Among baseball teams from Douglas County schools, only one was able to squeeze through districts.

Mountain Vista High School played host to the District 3 playoffs May 2 at the school in Highlands Ranch and walked away with the D-3 title after five-innings wins over both Westminster and Dakota Ridge.

This is the third season in four years the Golden Eagles been hosts to the district tournament.

Against Westminster, the Golden Eagles handled the Wolves to a 14-0 final in five innings. Tucker Cross was on the hill for the entire opening game. He said Vista’s offense early in the game is one of its strengths.

“Being able to score runs in the first innings, and just being able to score in every inning, that gives us a lot of help, cause we always play good defense, and we can pitch it,” Cross said. “I was noticing [the Wolves] couldn’t really catch up to a fast ball, it was just about trying to locate that. And every once in a while, locate a change up or a curve ball.”

Westminster helped the Eagles out with a few unearned runs, but Vista has learned to take every opportunity it can as it enters the Class 5A state championship series May 8 at All-City Field in Denver.

“We just want to keep our momentum going and run the bases well, and capitalize on their mistakes,” Cross said.

Vista won the district title in five innings against Dakota Ridge 10-0. They are the No. 4 seed of the 5A playoffs, carrying a 17-4 record. They face No. 5 Green Mountain in their state opener.

In the District 5 fight, ThunderRidge, the No. 15 seed, won a hard-fought opening game at Cherry Creek High School in Greenwood Village against No. 15 Durango with a 6-4 final. The Grizzlies’ Chase Newman started on the bump against Durango, with Tim Jenkins coming in for the save.

T-Ridge saw the end of its season in the district finals against hosts Cherry Creek. The No. 2-seeded Bruins beat the Grizzlies 6-3 and finished their season with a 14-7 record.

Highlands Ranch was unable to pick up a win against Grandview in its opening game of the District 6 tournament. The No. 26-seeded Falcons lost to the Wolves, the No. 7 seed, 8-4 and finished their season with a 10-10 record.

In the District 7 race, Ponderosa, the No. 30 seed, had a brutal contest against No. 3 Rocky Mountain. The Mustangs saw the end of their season after an 11-0 loss to the Lobos in their district opener. Ponderosa finished the season 12-8.

Lutheran High School-Parker was more fortunate in its race for the Class 2A championship. The Lions finished as the runner-up in the District 8 playoffs, giving them a spot in the regional/state bracket. Lutheran-Parker plays 10 a.m. May 9 at Northglenn High School. The Lions’ opponent was not determined by press time.