clayton Curtis congratulate 152-pound senior Hunter Brasfield after an upset win sent him into the 4A Region 4 semifinals.
Hotchkiss senior Joe Boyle controls Ruben Chagoya of Basalt to win a 3A Region 1 title. He is one of 7 Hotchkiss state qualifiers.
Hotchkiss and Paonia boys will square off this week on the basketball courts. Both are 6-4 in league play.
Delta senior Brooke Taylor scores two of her 12 points against Summit after grabbing an offensive rebound.
Paonia 195-pounder Tyler “TK” Kendall sets Rangely’s Drew Collins up for a pin.
Paonia freshman Bo Pipher sets TJ Richard of North Park up for a pin in Saturday’s regional semifinal round. He is one of 13 Paonia wrestlers headed to state!
Surrounded by coaches and his dad, Conner Beard signs Letter of Intent to play football for the University of Nebraska Kearney.
Hotchkiss' Jacobe Galley signed a Letter of Intent to play football and study engineering at Colorado Mesa University.
Hotchkiss senior Cody Bartlett signed his National Letter of Intent to run cross-country for Hawaii Pacific University.
Photo by Tamie Meck Delta’s 3200m relay team placed fourth at last weekend’s 4A state track meet in Lakewood. Its time, 9:32.92, set a new DHS record. Team members are; left to right, Clarissa Whiting (Sr), Mykayla Music (Fr), Skylyn Webb (Sr) and Cleo Whiting…
Photo by Rich Meck Hotchkiss distance runners, and sisters, Natalie Anderson (left-center) and Mae Anderson start the 3200m run together on the opening day of the state track meet. They were fourth and fifth in the 3200 and fourth and sixth, respectively, in…
Photo by Tamie Meck Andy Pipher and son Bo meet Bo’s opponent during the Parade of Champions at the 2013 state wrestling tournament. Pipher was recently named 2013 Colorado Coach of the Year by the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA).Paonia…
After stealing second, Hotchkiss shortstop Jacobe Galley books past third on his way to a game-tying run.
The Olathe Pirates were full of confidence heading into Saturday's 3A District 3 baseball tournament at Hotchkiss. They'd finished the season with a 14-5 record and in third place in the Western Slope League.
Their season started off slow, but ended with a seven-game win streak, culminating in two big wins over Cedaredge. "Those were the two best games we played all year," said pitcher Willy Corey. "That was a great confidence-builder."
That the Pirates have experience in 11 seniors who had grown up playing ball together was also a confidence-builder. "I have a great defense backing me," said Corey.
Olathe had split a doubleheader against Hotchkiss, and knew that the tournament, that included No. 20 Peak to Peak (12-7) and No. 29 Centauri (7-12), would likely come down to the two local teams.
The Pirates' main concern was Bulldog pitcher Edgar Macias. "We know what kind of pitching they have," said Pirates head coach Darren Sofka. "But you don't know what to expect in this kind of situation."
In the opening game, the Bulldogs held off 29th-seeded Centauri after the Falcons scored two runs in the top of the seventh, with the tying run on second and the winning run on first. But Macias threw a strike out to end the game at 3-2. It should have been an easy win. It was a case of first-game jitters, said head coach Jason Yantzer. "Not bad, but they didn't play to their full potential."
The Pirates overcame a 2-run deficit to score 13 runs in the fourth and defeat Peak to Peak, 15-5.
In the final game, Olathe held a 2-1 lead after the first, with Bulldog Jacobe Galley sprinting from second to home on a single by Edgar Macias in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game at 2.
In the fifth, the Pirates capitalized on Bulldog errors to advance runners to second and third, and scored on a fly ball by Corey to right field. The Bulldog defense failed to communicate, and missed the easy out. Corey scored Ronnie Mumm, and with two outs, Olathe scored two more runs on well-placed hits to the outfield to take a 5-2 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth.
With one out in the top of the sixth, Pirate Aaron Handke fired up the Pirates with a double that landed just inside the fence.
"That was the turning point, right there," said Corey.
Pinch runner Bryan Leu advanced to third on a passed ball, then tagged on a fly out by Mumm for the final run.
It was those little mistakes that would be the Bulldogs' undoing. At this level, said head coach Jason Yantzer, "The team with the fewest amount of errors, wins."
Yantzer credited his team for a great season and an 18-3 record.
Olathe (16-5) will face No. 5 Trinidad (14-7) this Friday in Greeley.
