At 5-feet-3 and 125 pounds, shortstop Tyler Thornton is kind of a microcosm of everything about the Thomas Jefferson Spartans this season.
No puns intended.
To the uninitiated, Thornton strikes little fear in opposing baseball teams. More often than not, coaches wave their outfielders closer as he digs
into the batter’s box. More often than not, the No. 2 hitter sends the ball over their heads.
“You just go out there and play. I’m not trying to impress anybody,” Thornton said Tuesday after practice. “They don’t have to believe me, but
whatever. I believe in myself. I know I can play.”
And so do the Spartans, even if they get chided for playing in a “soft” league and can’t seem to shake the perception they belong with the Class
4A elite as much as the Asheville Tourists belong with the New York Yankees.
Since the institution of the state championship series in 2003 – the same year TJ advanced to the final four – the Spartans have missed the
eight-team, double-elimination tournament just once. Winners of five consecutive Denver Prep League titles, the Spartans carry an 18-2 record
and a 16-game win streak into Friday’s game against Northridge in its hometown of Greeley.
Underdogs? Always. Driven by an us-againstthem mentality or a city-against-suburbia mentality?
Like a brown-and-gold freight train.
“No matter how well we do, we’re looked at in the baseball community like just the dumps,” said Spartans coach Tory Humphrey, who is in
his sixth season after a brief stint at South.
History doesn’t help. No city team has won a state title since East in 1994. TJ last won in 1967.
But something special happened last season, when this group, then dominated by sophomores, made it into the state tournament. The
Spartans lost their first two games by a combined five runs and went home with lots of motivation.
Left fielder Dylan Smith, who is 6-0 this season on the mound, said last season’s exit was just another step of a character-molding process that began in 2005, when the No. 3 Spartans were bounced in districts by No. 30 Palisade.
“I believe we’ve matured greatly over these past two years and our physical ability has matched anyone else in the state,” Smith said.
Aside from Smith, the Spartans will lean heavily on right-handed ace Brett Nathan, 7-1 with 66 strikeouts in 41 innings. He also swings a menacing bat, hitting over .500 with eight home runs.
With those numbers, getting to Nathan will be the opposition’s primary objective. Nathan, of course, has similar plans for their big guns.
“Maybe they want to do the same thing, (but) we’ll see who wins,” Nathan said.
Behind Nathan are brothers Mike and Matt Mankoff, designated hitter Jeremiah Dillard (one of three seniors), second baseman Kian Jost,
catcher Max Maloney and third baseman Dustin Burns, who is batting .429 out of the No. 8 hole.
The Spartans trailed twice during last week’s district tournament, but had the kind of moxie Humphrey said emerged in the middle of March,
when they blew a two-run lead in the seventh inning against 5A Mullen, two days before whipping seven-time champion Cherry Creek 14-4.
When it comes to this weekend’s tournament, the Spartans know they never will be favored as long as Cherokee Trail, Liberty, Ralston Valley,
Northridge or Mountain View remain.
But the prospect of beating those newer schools is what makes TJ fans out of people such as North alum Sam Morales, owner of the Denver
Hitting Club, a converted paint shop off Curtis Street where the Spartans sometimes train.
“They get tired of hearing about the suburbs, about how good they do,” Morales said. “When a team does do good, (other DPS schools and alums)
like to rally around them.”
Ralston Valley skipper Shane Freehling, who hired Humphrey as an assistant during his eight seasons at South, will be pulling for the Spartans
in any game not involving his Mustangs.
“People like the underdog,” Freehling said. “They like to cheer when they see a DPS school doing well. I think it does draw some fanfare. I
myself am excited for them.”
Win one for the city? Not a bad battle cry.
“You can do it with a city team,” Humphrey said. ” You can win it all with a city team.”
Spartans close to being special
Thomas Jefferson (18-2 this year) hasn’t won a state title in baseball since 1967. The Spartans have, however, been a staple of the Class 4A championship series since 2003. Here’s a look at their record in the eight-team, double-elimination tournament.
2006: 0-2 (lost to Liberty and D’Evelyn)
2005: DNP (upset in districts by No. 30 Palisade)
2004: 1-2 (lost to eventual finalist Broomfield)
2003: 2-2 (lost in semifinals to eventual champion Golden)
It could happen
“Right … (and) Roger Clemens is retiring, B.J. Ryan has a sore back and O.J. Simpson is looking for the real killer.”
Bill Lankhof, Toronto Sun columinst, on Floyd Mayweather insisting he plans to hang up his gloves despite his latest win
