Niwot baseball eliminated by Palisade in regionals

Although disappointed by the season-ending first-round playoff loss, the Niwot High School varsity baseball team left Colorado’s Western Slope with heads held high.

The Cougars, who fought their way into regionals by winning seven straight games to close the regular season, pushed host Palisade High School to its limits in the Class 4A Region 4 tournament opener on Saturday, May 18. Niwot tallied 13 hits and scored runs in five different frames but was ultimately undone by walks, errors, and a difficult sixth inning in the 17-10 loss.

Palisade, which entered play as the 4th-ranked team in Class 4A, went on to win the second game by a 4-3 margin and earn a trip to the state tournament.

“It was a hard-fought game back and forth,” said third-year Niwot Head Coach Ken Rosales. “I was proud of them. I really was.”

Rosales added that the four-hour bus ride back to Niwot was “lively,” an indication of the Cougars’ optimistic outlook.

“I said (to the team), ‘This is a hard loss to swallow, but we'll be back,’” Rosales said. “Just realize that we lost this game on the mistakes that we made.”

Mistakes included five defensive errors, nine walks allowed, and three hit batsmen. However, Niwot’s offense, which occasionally struggled during the regular season, performed exceptionally, outhitting Palisade 13 to 10.

Seniors Sergio Pimentel and Brock Rothstein each produced two knocks, including one double apiece, junior Charlie Shaw notched a triple and produced two RBIs, and junior Kaige Kennedy joined those three with another two-hit performance. Every Cougar in the lineup had at least one hit, including Arlo Richards, Jagger Kilpatrick, Drew Stapp, Haden Shaw and Jude Schechter. Sophomore Jack Schrock played third base but did not bat.

Kennedy started on the mound and allowed five earned runs in 2.2 innings pitched. Freshman Jack O’Hara and Rothstein relieved, with the latter giving up six unearned runs in 2.2 innings.

Niwot rallied in the top of the sixth inning to bring the Cougars to within a run of Palisade, with Palisade ahead 10-9 entering the bottom of the sixth inning. Though the Cougars scored one run in the top of the seventh inning, the seven runs scored in the bottom of the sixth inning by Palisade were too much to overcome.

“It was disappointing because they knew we were the better team,” Rosales said. “We killed ourselves. We really did. I can't say enough about our pitching. Our pitching has kept us in (games) the whole year. We score 10 runs and more times than not, we're gonna win.”

After falling in regionals for the second straight year, Niwot finished its 2024 campaign at 13-11, giving the Cougars consecutive winning seasons for the first time since 2009-10.

Rosales admitted that it was difficult to watch the high school careers of Pimentel and Rothstein, two seniors who played key roles in Niwot’s recent revival, come to a close.

“I felt bad for the seniors because of all the work they’ve put in,” Rosales said. “Sergio had a great game (Saturday). He really did. It just didn't pan out for them. You always feel bad for the seniors on that last game because everybody else has another chance.” Saturday’s game was also the finale for senior Julian “Johnny” Wu, who gave the Cougars high energy throughout the season.

Looking ahead, Niwot does have plenty of production set to return, including varsity players Haden Shaw, Charlie Shaw, Kennedy, Richards, Stapp, Kilpatrick, and Henry Noblin, who was out with an injury. Junior varsity/swing players Nico Castro, Matias Castro, Cameron O’Connor,, Preston Peterson, Jake Gardner and Soren Crisco were also invited to Palisade.

Niwot 3 3 0 0 2 1 1 - 10 13 5

Palisade 4 0 4 2 0 7 x - 17 10 4