Local baseball teams welcome the sunshine

GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colo. — Baseball isn't meant to be played indoors. Unfortunately for local prep teams, much of their preseason work has taken place in the gym. But with the sun at last creeping into the everyday life of Roaring Fork Valley citizens, let the games begin.

Senior-loaded Demons hope experience pays off

A senior-loaded team and strong numbers have Glenwood Springs baseball coach Eric Nieslanik optimistic for a solid campaign.

"We're bringing back probably eight seniors this year and probably five or six of those kids are starters," the second-year Demons coach said. "There's some experience there. It's good to have that senior leadership."

Beau Chicoine and Chance Stevens will anchor the pitching staff as returning No. 1 and 2 arms.

"We really lean on those two kids," said Nieslanik, who also expects to see contributions on the mound from transfer Tayler Larsen. After spending a year at Montrose as a sophomore, Larsen is back at Glenwood, where he spent his freshman year.

Dave King, Barret Jensen, Tim Cashel and Conner Jackson are a handful of seniors vying for starting roles.

Some promising young players include sophomores Patrick Hailey, Matt Snyder and Jason Whiting.

Nieslanik, a Glenwood Springs High School graduate, wouldn't commit to a lineup quite yet. Much remains up for grabs.

"I've got a pile of young sophomores, talented kids biting at it," he said. "The numbers are good. We're looking to have a true JV squad. It's going to be an exciting year."

The Demons finished fourth in the Class 4A Western Slope League last year at 8-6, and made a first-round playoff exit at the hands of Cherokee Trail.

Expect a muddled, competitive WSL battle this year, says Nieslanik.

"We hope we can be competitive. That's our goal. Moffat County really dominated league last year. Palisade and Delta always come through with really good programs. Every year, Rifle has a competitive squad."

Rams charge into '07

Roaring Fork returns several starters to a team that finished second in the Class 3A Western Slope League last year.

Kyle Raaflaub, Jake Kinney, brothers Tyler and Trevor Hunt, Michael Black, Soren Phibbs, David Cappa, Matt Alberico, Dietrich Minor, James Ward and Jack Stokan are among the returning cast.

"The rest are pretty much freshmen," Roaring Fork coach Steve Kinney said.

Raaflaub is the Rams' primary pitcher and a valuable utility player, while Kinney will also eat innings on the mound and play infield.

Trevor Hunt will play first base and Tyler the outfield, while Black will see time in the infield and Phibbs in the infield and at catcher.

"We've got some other kids that are kind of in and out, but that's the nucleus right now," said coach Kinney, whose team advanced to the regionals in 2006.

With moody weather limiting field time, the Rams have worked a lot on conditioning and fundamentals in the preseason.

"We're doing pretty well trying to get strengthened and conditioned," Kinney said. "We do a lot of throwing. We do have a batting cage set up inside. We mainly just do inside drills comprised of infield work and outfield work. We've worked with pitchers also."

Though fielding a relatively young squad, Kinney, in his second year as head coach at Roaring Fork, sees a promising season on the horizon.

"As a coach, you have to be optimistic," he said. "We have a fairly young team. Our biggest key is going to be pitching. I certainly hope we can stay competitive."

Rifle hopes to restore dynasty

One of the more consistently good teams in the area, Rifle endured its first losing season in eight years in 2006.

The Bears still flirted with .500, wrapping the season at 9-10 overall but missing the Class 4A playoffs.

"It was kind of a down year for us, actually," coach Troy Phillips said. "We did lose a lot of seniors. Nine seniors off that team. We're real young this year."

Rifle got the season off to a positive start on Saturday, sweeping Elizabeth in a doubleheader. So far, so good for the Bears.

Zach Whitmore, an all-conference honorable mention and one of Rifle's top arms, is back. So is Kyle Bond, another starter key to the team's success.

Also expect solid contributions from Asa Fix, sophomore catcher Tanner Wilcox, first baseman Ernesto Mendoza, second baseman Kory Kassac and outfielders Steve Samson and Daniel Maldonado, among others.

Alex Haynes, a sophomore transfer from Coal Ridge, will wait nine games before joining the team because of a CHSAA rule.

"I think we'll have to be patient and recognize it's going to take a while for everybody to rise to the level of varsity play," Phillips said. "The guys have been working really hard, and I've been impressed with the way they're working in practice. Even though we've been mostly indoors, they haven't let up at all. They're going full speed."

Phillips, entering his 12th year as Rifle's frontman, is optimistic the program will return to its previous prominence.

"I think that whatever the results are, they will be satisfactory," he said. "I don't really concentrate on wins, losses or championships. Those things happen as a byproduct of the work we put in. What matters is that we get better every day."

Titans brace for jump to 3A

With key returners Zach Lyons, Brett Burroughs, Darren Matthews, Josh Alsop and Jonathan Roessler back in the fray, Coal Ridge hopes to be ready for a jump to Class 3A ball.

"Last year, we were freshmen and sophomores," coach Scott Schilt said. "We were trying to compete against juniors and seniors, and that didn't work. We weren't physically strong enough to compete agianst them. We may have a lot of the same growing pains, but we look to be much more competitive than a year ago."

Coal Ridge being a new school last year, only frosh and sophs were enrolled.

Some key newcomers include Jake Swindell, a good athlete and one of the Titans' better pitchers, and freshman Niko Botner, who's going to play outfield, first base and have a few opportunities on the mound.

Schilt said about five kids have potential as pitchers, including Swindell, Burroughs, Lyons, Matthews and Botner.

"I'll probably have three of those kids work into a starting role," Schilt said. "One kid will work pretty well as a closer and the other two kids as setup guys."

The second-year Coal Ridge coach, who played as a walk-on at the University of Wyoming, anticipates a solid infield.

Burroughs and Swindell will alternate at third base, with Burroughs and Alsop at catcher. Lyons returns to shortstop after an all-conference season, and Swindell and Jonathan Roessler will probably alternate at second base. Matthews will play first.

"Most of the infield players are junior level and have had some high school experience," Schilt said. "We have a lot more leadership than we did a year ago. We have a few guys who can hit the ball fairly hard."

Cards break in new diamond

Grand Valley, directed by coach Jeff Bradley, will take to a new diamond on high school grounds in 2007. The Cardinals said goodbye to Cottonwood Park as their official home last season and hope to break in their new digs with a winning campaign.

Grand Valley finished a couple of runs short of the playoffs last season, placing behind Rangely and Paonia in the Class 2A Western Slope League and return a bulk of the talent that paced the squad to a 7-6 overall record.

Tyler Jensen, Danny Manzanares, Matt Cain, Michael Shepherd, Colton Cowan, Josh Selby and Ben Evers comprise the returning core. Manzanares is the only senior.

If those names sound familiar, that's because several played on Grand Valley's state championship basketball team.

"I think the success from basketball will hopefully help us out," Bradley said. "That and we've been a couple runs away from moving on last year. With that, the success from last year and being so young, hopefully we'll find the turning point."

Jensen will anchor the pitching staff as the team's No. 1 arm. Selby will serve as the No. 2 guy and the Cards are in search of a solid third starter. Matt Thompson and Dillon Smuin are expected to vie for that slot.

"A lot of it has do with pitching at our level," Bradley said. "A lot of teams are going to score runs. How they pitch is what kind of sets teams apart."