Seniors close out careers for Niwot baseball

It's not every year that a Niwot varsity baseball roster will include 10 seniors. Following a COVID-19 stolen junior season, the Cougars' crowded senior class led Niwot to a 5-10 record, the program's most wins since 2017.

In their final four games together, Niwot cruised to a 3-1 record highlighted by a 16-7 win at Silver Creek on June 8 for the first time since 2016. The Cougar season ended at home with an 11-4 loss to the Class 4A eighth-ranked Windsor Wizards on June 10. Head Coach Adam Strah was proud of the fight his team displayed in the final two weeks.

"Without a doubt, they played their best baseball at the end," Strah said. "No matter what your season looks like, that's the best way to do it."

The seniors' strong stretch placed an exclamation point on the closing chapter of their high school careers.

"There are very specific things about each one of them that they brought to the program," Strah said. "I'm excited for their next chapter... I'm going to miss them."

Senior Liam Wood, who notched an RBI single against Windsor, said that the camaraderie the group developed made for a special atmosphere.

"We've been playing together for a lot of years," Wood said. "We're all really tight and really close."

In their penultimate contest, Niwot put together seven runs in the second inning to take down rival Silver Creek in Longmont. Sophomore Jed Kilpatrick and junior Jack Brooker each had two hits while senior Dylan Olson struck out eight in five and two-thirds innings pitched. Senior Micah Sheats also blasted his second home run of the year.

Against Windsor, Sheats took the hill and struggled to find outs against a pesky Windsor lineup. The Wizards built a 9-0 lead after scoring six runs in the fourth inning.

"That's (Windsor) a playoff-bound top-10 team and they have a bright couple of weeks looking ahead for them (in the playoffs)," Strah said. "They're good two-strike hitters (and) they're good at the plate."

Niwot rebounded by sending nine batters to the plate in the fifth inning to score four runs on four hits. In the sixth and seventh innings, the Cougars couldn't replicate the surge and were held scoreless. Brooker, senior Mason Nieberger and Sheats each had two hits.

Brooker, who batted eighth in the order during Niwot's first home game on May 7, worked his way up to the cleanup spot to end the season. He attributed much of his growth to the seniors who he said taught him the value of commitment.

"They're a great group," Brooker said. "They play hard, they compete (and) they represent Niwot baseball."

Both Sheats and Will Smith, who joined the team late after his hockey season ended, were the only seniors to appear on varsity all four years (minus 2020). Other seniors include Gage Gruidel, who missed the entire official high school season after suffering an injury in a P.E. class, Cooper Ackerman, Hayden Morford, Josh Strid, Ben Williams, Nieberger, Olson and Wood.

"Anytime you have a big senior group, you hope that they take that on themselves to leave a legacy," Strah said. "Throughout the fall, winter and spring, I think that they've done that."