RANGELY | After finishing the 2024 regular baseball season, the Rangely Panthers qualified for round one of the 2024 CHSAA State Baseball playoffs.
The first two rounds of the tournament are set in a regional format for the top 32 teams in 2A baseball in Colorado. Rangely finished as the number 23 seed, and this placed the Panthers in region 7 with Monte Vista High School as the host seed. The Panthers were paired up with the number 10 seed, Dawson School out of Lafayette, Colorado.
The Panthers were able to strike first in the top of the first inning. Sophomore leadoff hitter Landon Bollinger reached on an infield single and junior Landon Calrson followed with a 10-pitch walk to put runners on first and second. Fellow junior Marcos Quintana started a great day at the plate by clubbing the third pitch of his at-bat to the fence in left-center. On the hit, Bollinger scored from second, but Calrson was beat by the relay throw on a close play at the plate. Quintana moved up to third base with stolen base, but he was stranded there by the Panthers hitters.
Junior Tristan Scott took the rubber for the Panthers to start the game. Scott had the Mustang hitters guessing in their first at-bats as Scott only surrendered one run in two innings and striking out four batters. In the bottom of the third, the Panthers offense were able to put runners on first and second base but the offense squandered the opportunity to score any runs. The Mustangs took advantage of the opportunity in their bottom half and plated twelve runs. The Panthers could not quiet the hot bats of the Mustangs in the inning as they plated their 12 runs on nine hits and two walks. Scott gave way to Quintana on the mound and the Mustangs offense did not skip a beat. The Mustangs scored 10 runs in the bottom of the third inning to push the score to 11-1 in their favor.
The Mustangs plated two more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to make the score 13-1. With the score ending that way after the top of the fifth inning, the Panthers fell to the Mustangs due to the 10-run mercy rule.
Despite the loss, Head Coach Jeremy Lohry was “very proud of the teams, grit and determination to overcome numerous obstacles the team faced throughout the 2024 season.” The entire starting lineup for the Panthers in the regional playoff game will return for the 2025 season. This includes the team’s top hitter in sophomore Landon Bollinger who hit .552 on the season with 37 hits in 67 at-bats. Bollinger led the team with RBI’s also with 28 while clubbing 14 doubles and one homerun. Bollinger was followed by Landon Carlson who hit .385 with 26 RBI’s, six doubles, and one triple. Marcos Quintana was third on the team in batting average with a .314 average with 11 RBI’s, four doubles and three triples. Quintana was on the downside of the dreaded hit-by-pitch stat as he was plunked 10 times this season at the plate. Freshman Bradely Lambros finished fourth in batting average with a .304 average. Lambros drove in 12 RBIs with one double and one triple.
The Panthers saw the departure of two seniors this year with Kobe Chism and Dalton LeBleu. Chism was the starting catcher for the Panthers and was a staple behind the plate for three seasons. Chism hit .302 on the season with 10 RBI’s and two doubles. Chism stole 37 bases in the season which ranked him as second in all 2A Colorado baseball this season. Dalton LeBleu was the starting centerfielder for four years in the program and was known to be able to track down a ball hit anywhere in the outfield with his speed. LeBleu hit .293 this season with 17 RBI’s, three doubles and two triples.
The Panthers finished their season with an overall record of 11 wins, 10 losses and one tie. The Panthers finished in second place in the 2A Western Slope League with a 2-2 record.
Special to the Herald Times
