Niwot suffers consecutive losses to Severance

The mood inside Niwot's dugout could not have been more somber.

Knowing how many accomplished bats the Cougars own, players and coaches alike were left discouraged following a 2-1 defeat at Severance High School on Saturday, April 13. Niwot mustered only five hits, one more than the Cougars produced two days prior in another loss to those same Silver Knights.

Head coach Ken Rosales noted that Niwot's recent struggles at the plate appear more mental than physical.

"We're a hitting team, but the last couple of games, we're not doing that," Rosales said. "They just need to figure it out. They seriously do. They need to figure out what's going on. We've been working on things at practice, and that's not working, so we need to go a different avenue."

Junior third baseman Kaige Kennedy tallied two hits while Haden Shaw, Drew Stapp and Jude Schechter each had one. Niwot's lone run came in the first inning when the hustling Charlie Shaw scored on a Severance throwing error drawn by going first-to-third on a Kennedy single.

The Cougars' early momentum was soon squashed, however, as strikeouts and baserunning mistakes proved costly in the later innings. With their regular season now about halfway complete, they stand 6-4 overall (3-3 Class 4A Longs Peak League).

"Obviously, we're not happy, but there's much room to improve," Haden Shaw said. "We just need to figure out what's going wrong and lock in, honestly."

Starter Brock Rothstein, Haden Shaw and Kennedy each pitched well, allowing only five combined hits. Shaw, in particular, was impressive across 3.1 innings pitched. "I was able to hit my spots that my catcher set up for, so I feel like that helped," the junior pitcher said.

Unfortunately for them, a misplayed infield pop-up gave way to Severance scoring the go-ahead run in the Silver Knights' sixth.

Both Shaw and Rosales were complimentary of catcher Preston Peterson, a varsity newcomer who navigated Shaw through multiple high-stress innings, enabling Shaw to move from his customary position behind the plate to the mound.

"The positive thing is we had a freshman catcher who stepped in today and he was phenomenal," Rosales said. "He did a great job."

On Tuesday, April 9, the visiting Cougars swept Riverdale Ridge High School in a doubleheader, 14-4 and 6-3. Charlie Shaw had five total RBIs across both games and Rothstein produced two extra-base hits on the day.

Niwot then fell to the defending Class 4A state champion Silver Knights, 6-2, on Thursday, April 11. Pitching on his home mound, Henry Noblin allowed four unearned runs in six innings pitched as the Cougars made seven errors.

Up next, the Cougars have two two-game series against Thompson Valley High School on April 16 and 18 and Skyline High School on April 20 and 23.