After graduating five starters from last season’s Class 4A state tournament showing, it looked like Longmont had a serious learning curve ahead of itself in order to replicate its 2016 success.
But while there has been a learning curve — the No. 7 Trojans (6-5) stumbled a bit lately in tough Northern League play following a 5-0 start to the spring — two seamhead brothers again give Longmont a chance to make noise down the stretch of conference play and into the playoffs.
Senior ace pitcher and outfielder Dagin Renck is the team’s emotional leader, while his younger brother, sophomore second baseman Brady Renck, paces the team with a .400 average in his first varsity season.
The Rencks are the sons of longtime Denver Post Rockies beat writer and current Denver 7 sportscaster Troy Renck, and thus they’re kids who grew up eating and sleeping baseball.
“Growing up with my dad covering the Rockies, I was constantly watching baseball, talking baseball and analyzing baseball when I wasn’t playing,” Dagin Renck said. “That really impacted me and my brother, because it made us understand the importance of the details of the game.”
Longmont coach Tom Fobes noted he’s already seen how crucial Dagin is to the team’s success this year, as epitomized by the senior captain’s performance in a recent, hard-fought 8-5 win over . In that game, Dagin had two hits and three RBIs in addition to tossing three shutout innings in relief as the senior made sure his team staved off the Raptors’ comeback.
“Every time we came off the field, he was in the dugout, going from guy to guy and rallying them and getting them mentally right,” Fobes said. “He had a good game offensively and on the mound, but without his leadership, we don’t win that game. We need that from him the rest of the season.”
As for the younger Renck, he has quickly acclimated to the varsity stage.
“He’s got a lot of knowledge for the game, and skill-wise he’s very good as well,” Fobes said. “He’s also stepped right into the lineup and done a good job in the two hole for us with his disciplined approach at the plate.”
And as the Trojans bear down for the final stretch of league play and what they hope to be a push for the program’s second state championship and first since a 1973 Class 3A title, the younger Renck realizes Longmont will go as far as Dagin and other key returners (such as juniors Austin Hassler, Avery Peterson, Noah Befus and Matt Zamudi) can take them.
“This is my first season playing with my brother, and it’s been awesome to be on the diamond with him,” Brady Renck said. “If the younger guys and I continue to follow the lead of him and the other veterans, there’s nothing we can’t accomplish in the playoffs.”
