Cherry Creek Little League Intermediate Champions

Little League Baseball (LLB) has been part of the American sports landscape since 1939, when it began with three teams in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.  The town in north central PA, hosts the annual little League World Series in August.

LLB has nine regions around the globe.  The U.S. is comprised of East, Southeast, Central, Southwest, and West.  Other regions include teams from Canada, Latin America, Asia Pacific, and Europe and Asia.  It is the worlds largest organized youth sports program with over 200,000 teams in more than 80 countries. 

Many great LLB memories have been etched in the minds of thousands of former players around the world.  Each summer, youth ages 8 to 13 flock to local ball fields hoping to become a member of a team.  It's where dreams of someday playing as a professional  begin.

Cherry Creek Little League is a typical collection of teams designed to provide kids an opportunity to play the game. Located in Aurora and Centennal, Colorado, the league consists of T-Ball, A, AA, AAA, Junior, and Senior leagues.  In addition there is a Major and Intermediate league.

The Intermediate 50/70 Division is in it's inaugural year.  The team is comprised of 12 and 13-year-olds competing on a 50' pitching distance and 70' base paths.  The team from Cherry Creek captured both the District 5 and Colorado State titles, qualifying them to represent Colorado in regional competition.

Host for the 2013 competition is District 1 located in Grand Junction, Colorado, July 19 - 26.  In addition to Cherry Creek, the competition includes teams from Houston, Texas; Gallup, New Mexico; Odessa, Texas; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Shreveport, Louisiana; and the host team from Grand Junction.

Elija Manzanares, LF

Connor McKee, P

Thousands of kids have played the game at this complex over the years, including over 150 who have gone on to play in Major League Baseball (MLB). 

Coaches, parents, and fans, traveled the 247 miles on I-70 west to Grand Junction for game one against the New Mexico State Champs. 

Cherry Creek starting pitcher, Josh Hojnowski could not get a break as he faced 12 Gallup batters, and producing 8 runs before Creek could retire the side.

Nick Dexter, SS, P

Landon Deal, C

Creek stiffened their defense for the next two innings, and closed the door to more runs by the Gallup squad. However, in the 4th inning, Gallup scored three more times.

Creek was barely able to get a runner in scoring position.  When it did, their bats would not produce any runs. 

An anomaly in the game for this team included a pickoff in three different innings.  All 3 were lead-off hitters with no outs at the time. 

Creek would drop to the losers bracket, and play after one day of rest.

Jayden Sepulvada, RF

Cam Vaneer, CF

Game two starting pitcher, Connor McKee, had a slow start, allowing 2 runs in the top of the first inning.  As the lead-off batter in the first inning, McKee had a single, reached second on a passed ball, then scored on a fielders choice.

Creek had amassed 3 singles, 2 doubles and a walk in the first inning, scoring 6 times.

In the third, Ryan Jones, Josh Hojnowski, and J. D. Reynolds, each had doubles.  Darius Tucker smashed the ball to the fence in right center field and raced to a triple.  Landon Deal added to the Creek hitting barrage with a single, and McKee kept the inning going as he beat out a ground ball to shortstop.  The Creek hitting streak produced 5 more runs.

Ryan Jones, 3B

On defense, McKee pitched to one batter in the third inning before being replaced by Nick Dexter. 

The score after 3 innings was 11 to 3 in favor of Cherry Creek.  It would not be a comfortable lead however, as the team from Louisiana kept fighting back.

Darius Tucker, CF

Dexter's arm remained solid the remainder of the game, allowing only two more runs.  On offense, Creek continued its hitting barrage.  Elija Manzanares, Josh Hojnowski, and Jayden Sepulveda all had singles, and Darius Tucker landed another double. The result added 3 additional runs.

Josh Hull, 3B

Josh Hojnowski, P,

In the seventh inning, Dexter seemed to have no mercy for the opposition putting on a stellar performance, striking out three straight Lousiana batters to preserve the win for Creek.  Final score, Cherry Creek 14, Louisiana 8.

Alex Hammock, RF

J. D. Reynolds, 1B

 Game 3 was played Monday night against the team from Texas West.  This team with a record of 2 and 1 in the tournament, would be the toughest challenge for Creek.

Again a slow start for Creek resulted in 2 runs in the first inning.  Starting pitcher, Josh Hojnowski made a valiant effort despite the heat and some stomach cramps.  Reliever, Ryan Jones had hopes of maybe slowing down the big Texas squad.  He too could not stop the onslaught of Texas runners crossing the plate.  The boys from the lone star state hit the ball at will.  Their defense was solid as well. 

Much like in game one, Creek was able to salvage a few hits but there would be no runs on the scoreboard.  The game ended after 4 innings, using the mercy rule, with the score Texas West 19, Cherry Creek 0.

Front row (L to R) Coach McKee, Jayden Sepulvada, Josh Hull, Ryan Jones, Cam Vaneer, Connor McKee, Alex Hammock, J. D. Reynolds, and Coach Manzanares.  Back row (L to R) Landon Deal, Darius Tucker, Coach Deal, Elija Manzanares, Nick Dexter, and Josh Hojnowski

Congratulations to the players and coaches

 for what you accomplished this year.

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