Metro & State: Brad Smith Still Recovering From Arca Crash

Standing in right field, Regis Jesuit senior Brody Chyr knew the Class 5A semifinal matchup against Cherry Creek would be decided in the sixth inning on Saturday afternoon. The Raiders’ three-run lead was threatened as pitcher Luke Reasbeck gave up a single, a walk and threw a wild pitch, to put runners on second and third with one out.

1 + 1 + 1 = 3. And three equals none. At least when it comes to splitting the reps with quarterbacks competing for the starting job. Broncos coach Sean Payton explained this week that Jarrett Stidham (Tuesday), Zach Wilson (Wednesday) and Bo Nix (Thursday) all worked with the first team. “We’ll continue doing that right now,” Payton said. Listening to the interview, it felt like there was a punchline coming rather than this being something Payton will actually do.

PHILADELPHIA — The Denver men’s lacrosse program restored itself as a national title contender this season. The Pioneers’ second NCAA tournament championship, however, will have to wait for another year. The fifth-seeded Pioneers struggled to generate possessions as top-seeded Notre Dame pulled away in the second half for a 13-6 victory in the NCAA semifinals before 32,269 at Lincoln Financial Field. Richie Connell and Michael Lampert each scored twice, and Malcolm Kleban made nine of his 10 saves in the first half for the Pioneers (13-4), who were denied their second national championship game appearance and first since winning the title in 2015. “I thought we probably needed to have a perfect game today, and that we did not,” first-year coach Matt Brown said.

Ezequiel Tovar is quietly becoming a star. While the Rockies’ reconstruction project will likely take years, the soft-spoken Tovar is rapidly becoming one of baseball’s best shortstops. And he’s only 22 years old. Last Tuesday night at the Oakland Coliseum, Tovar had the first two-homer game of his career. His fifth-inning blast traveled 443 feet, his seventh-inning shot went 411.

For a handful of teams around the NHL, it is existential crisis season. Early playoff exits lead to macro-level discussions like does Team X have the right core players or does Team Y’s style of play not work when the calendar flips to May. The Colorado Avalanche has a different kind of offseason ahead, but the road might be just as arduous. This core group of Avs has reached the mountaintop.

The days are long, but the years are short. This advice is advanced to parents about raising children. It applies to life, but in our case sports. My wife and I were thrilled our two sons showed interest the first time they held a bat and threw a ball. It was in the family DNA with her past as a cheerleader and her brothers playing football and my life growing up as an identical twin with my father serving as a coach for all seasons. I was ecstatic when our oldest son Dagin first used a spoon left-handed as a baby, viewing him as a pitcher.