The GJHS baseball team charges out to take the field in a preseason game at Suplizio Field. Three Tigers baseball players, sophomore Andrew Henderson, senior Brett Woytek and junior Will Applegate, talk before Woytek starts pitching. The Tigers open play in the Class 4A state playoffs on Saturday in a four-team regional at Windsor High School.

The Grand Junction High School baseball team enters the Class 4A state tournament as the 17th-seeded team out of 32.

The Tigers (14 wins and 9 losses) will be on the road Saturday at Windsor for the four-team regional. Host Windsor High School is the No. 1-seed in the tournament.

GJHS coach Si Espinoza said, “It’s going to come down to pitching and defense and timely hitting.”

GJ plays No. 16 Discovery Canyon (12-9 record) in the first game of the regional. Windsor (21-2 record) will host No. 32 Aurora Central (11-9 record) in the second game.

Espinoza said the top GJHS pitchers for regionals will be senior Brett Woytek, sophomore Andrew Henderson and freshmen Titus Forsyth.

With all eight regionals, the winners of the first two games will play in the third game with that winner advancing to the final eight.

Palisade (17-5-1 record) is the No. 4 seed in the Class 4A playoffs and will host on Saturday. Central (13-9 record) is seeded 20th and is in the same regional as Palisade.