RANGELY | The Rangely High School Panthers baseball team continues to improve. Practicing inside a gym or in a parking lot has been the routine for the Panthers this season. The Panthers traveled to Fruita Monument High School on their spring break to get one practice outside under their belts before beginning their season on the road. The players understand that the weather is another way to face adversity in life and how to deal with it in a positive way is what the head coach Jeremy Lohry, head assistant Coach Jerry LeBleu, assistant coach Jessy Powell, assistant coach Cody Fouch and assistant coach Dylan LeBleu have been trying to teach their players.
The 2023 Panther baseball team consists of 16 players with three seniors, three juniors, six sophomores, and four freshmen. Kevin Wren (UTIL, C, RHP) and Luis Quintana (INF, RHP) return as 2022 Western Slope All-Conference players with Wren being a second team all-state player. Three other starters from the 2022 season return as juniors Dalton LeBleu (OF, RHP) and Kobey Chism (INF, C, RHP), sophomore Marcos Quintana (INF, RHP) and the Panthers will look to lean heavily on these players for consistent playing. Sophomores Landon Carlson (LHP, 1B, OF), and Tristan Scott (UTIL, RHP) will look to fill big roles on the team this spring. Other Panther players looking to fill open positions are senior Drake Miller (UTIL, RHP), junior Dylan Smuts (UTIL), sophomores Xavier Preciado (OF, C), Bryce Willis (OF), and Trenton Long (1B, RHP). Freshman Braxton Shaffer (2B, RHP), Braden Lucas (3B, RHP), Jay Nickson (OF), and Dusty Hall (OF) make up the rest of the team.
The Panthers traveled to Colorado Springs on March 16 to take on the Sand Creek High School Scorpions on March 17. This non-league match-up was the first between the two teams. Mother Nature had other plans for the game as it was canceled due to cold weather and snow flurries. On Saturday, March 18, the Panthers drove from Colorado Springs to Peyton, Colorado, to take on the Peyton Panthers. This was now the first game of the season and the second for the Peyton Panthers.
Wren stepped into the box and smashed a line drive single to right field, then successfully stole second and third base for the Panthers. Chism walked during his first at-bat and moved up on the double-steal to second base. Quintana then stepped into the box and drove the first pitch he saw to right field to score both Wren and Chism. The Panthers loaded the bases after Quintana’s single to score the two runs, but didn’t score any more runs that inning.
Toeing the rubber in the first game to start was Quintana. Quintana started the game while trying to shake off his first appearance rust. In two innings pitched Quintana struck out three Peyton players and walked seven. Quintana also gave up nine runs, eight of them earned runs on six hits. Carlson came in to relieve Quintana and struck out two Panther hitters while walking five. Carlson gave up six runs, four of them as earned runs, in two innings of work. The Peyton Panthers ended the game early via the 10-run mercy rule in the bottom of the fifth inning with a 15-2 victory over the RHS Panthers.
Offensively for the RHS Panthers, Wren led the way with a three-for-three day at the plate with three singles, four stolen bases and one run scored. Quintana recorded two hits for the RHS Panthers with two RBIs. Miller recorded his first varsity hit with a single to right field in the fourth inning. Chism also scored a run in the top of the first inning for the RHS Panthers. LeBleu did his part at the plate putting bunts down to sacrifice runners into scoring position in two different at-bats.
Looking to right the ship and even their record at one win and one loss was the focus of the RHS Panthers in game two against Peyton. Like the first game, Wren dominated at the plate for the RHS Panthers as he went 1-2 at the plate with two more stolen bases in the game. Senior Luis Quintana and his younger brother Marcos Quintana both recorded one hit, with Marcos slugging a deep fly ball to center field for a double in the top of the third inning to score his brother Luis. Carlson recorded his first RBI of the season, scoring Chism who reached base with his third walk of the day. Two runs were not enough though as Peyton opened the scoring in the bottom of the third inning with 19 runs against three Panther pitchers.
Scott was the starting pitcher for Rangely, and he threw two great innings while his team had the lead 2-1. The Peyton hitters were able to figure Scott out in the bottom of the third inning when they started on their 19 run inning. Scott struck out four, walked six, and gave six runs, with four of them earned runs. Luis Quintana came in to relieve Scott but the Peyton bats stayed hot and Quintana did his best to cool off the bats but he was only able to secure one out on the mound. Quintana faced seven hitters and he struck out one, walked two and gave up 10 runs, with only one run earned. Wren came in to relieve Quintana as he recorded the final out for the RHS Panthers but Wren gave up four earned runs before recording the out. Peyton shut the door on the RHS Panthers in the top of the fourth inning and won the game 20-2.
After starting the season at 0-2, spirits have remained high and players are looking to improve and prove they are better than a 0-2 record. Head coach Jeremy Lohry told his players, “There is a large amount of positives that are takeaways from taking on a top 10 team to start the season.” Lohry added, “…our hitting approach and baserunning was awesome for the first two games, our pitching will continue to improve as that will be a large focus moving forward.”
With two games under their belts, the Panthers will take on the Steamboat Sailors in another non-league match-up with a time and location to be determined due to weather and the Field of Dreams not yet being playable.
Special to the Herald Times
