Niwot Legion D ties for fifth place in state tournament

Niwot Legion D entered the Colorado American Legion Baseball State Tournament as the eighth seed in the eight-team, double elimination tournament. Though Legion D is composed of 12 teams, only eight qualified to compete in the tournament.

With its first game against Fairview, the tournament’s number one seed, Niwot was pressured to perform from the start. Though the team ended the bottom of the fourth with a 6-4 lead, Niwot suffered a punishing fifth inning. After several misplayed balls and one error, Niwot left the inning with a four-run deficit.

Niwot scored two runs in the seventh inning to reduce its deficit, butit wasn’t enough as teh Cougars lost to Fairview 10-8. Fairview went on to earn second place in the tournament.

In its second game of the tournament, Niwot went up against Brighton, the tournament’s sixth seed team. Heading into the seventh inning, Niwot was trailing by a three-run deficit, but rallied to score four runs.

Brighton came up to bat in the bottom of the seventh inning. Niwot was hard-pressed to shut the game down before the opposing team could even out the score. In the final play, a Brighton player ran for home plate, but Niwot’s shortstop made an excellent throw home, catching the runner by three steps. Niwot Legion D won in a close contest, with a final score of 14-13.

“It all came together for that game,” Coach Tom Kleespies said of the team. I had a pitcher put in an amazing effort to keep us in the game. We had timely hitting and excellent base running. At the end, I was ready to give the game ball to the shortstop, but then realized that there were plays up and down the lineup that were just as important [as his]. That said, I went to my Jeep, got a new box of game balls, and gave [one] to everyone on the team.”

With one win and one loss, Niwot Legion D advanced into the third round of games on Saturday, July 23, to play Rock Canyon. The Metro League Team entered the tournament as the number four seed with an impressive 14-2 league record.

Niwot was eliminated from the tournament after losing 13-7 to the Rock Canyon Jaguars. The Cougars tied for fifth place in the eight-team tournament. Undefeated Fort Morgan walked away from the tournament with a first place title, while Fairview and Eaglecrest came in second and third, respectively.

Niwot Legion D will continue practicing throughout the summer. Spring practices for the high school season will start on February 27, 2017.