(Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)
The Granada Bobcats fell one game short of a Class 1A state baseball championship last year. This year, they come in as the No. 1 overall seed in the regional/state bracket — which was released Monday — and they get an early chance to knock out the team that toppled them in the 2015 championship game.
Granada drew Dove Creek in the first round of the tournament, which is a rematch of last year’s title game. Dove Creek drew the No. 8 seed.
The Bobcats come into the tournament with a 5-0 record against teams that also qualified. They beat Holly (No. 3) and Manzanola (No. 5) twice each and also beat Eads (No. 2) early in the season.
Eads was riding a three-game winning streak heading into 1A districts, but fell to Holly on May 6. They had just come of a regular win over the Wildcats prior to the loss.
The Wildcats won a total of two district games before falling to Granada.
Fleming lands at a dangerous No. 4 seed. The Wildcats have rattled off eight-straight wins and have not dropped a game in nearly a month.
In order to get to the semifinals for the second-straight year, No. 6 Nucla will have to get through Holly. In the regular season, the Mustangs only faced one team that qualified for this year’s tournament. They faced Dove Creek four times and went 3-1 in those games.
Cornerstone Christian Academy comes in at No. 7 and will face Eads in the first round. The Bulldogs went 9-6 on the year and did not play any teams that advanced to the 1A state tournament.
Eads, Manzanola and Cornerstone Christian are the three teams who did not play in last year’s state tournament.