Glenwood Springs Demons start season topping Coal Ridge

Homers, strong pitching highlight Glenwood’s first win of season

By Joelle Milholm
Post Independent Staff
Glenwood Springs, CO Colorado
March 12, 2008

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GLENWOOD SPRINGS — The Demons welcomed the 2008 baseball season on Tuesday with a 11-6 victory over Coal Ridge at Glenwood Springs Middle School.
Taylor Larsen, Patrick Hailey and Matt Seaver all blasted home runs for Glenwood, with Larsen’s coming in the form of a two-run shot to left center field in the sixth inning, and Hailey and Seaver getting back-to-back solo shots in the third inning.

“Offensively, the guys battled,” said Glenwood head coach Eric Nieslanik. “All in all it was fantastic, some of the guys hit the ball real hard.”

The three jacks were all part of a productive day at the plate for the Demons, whose steady offense sprinkled hits and runs throughout the game. Jason Whiting was a big part of the Glenwood offense, walking twice and connecting for a two-run double down the third-base line.

“It was a bit rough because we haven’t seen any live pitching yet, but it was easy to adjust,” said the senior. “We came out, hit the ball well, got some runs on the board and it worked out.”

On the mound, Hailey, Matt Snyder and Whiting all pitched for Glenwood, with Hailey getting the start and the win. Whiting was the hardest for the Titans to figure out, as he finished up the game with three scoreless innings with five strikeouts and only two walks and one hit.

“The pitching was great, everybody got to pitch a little bit,” Nieslanik said. “The pitchers were great with their strike zones, so that was cool.”

The Titans’ offense came alive in the fourth inning when Darren Matthews crushed a two-run homer — the first Titan to hit one out of the park this season — and Braxton Jackson came around to score after hitting a single, being advanced on a sacrifice and with some help from a few Glenwood throwing errors.

“We are definitely coming along,” said Titan head coach Luke LaBaw, whose team opened its season last week with a loss to Grand Junction Central’s junior varsity. “We just got some of our basketball guys out, and we really threw them into the fire, and I thought they responded well.”

Jonathan Roessler, Brett Burrows and Jackson all pitched for the Titans, with Roessler taking the loss.

Despite the fact that the Titans and the Demons had combined for four days of playing outside prior to Tuesday’s game, both made their coaches proud.

“The pitchers are hitting their spots, the hitting will come along, so we are right where we want to be,” LaBaw said. “I am pretty confident we can be successful if we can keep doing what we were doing.”

Glenwood will now be on the road to play in the Hotchkiss tournament Friday and Saturday where Nieslanik thinks his squad may see teams like Paonia, Rock Canyon and Bayfield. Coal Ridge, which is playing all of its home games at Cooper Field in Rifle, will be hosting Rangely at 3:30 p.m.