Class 3A

Unlike the larger classifications, 24 teams still are alive here. Eight of them will be eliminated today, though, while eight others will move on. The additional eight already have earned their spots for Friday's opening rounds and are awaiting the results from play-in games at Aurora Sports Park.

Those in the play-in games (scheduled for today at noon and 12:30 p.m.) will have the vast expanses of the complex to themselves, as the larger classifications already are down to 16 teams don't begin until Friday.

Holy Family and Erie garnered the top two seeds and are the favorites to meet in the title game for the fourth consecutive season. Erie has been in every championship game since the classification was formed in 1998. Surprises among the top eight included fourth-seeded Valley (12-7) and Western Slope representative Basalt, which earned the eighth seed. Also a bit of a shocker is Limon, but only because the Badgers fell to a No. 7 seed this season.

* Top pitchers: Holy Family ace Amy Christopher has fully rebounded from a line drive off the head on Oct. 2 and enters the tournament with a 16-0 record and 0.72 ERA. . . . Erie sophomore Mariah Bledsoe won the state championship game last season and carries a 10-1 record and 0.89 ERA into Friday. . . . Limon's Kelsey Dutton continued to dominate this season, illustrated by her classification-best 185 strikeouts. . . . Faith Christian, led by Taylor Johnson (11-6), is seeded ninth, meaning she will have to pitch her team to a win today to make it to the round of 16. . . . Burlington junior Jordan May has posted a 10-4 record and 116 strikeouts for the fifth-seeded Cougars. . . . Cheyenne Wells pitcher Jordan Barnett has struck out 117 batters for the surprising Tigers, who earned a No. 12 seed.

* Top hitters: Holy Family second baseman Lara Mathewson, an All-Colorado selection last season, is batting .672 with six homers and 37 RBI. . . . Basalt teammates Jamie Matherly (.687 average) and Alexa Aitken (.607, 22 stolen bases) tore up the Western Slope League this season. . . . Denver Lutheran catcher Malinee Powell (seven homers, 43 RBI) boasts perhaps the finest power in the classification. . . . Platte Canyon's Chelsea Kinnett (.615 average, 22 RBI) helped the Huskies earn a No. 6 seed. . . . Peak to Peak catcher Hayley Bolyard has recorded classification-bests of nine homers and 44 RBI, but the 20th-seeded Pumas will have to beat No. 13 Lyons today to advance. . . . Middle Park first baseman Becca Hugley has produced 32 RBI despite drawing 16 walks for the 22nd-seeded Panthers.

* Overview: Holy Family is the overall favorite, having thumped Erie once this season while appearing dominant in nearly every game. Plus, a late-season loss to 4A D'Evelyn means the Tigers (16-1) won't enter the season with the pressure of maintaining an undefeated season. Keep in mind, though, the past two seasons, the team that won the regular-season game between Holy Family and Erie ended up losing in the title game. If any team is able to overthrow either of these two it will qualify as a shocker. While every other team looks decidedly like a 3A squad, Holy Family and Erie would represent well in the larger classifications.