Niwot drops opening series to Northridge

Niwot head baseball coach Adam Strah had strangely mixed feelings after his team’s loss in the season debut on March 8. Though unhappy to come out on the short end of the 3-1 contest, Strah said he was heartened by his youthful squad’s performance against the older, battle-tested Grizzlies.

“It was very encouraging,” Strah said. “It’s two sides of the same coin. We hate to lose. We’re not getting on the bus happy because we lost. However, if you look at some of the young kids who were in there who were contributors today, there’s way more positives than negatives.”

Thursday’s game at Northridge marked Strah’s return to head coaching, after serving six years as a varsity assistant to Craig McBride, who retired at the end the 2017 season. Before coming to Niwot, Strah held the top spot at Rampart High School in Colorado Springs. Assisting him on varsity this season are Mike Newton and Connor Messinger. Colin York and Christian Cloar head up the JV team, while Biff Warren, Aldair Cintora, and Sam Freeman will be with the C team. All of Strah’s assistants have coached at Niwot in the past.

“It has been exciting to be back on a high school campus, and being able to lead this storied program is an honor I don't take lightly,” Strah said. “I come to work every day to align myself with our school's core values and expectations that will hopefully lead to success for our student athletes.”

Niwot baseball does have a decidedly youthful cast this season, especially compared to last year’s predominantly upperclass team. Just five seniors are on the varsity roster, including veterans Colton Goldfarb, Ben Goss and Caleb Martinez. Goldfarb, who will continue his baseball career at Barstow Community College after graduation, returns as starting catcher, while Martinez heads up this year’s pitching staff.

It was junior Aidan Galloway on the mound for the Cougars in their opener, though, saving Martinez for his first senior start in front of the home crowd. Galloway turned in a very solid performance for Niwot, going 3.2 innings with no earned runs and three strikeouts. He was relieved after a costly infield error in the fourth led to two unearned runs. As leadoff batter for the Cougars, he reached first base three times in his four appearances.

In relief was freshman Micah Sheats, one of three ninth-graders to make the varsity roster. Sheats also had a solid turn on the mound, pitching himself out of a jam in the fifth inning with back-to-back strikeouts. He gave up five hits on the day, but allowed just one run.

Joining Galloway and Martinez in the regular rotation this year are juniors Joey Desenfants and Dylan Ferrero, as well as sophomore Cameron Hassert. Several other players will see action in relief, including freshman Will Smith, junior Jaryd Meek and sophomore Will Douthit.

The Cougars were not able to muster much offense against Northridge’s Chance Eben, who went 6-1 with a 2.29 ERA and five complete games in 2017. Martinez and Sheats had Niwot’s only hits, and the team struck-out a combined nine times. The Cougars scored when sophomore Felipe Castro’s sacrifice bunt scored Goss, who walked to lead off the sixth.

Niwot also struggled some on defense, as untimely errors in the fifth and sixth innings proved costly. However, there were clear signs of improvement over 2017, when the team committed 52 errors in 19 games. In the infield for the Cougars this season are Goss, who will spend most of his time at first base, along with senior Mason Kunkel, Meek, Hassert, Castro, Douthit, and freshman Taylor Goldfarb, who made his high school debut at second base against the Grizzlies, going 0-for-2 with a walk. Outfield duties will be handled by senior Zane Sniffin, Martinez, Galloway, and sophomore Izaiah Golden.

“We still have a long ways to go, especially with the amount of young talent we have on the team,” Strah said. “We’ve tried to do as much as we can in the last week and a half among tryouts to get them ready for today. I think it showed that they’ve been plugging in and working hard.”

Niwot and Northridge faced off again on March 10 for the second game in the season series, and Strah’s fears about his team’s lack of experience came painfully true. Martinez allowed six hits and four earned runs in his start, striking out two of the 28 batters he faced. In relief, ninth-grader Smith had a shaky outing, allowing seven runs on six hits. At the plate, Niwot had just two singles, and struck out 12 times.

The Cougars host Delta on March 17, then travel to Coors Field for a morning scrimmage against Skyline High School March 19, before playing a two-game series against Greeley Central on March 22 & 24.

3/8 — Northridge 3, Niwot 1

Cougars (0-1) 000 001 0 — 1 2 2

Grizzlies (1-0) 000 210 0 — 3 4 0

Hitting (ab-r-h-rbi) — Caleb Martinez 2-0-1-0, Micah Sheats 3-0-1-0, Mason Kunkel 1-0-0-0, Taylor Goldfarb 2-0-0-0, Felipe Castro 3-0-0-1, Ben Goss 1-1-0-0, Colton Goldfarb 4-0-0-0, Cameron Hassert 4-0-0-0, Aidan Galloway 1-0-0-0, Izaiah Golden 0-0-0-0,

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — Aidan Galloway 3.2-2-2-0-4-3, Micah Sheats 2.1-5-1-1-2-2

3/10 — Northridge 13, Niwot 0

Grizzlies (1-0) 102 024 4 — 13 13 1

Cougars (0-1) 000 000 0 — 0 2 5

Hitting (ab-r-h-rbi) — Cameron Hassert 3-0-1-0, Colton Goldfarb 3-0-1-0, Aidan Galloway 1-0-0-0, Ben Goss 3-0-0-0, Caleb Martinez 2-0-0-0, Felipe Castro 3-0-0-0, Izaiah Golden 2-0-0-0, Mason Kunkel 1-0-0-0, Micah Sheats 2-0-0-0, Taylor Goldfarb 3-0-0-0, Will Douthit 0-0-0-0

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — Caleb Martinez 5-6-5-4-2-2, Will Smith 1.2-6-7-7-2-0, Jaryd Meek 0.1-1-1-1-1-0