Niwot baseball run-rules Greeley Central to close non-league slate

Minus one game, Niwot High School baseball hasn’t had any trouble putting up runs early this season.

The Cougars closed their non-league slate by hosting Greeley Central High School on Friday, March 29, and sent the Wildcats home with a 20-5 defeat. Although the muddy conditions made things difficult for those on the mound, Niwot’s offense scored multiple runs in all four innings of the mercy-rule shortened affair.

“I thought they played well, especially in the weather,” said Niwot head coach Ken Rosales. “It was wet and cold. They did a great job.”

The Cougars’ third-year head coach was particularly proud of how his lineup made some in-game adjustments against Greeley Central’s hurlers.

"Once we got going, we kept the pedal down,” Rosales said. “It was hard getting going and getting guys on base. Their pitching wasn't the best, so we adapted and we just started hitting. Before, going back to that Silver Creek game (a 4-1 loss), we had a hard time adapting to the pitcher. These guys adapted really quickly and took care of business.”

Niwot, which improved to 3-1, has now produced 44 runs on the young season and is batting .415 as a team.

Against the Wildcats, junior catcher Haden Shaw led Niwot with three hits and four RBIs, improving his season batting average to .636. Designated hitter Kaige Kennedy also produced a triple and three RBIs while Charlie Shaw and Arlo Richards each tallied two hits. Jagger Kilpatrick and Henry Noblin tossed two innings apiece, striking out nine combined.

Looking at the big picture, Rosales was simply glad to see Niwot back in game action. Before beating Greeley Central, the Cougars hadn’t played since losing to Silver Creek High School on March 12.

The games will be coming more frequently moving forward, however, with Niwot opening up its challenging Longs Peak League slate at Roosevelt High on Tuesday, April 2. Other teams in the conference include Fort Morgan, Frederick, Mountain View, Northridge, Riverdale Ridge, Severance, Skyline, and Thompson Valley.

“Our league is pretty tough all the way around,” Rosales said. “You never know what to expect from them because we have very good teams in our league. I'm looking for our league to be really good and for us to compete really well.”

Niwot went 11-7 in league games last season, including 1-1 against Roosevelt.

Two days after traveling to Johnstown on April 2, the Cougars will host those same Roughriders on April 4. Roosevelt enters league play with an overall record of 1-3.