The Eaton Reds storied baseball team had a great regular season this year finishing 18-3, 9-1 in the Patriot League after finishing off Valley in a doubleheader on May 11. The Reds head into regionals as the no. 2 seed in 3A and are excited to take on whomever the committee puts in front of them. 

   The team ahead of Eaton is the team 7 miles south, the University High School Bulldogs. The Reds beat the Bulldogs to win the Northern Colorado Baseball Classic on April 6, 10-4. 

   The Dawgs got the better of the Reds in their next meeting on May 4 in extra innings, 5-4. Both of those games were great early season games and hopefully will tell how the rest of the games left on the docket for high school baseball will play out. 

    Some other good games the Reds were part of this year were a league contest against Resurrection Christian, which lasted 13 innings. The Reds were victorious in this contest 3-2. 

   The Reds only losses this season were the first game of the year against 4A Northridge, on the road against Sterling in a non-league game, and the May 4 league contest against UH. 

   Seniors, Jared Ure, CJ Blaskowski, Jarrett Adams, Mason Hernandez, Dawson Baucke, and Judson Church are winding up their final season in the pinstripes and are looking forward to state.

   Coach Todd Hernandez said, “It will be tough losing this group of seniors.  I have had the privilege of coaching them for three years and they have been great in all areas. They will be missed.” 

   Only one player from this group will continue to play baseball in the future: Jared Ure will play for Division 2 Colorado Mesa University Mavericks. Ure will pitch for the Mavs next season after a banner year as the Reds’ ace. 

   Ure posted a 1.09 regular season ERA with 45 innings pitched. Ure also led the team at the plate hitting .383 with 20 RBI’s and 9 extra base hits. Another major piece to the 2019 squad has been Ure’s little brother, Ryan Ure — a sophomore. Ryan hit .516 in the regular season with a team leading 40 RBI’s. 

   Ryan was also a key piece to the Reds on the mound. Ryan posted a 0.72 ERA in 29.1 innings. The Ure brothers led the Reds to a total .354 hitting team with 12 home runs on the year.

   The Reds hosted Estes Park  on May 7,  beating them 31-1 after the mercy rule was called. 

   After the final home game against Estes Hernandez said, “It’s kind of a bittersweet moment. It’s the last regular season home game I’ll play, but I mean it’s always fun to play with the team.” 

   On his senior night, Dawson Baucke made the play of the game, leaping into the air to catch his first ball of the season. 

   At the end of senior-night, the team came together to gift Dallas Duran’s family flowers.    

  Duran, a baseball brother was lost his sophomore year in a tragic train accident. Since that day, the baseball team has done everything they can to make sure his memory will never be forgotten.

    The Reds will face, hopefully, two teams in the regional tournament on May 18, and if the Reds win both they will head to the eight-team state tournament the following weekend starting on May 24 at Butch Butler field in Greeley.

   The team to beat outside the Patriot League is the Colorado Academy Mustangs, a boarding school in Denver that is relatively new to the 3A baseball scene. The Mustangs have a senior pitcher who will attend PAC-12 powerhouse and baseball school, Arizona State in Tempe, Arizona. 

    The Mustangs look like the team to beat out of the Metro League this year; this is a bit of a mix-up as Faith Christian High School in Arvada has been the team to beat out of the Metro League for the past 20 years. 

   The Reds are excited to tackle the challenges in front of them and will lean on the “Northern Colorado Bash Brothers” to achieve these challenges. 

       As senior Blaskowski said after the final home game, “We aren’t done. We still have a few games left, and for the three years I’ve played varsity…–it’s our time now.”