This past week Pine Creek Baseball beat Rampart 11-0 to win the metro league divisional title. Their final record stood at 10-0 in league play, which is the first time in over three years that they won their conference. Playoffs are right around the corner, with their first game May 22 against Fort Collins. With such a successful season coming off of a 13-11 record last year, there were many intense games. “One of the most memorable games this year was the Lewis Palmer game. They were an underrated team and took us by surprise. We were down coming into the final innings but we found enough in ourselves to take the lead. Except, In the last inning, they had bases loaded and our senior first basemen, Tyler Genrich, made an amazing play to win the game. It showed us that we can battle any deficit and come back and fight,” said Zach Murray (10).

With the Eagles record at 20-3 this season, their losses were against Grant, Cherry Creek, Liberty, and Regis Jesuit. “One team that I’m looking forward to playing against the most is Regis once again because we know how to handle them since we already played them,” said Dillon Scruggs (11), and another insight from Zack Murray (10) as he stated, “I want to play against Cherry Creek the most so we can get revenge, but I will be excited to play anyone,” Last year was an unfortunate first-round loss for the team, falling short to Fossil Ridge, so a big rematch is in sight. When asking senior Tyler Genrich about the nerves and preparation for playoffs he said, “I think with any big game there will be some nerves going on. I plan to use them as fuel and try to take advantage. I will also make sure to calm myself before at-bats so I don’t get too much in my head.” 

The format for the CHSAA Baseball playoffs is a four-team regional in which only one team advances to the state playoffs. This year’s matchup for Pine Creek is #1 Legend vs #4 Cherokee Trail, and #2 Pine Creek vs #3 Fort Collins, in the district eight region. This Saturday at 10 am will be the first game in regionals and at 3 pm for the regional champion title. Coming off of last year’s 25th seeding for the Eagles, this year’s ninth seed is a huge improvement. Rating Percentage Index (RPI), was used for the official playoff seedings last season, but this year the MaxPreps rankings were also put into the picture. This year, the region eight host is set to be Legend who finished at the eighth seed. The Eagles final ranking is the number nine seed and Fort Collins finished at the #24 seed. The goal set for the Eagles are set high, but very achievable considering the regular season they had. “My expectations are very high as I have never made it past the first game of high school playoffs. I expect that as a team we are able to make it into the final 8 and then win out from there. There is no doubt in my mind that as a team we can accomplish this.” said Genrich (12).