The first time Sterling High School senior standout Derek Pilkington met Todd Helton, the all-star first baseman of the Rockies showed up at his house with a shotgun.
The gun was for the ducks and geese that fly over the Pilkington family’s 1,000-acre ranch.
From that encounter four years ago stemmed a friendship with annual hunting trips, complete with bright orange outfits, muzzle fire, hunting dogs, small-town hospitality and the love of sports – baseball in particular.
Pilkington, a three-sport athlete bound for New Mexico but scouted frequently by Major League Baseball, is a big reason the Tigers (16-4) are one of eight teams remaining in the Class 4A state tournament, which begins Friday.
Pilkington’s two-run homer last week in the bottom of the fifth inning helped Sterling rally to defeat Palisade and advance to the double-elimination state championship series.
Perhaps Pilkington’s big-league moxie is the byproduct of his two trips to Rockies spring training in Arizona as Helton’s guest.
“He is really down to earth,” Pilkington said. “After that first time I met him, I felt like I knew him really well. I was nervous at first, him being a star and everything, but he didn’t act any different than anyone else.”
Said Helton: “He’s a good kid, a hard worker.”
Roughly the same size as Helton, Pilkington’s athleticism and enormous biceps are the result of good Pilkington pedigree.
Derek’s father, Curt, was an all-state quarterback at Sterling and played baseball at Colorado State, while his younger brother, Greg, played football at Nebraska and baseball at Northern Colorado. Derek’s cousin, Ross, was a junior captain last season on the Nebraska football team after being drafted by the Rockies out of Loveland High School.
“You’re an athlete first in a small town,” Curt Pilkington said.
Curt’s father, Dwayne, 76, coached baseball and football at Sterling during parts of four decades. Dwayne now watches his grandson from behind home plate at every Tigers game.
With a father for a coach, Curt said he was “a prude” growing up in a farming community that has changed little over the years.
Derek said he and his friends hang out, go to the movies, play XBox and poker and try to impress the girls, although he jokes, “I’m not very good at it, I guess.”
What Derek is good at is hitting a baseball.
Taught by his father to be a switch hitter since he could walk, Derek has great vision and technique.
“His hands are so quick, he can get to the ball in a hurry,” Sterling coach Derek Feather said of Pilkington. “I think that’s what makes him tough. Not many people can blow it by him. He just has a knack for putting the bat on the ball.”
Since Helton showed up at the Pilkingtons’ door with a family friend looking for better hunting, the former University of Tennessee football and baseball standout has subtly shaped Derek’s future.
Pilkington was a part-time basketball player and an all-state wide receiver and kick returner for a Sterling team that lost in the Class 3A state championship in December. He said Helton’s advice played a big role in his decision to pursue baseball.
“Derek always thought he was a football player, and Todd finally got it through his head that he has more potential as a baseball player,” Curt said.
Helton also has been a help to Curt.
“More so about Todd is he is a very, very generous person,” Curt said. “I’m real active in a lot of charities and he is constantly coming up with things for me to use as fundraisers.”
Derek has a 3.97 grade-point average and likes anything to do with math. He wants to play professional baseball or settle down and do financial work like his father.
Whether it be crushing a baseball, making a nice catch or hunting with friends and family members, Derek wants to make sure of one thing.
“There’s nothing better than doing something you love,” Derek said.
Staff writer Troy E. Renck contributed to this story.
