Baseball at altitude takes on a whole different meaning in Westcliffe, the home at 8,000 feet of the reigning Class 2A champion Custer County Bobcats.
Consider this: The Bobcats didn’t have a practice that took place at 42 degrees or over last season until April 28; they don’t play any home games in the month of March, and even after a 2-6 start to the 2008 season, the Cats still found a way to win it all. Endurance personified.
“There are not a lot of warm baseball days here,” Custer County coach Steve Schultz said.
The Bobcats start the season as the team to beat, falling under the title of “No. 1 until someone proves they can beat them.” A tag Schultz doesn’t mind having.
“There’s really no target on our back, and the approach to the season is always the same,” he said. “Get to the Final Four somehow and see what happens.”
A season ago, the Bobcats got there, and a 1-hit shutout of Chris Carls and Resurrection Christian in the semifinals and a 16-7 offensive onslaught in the title game against now-3A Jefferson Academy powered them to the title.
Six-foot-6 right hander Jason Frink tossed the one-hitter against the Cougars. Frink and Cory Barnes, Ben Mullett and Kyle Hirshberger give the Bobcats one of the deepest staffs in the classification. Another date with No. 2 Resurrection Christian is in the works for April 10.
Tad Carls’ Cougars have an equally impressive 1-2 punch on the mound with the younger Carls and Tyler Lohr.
Paonia is a perennial power in 2A and should be right back in the mix. Same can be said for Akron, but in Las Animas the loss of stud Derek Wilson keeps the Trojans out of the top 10 for the first time in a long time.
TOP 10
1. Custer County
2. Resurrection Christian
3. Paonia
4. Akron
5. Sanford
6. Dolores
7. Byers
8. Kiowa
9. Holyoke
10. Swink
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Corey Barnes, Custer County, Sr., C; Matt Brown, Limon, Jr., INF-P; Brett Brunner, Dolores, Sr., INF; Lucas Carls, Resurrection Christian, Jr., P; Rolando Celis, Wiggins, Jr., INF; David Collins, Sedgwick County, Sr., OF; Logan Davisson, Akron, Sr., INF-P; Jordan Dodge, Byers, So., INF; Alex Emig, Kiowa, Sr., INF-P; Jason Frink, Custer County, Sr., P; Casey Gillenwater, Paonia, So., 1B; Justin Grano, Rocky Ford, Jr., 1B; Byron Guy, Akron, Jr., OF; Andrew Hill, Dolores, Sr., P; Tyler Lohr, Resurrection Christian, Jr., P; Blaine Miller, Las Animas, So., OF; Cody Miller, Kiowa, Sr., C; Ben Mullett, Custer County, Sr., INF-P; Mark Nyhoff, Front Range Crhristian, Sr., P; Ben Reinick, Wray, Sr., OF; Jonathon Smith, Paonia, Sr., OF; Austin Tharp, Holyoke, Sr., C; Cris Trenckmann, La Veta, Sr., 1B; Alec Vasquez, Akron, Sr., INF; T.J. Wells, Maranatha Christian, Sr., INF.
