Post Preps Insider is your daily source for news, story lines, top games and more information on Colorado high school sports — brought to you by Denver Post preps editor Kyle Newman.
It seems to happen almost every spring, but it’s worth another reiteration: beware of the local baseball teams that take early season lumps out-of-state.
Last season, Rocky Mountain started the season 0-4 at the hands of national competition, yet the Lobos used those tests of confidence to build the base for an eventual sixth state championship.
The Class 5A No. 6 Lobos (1-4) are off to a similar start this spring, with all of Rocky Mountain’s losses coming to non-Colorado competition in the
“The early season always prepares us in a lot of ways — over the years we’ve found some really good teams to play and it’s humbling in a good way, especially coming off championships,” Rocky Mountain coach Scott Bullock said.
“What’s most important when you play good out-of-state teams is that they expose you and point out your weaknesses. I want to find out the things we need to work on early on.”
And while surely Bullock would like to see his team have more preseason success — the Lobos have lost at least three of their first four games each of the past five seasons, including 2018 — the program’s also won two state titles and averaged over 18 wins a year in that time frame.
It’s proof that the model of taking early lumps against top out-of-state competition is the best way to mold a team for the playoffs.
Other 5A teams with recent notable warm weather performances include Grandview (5-1), at the Anaheim Lions Tournament, and No. 2 Pine Creek (5-2), as the Eagles were 2-2 in
Plus, don’t overlook the play of the two top-ranked 4A squads, as No. 1 Evergreen while No. 2 Valor Christian posted a 2-2 mark on their California trip.
And as conference play fires up across the state this week, also keep an eye on the effect of out-of-state trips on those that chose to travel to warm weather to practice, scrimmage and build team chemistry over Spring Break.
No. 3 Cherry Creek (4-2) held their ‘Spring Training’ camp at while No. 1 Mountain Vista (6-0) used their break to practice on high school and college fields around Phoenix while holding the ‘Green and Gold World Series’ intrasquad scrimmage.
Long story short, the prep baseball programs that make a habit of heading out of state in March are the ones usually playing their best ball come May.
