Cougar baseball starts strong

Niwot High School coach Ken Rosales was pleased with his baseball team's first outing of the season, a 13-1 mercy-rule win over Timnath High School. "We should have won big as Timnath is a team of freshmen and sophomores," Roxales said of the new school to the north.

But the Cougars dominated, as they should. "Everybody hit the ball," Rosales said. "We did leave a lot of guys on base. Our pitchers only gave up two hits and two walks."

Junior Brock Rothstein started on the mound, while sophomore Charlie Shaw finished up. Senior Diego Castro caught the game, giving the young Cougars experience behind the plate. Senior Julian Lettow played first base, fresh off the Niwot basketball team.

The Cougars also fielded a relatively young lineup, with freshman Jude Schechter starting at second base, and Charlie Shaw at third. Jed Kilpatrick, another senior, started at shortstop, with his younger brother, sophomore Jagger Kilpatrick in leftfield, sophomore Arlo Richards in center, and sophomore Drew Stapp in right.

Sophomore Max Herrera also got into the game as a pinch-hitter. Junior Sergio Pimental is expected to pitch and play infield and outfield for the Cougars.

Niwot was shorthanded as two players who were expected to start were unavailable. Sophomore Hayden Shaw, who was expected to pitch, and play infield, was under the weather. Another key player expected to start was otherwise occupied on Friday.

Rosales, who also serves as the school's resource officer as a Boulder County Sheriff's deputy, encouraged his players and staff to see senior Jaedyn Adler, a returning starter, perform a starring role in the NHS production of "Beauty and the Beast," with performances Thursday through Saturday. "It was phenomenal," Rosales said. "Jaedyn was very good as Gaston, and for his first stage performance, he was exceptional."

Rosales is assisted this season by returning veteran coach Todd Kidder on varsity. Kidder was an assistant coach for Rosales when Rosales was the head coach at Lyons High School.

Greg Wilcox, who has a long history in baseball, including pitching his West Bend (WI) high school team to two second-place finishes in the state tournament, is the new pitching coach. Wilcox moved to Niwot from California to be nearer to his grandchildren, one of whom is a freshman on the Niwot squad.

Following a collegiate career pitching at Northwestern University, Wilcox became president of Oak Ridge Woodlands Area Little League in Texas, which became the largest Little League in the country with nine lighted fields on 35 acres. He has also served on the board of directors of Major League Baseball's charity, The Baseball Assistance Team (B.A.T.), which provides medical, financial and psychological assistance to former professional players who have fallen on hard times.

Veteran coach Wade Connor returns to coach the Niwot JV squad, with long-time coach Biff Warren serving as his assistant coach.