The baton has been successfully passed in Cherry Creek High School’s baseball program.
Year One of the Joe Smith Era—or the post-Marc Johnson Half-Century—ended Saturday with the Bruins’ 10th state championship.
In the clincher, senior Wyatt Rudden—half of what Smith calls “one of the best 1-2 punches I’ve ever seen in high school”—led Creek to an 8-1 victory over Regis Jesuit.
He’s committed to pitching for the University of Michigan next year, while the other half of that tandem, Ryan Falke, is headed to Washington State.
“Over the last two years,” Smith said, “they started every meaningful game for us.”
Last year it was Falke who beat RJ 5-2 in the final game.
“Having the experience last year (when the Bruins had to beat Regis twice on the same day to win their ninth title) they understood that if they came out and let Regis get that first game, anything can happen in Game Two,” Smith said.
“They were determined to end it in the first game. With an 8-1 score, you can see that it paid off.”
Smith’s first year as the legendary Johnson’s successor did not get off to a good start. Creek came back from its spring trip to Arizona with four losses, losing the lead in all four games.
“There were just a lot of self-induced mistakes, a lot of things we had to clean up,” Smith recalled. “The boys were able to take that and learn from it. They never held their heads low or anything like that.
“I would rather not have been 1-4-1 at that point,” he admitted, “but when you have the talented team that I had, with so many returning starters from a state champion, sometimes it’s good to have a little humble pie served to you—good to realize you’re not some perfect team.
“It’s not automatic. You gotta work.”
And work is what Smith’s team did. The defending state champs won 15 straight before their only loss to a Colorado opponent all year, a 3-2 defeat at Grandview.
“They have Ethan Watson,” Smith said. “I’ll take my guys every day, but Ethan’s one of the best pitchers I’ve seen in Colorado in high school. It was a really good game; they just beat us.”
At home the next day, Cherry Creek returned the favor, 6-4
“Each time we faced adversity,” Smith said, “whether it was starting off 1-4-1 or losing to Grandview, the boys just put their heads down and got to work.”
Smith could rave about many players on his first CCHS team, but allowed only one, he chose first baseman Connor Larkin, who’s headed to Oklahoma next year.
“Connor Larkin, I believe, should win Gatorade Player of the Year,” he said. “He had one of the better years I’ve ever witnessed as a high school coach (.457 batting average, .527 on-base percentage, 11 home runs).”
Rather than dramatically changing Marc Johnson’s brand of Cherry Creek baseball, Smith tried to sustain the emphasis on relationships with players and the culture he describes as the “Cherry Creek baseball family.”
“I told our seniors that their legacy isn’t wins and losses or state championship,” Smith said. “It’s how are they going to treat and teach the kids behind them in the lower levels.”
But he did add some distinctive touches that enhanced the culture and, he hopes, will perpetuate it in the years ahead, beginning with next season.
“We did institute Bruin Baller Awards, stickers on the kids’ helmets for achievements throughout the season (a la helmet decals in football).”
More significantly, he held joint practices that combined varsity players with freshmen, sophomore and junior varsity players, in much the way the Rockies have major and minor leaguers share the locker room in spring training.
“I thought it was important to get the coaches and varsity players around the lower levels as much as we could,” he said. “It’s hard to do with all the games, but it’s worth it. They’re really important days for the program.
“You’ve got all these D1-committed kids talking to you as a freshman or sophomore. I hope that builds the culture and the sense of family that we’re talking about.”
He also held the first Halloween Games, when players dress up in their Halloween costumes and play baseball for the fun of it. A big hit with everyone, he plans to repeat it this Halloween. “It’s a chance to get back together as a Cherry Creek baseball family,” he says.
As he basks in the glow of a debut season that couldn’t have gone much better, he does admit looking back to those games in Arizona when he and his first team were just getting started.
“I would love to be able to play those teams again,” he says with a smile. “I would think we would not make the mistakes we made.
“We blew four leads,” he reminds.
“I would like to think if we played them towards the end of the year, the outcomes would be different. We were just figuring it all out back then.”
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Denny Dressman’s 17th book, a collaboration with Kansas City artist Anthony High titled Black Baseball’s Heyday – Capturing An Era in Art and Words, will be published in late June. You can write to Denny at dennydressman@comcast.net.