Patriot baseball flexes muscles

Brush's run to the final four of the Class 3A Baseball Championship Series state tournament is certainly surprising in some ways.

The Beetdiggers, a team that finished fifth in the Class 3A Patriot League and is just two games above .500 at 13-11. are one of the last teams standing at state. They'll play Eaton noon Friday at Butch Butler Field in Greeley after the Reds went 3-0 and Brush went 2-1 in the first two days of state this past weekend.

Surprising? Sure. Shocking? Not particularly.

Brush is one of many Patriot League teams that took a hit in the loss column playing in the most competitive league in 3A.

When the state tournament began this past Friday, four of the eight teams were from the Patriot League -- a disproportionate number considering there are 12 teams in the Patriot League and 56 in all of 3A.

The tournament's final four, which begins Friday, consists of three Patriot League teams -- Eaton, Brush and Erie -- with Lamar being the lone non-Patriot representative.

Patriot League teams spend two grueling months beating up on one another, which may cause some sleepless nights during the league season for players and coaches that felt they played at their pinnacle in a particular game only to come away with a loss. But it pays dividends later for the seven teams fortunate enough to make it out of the league and into the postseason.

It's no surprise Eaton, Brush and Erie -- not to mention Roosevelt, which was a season-long contender before being eliminated Saturday -- are so adequately prepared for the competition they need to overcome to make a postseason run.

The quality of competition in the Patriot League is just as evident when observing the seasons had by other Patriot teams outside of the four mentioned above.

Valley was 11-7 in the regular season but was even more impressive against nonleague teams with a record of 4-2. Platte Valley was 11-8 in the regular season, including 4-2 outside of its league.

Even teams that weren't quite successful enough to earn a postseason bid found some success outside of its tough-as-nails league.

Weld Central was 9-10 overall but 5-2 away from the league; University was 7-10 overall, 2-2 against nonPatriot teams; Highland finished 7-10 but was 4-0 outside of the League.

Still, the state tournament has provided the best evidence to date of how competitive the Patriot League was this season.

One thing that has become clear as day when you look at the Patriot-heavy final four that will play at Butch Butler Field in Greeley this weekend is that when Patriot League coaches speak of there never being a night off during the league season, they certainly aren't speaking in cliché.

New hoopin' heights: After four years and a Class 3A state basketball title with the Eaton Reds, senior Lance Korell has signed a letter of intent to play basketball at the next level. He'll suit up for Eastern Wyoming College, a junior college in Torrington, Wyo.

The Lancers play in the Wyoming Community College Athletic Conference and were Region IX champions this past season at the National Junior College Athletic Association Division I level.

Korell provided leadership, play making, scrappy defense and clutch scoring at both guard positions for Eaton the last four years. He averaged 13.7 points, 3.3 assists and 1.8 steals last season for the Reds, which placed third at state. He was also instrumental in helping Eaton win a 3A state title the previous season.

Off to the races: The two-day state track meet kicks off on Friday and numerous Patriot League teams gained a lot of steam heading into the championship meet at Dutch Clark Stadium in Pueblo.

Valley's Amanda Boro (13.15 seconds) and Katie Chrisp (13.17) placed first and second, respectively, in the 100-meter dash in the District 2 track meet at Eaton. Valley was first in the girls team standings and Platte Valley was first in boys.

In the District 3 meet in Erie, Roosevelt placed first in girls and second in boys.

Elite eight?: Eaton will play Brush on Friday in the final four of the Class 3A state baseball tournament, but regardless of what happens Friday, the Reds will play for the state title in the double-elimination tournament on Saturday. Eaton was the only team to escape the first two days of the tournament this past weekend unbeaten.

The Reds are going for their eighth 3A title in school history and fifth this decade.

Bobby Fernandez covers sports for the Tribune. Reach him at (970)392-4478 or by e-mail at bfernandez@greeleytribune.com.