Cougar baseball to return to playoffs

The once-dominant Niwot High School Cougar baseball program is poised to return to the Class 4A playoffs for the first time since 2016. From 1998 to 2005, Niwot won five state championships in a span of eight years, but has not won a championship since then.

The Cougars finished the 2023 regular season with a record of 13-8, and went 11-7 in the Class 4A Longs Peak League.

Niwot closed out the season on May 15 with a doubleheader split against Northridge High School. The Cougars were forced to postpone a Saturday home game against Northridge due to unplayable field conditions caused by several days of rain, moving the game to Monday as part of a twin-bill on the road.

Niwot entered the games with an RPI that put them in 31st place in Class 4A, with the top 32 teams qualifying for the playoffs. Northridge was ranked 16th entering the season-ending contests.

Niwot took the first game, 6-4, putting them in good position to maintain their ranking. The Cougars almost completed a double-header sweep in the second game, but a 4-run rally in the bottom of the seventh inning by Northridge put Niwot on the short end of the 8-7 final score.

The CHSAA RPI rankings after the completion of the Monday schedule put Niwot at 28th, while Northridge dropped to 18th.

A May 9 extra-inning victory on the road over Fort Morgan High School put Niwot in good position to make the playoffs. The Cougars were down 6-3 after three innings, but rallied to score three times in the seventh inning to send the game into extra innings. Neither team scored in the eighth inning, but Niwot put three runs on the board in the top of the ninth inning, and held Fort Morgan scoreless in the bottom of the ninth.

Superb relief pitching by junior Brock Rothstein (2 innings) and sophomore Jagger Kilpatrick (4 innings) were keys to the victory. Kilpatrick allowed only three hits, striking out six to pick up the victory.

Junior Sergio Pimental led the offense with four hits, scoring three runs, while Rothstein added three more hits, scoring three runs and driving in two more. Freshman Henry Noblin had two hits and drove in three runs, while sophomore Haden Shaw had two hits, scored two runs and drove in two more. Seniors Julian Lettow and Diego Castro scored the other two runs for the Cougars.

Playoffs begin with single-elimination regionals May 19.