Arapahoe baseball graduated the overwhelming majority of its roster from last season. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)
The Arapahoe Warriors are a team in transition. 19 seniors made up the core of last year’s baseball squad that finished 15-6 overall and 11-3 in the competitive Continental League are gone, and while this season’s group is again laden with seniors, the Warriors won’t have much varsity experience in the dugout to start the season.
And as the season creeps closer and closer, weather hasn’t helped Arapahoe coach Luke Muller discover what kind of team he’ll be working with this year. Like most teams in the state, snow has made practice difficult at the best of times, and tryouts even more so.
Although that isn’t necessarily a bad thing according to Muller.
“We’ve made cuts and formed our teams on Monday, and (Tuesday) was really the first day of practice,” said Muller. “We have 21 guys on our roster mainly because of that reason. We just haven’t seen everybody play.
“But I think I have more talent this year than I did last year as a whole. It’s just not knowing, that a lot of these guys it’s their first varsity season, how they’ll respond.”
Muller talks about “his” team, and “his” guys, and if that sounds possessive, it’s because Muller is firmly entrenched in the school and the Arapahoe community. This will be his tenth season as head coach of the Warriors, and that’s not including his two-year stint as assistant coach and the four years he spent as part of the team when he attended Arapahoe in the nineties.
Muller was a three-time all-state player at Arapahoe, and was named Colorado player of the year in 1998. Arapahoe has only had two coaches in the past 16 years – Muller, and his predecessor Had Bradbury. From his time in the dugout as a player to now as a head coach, Muller has seen Arapahoe baseball from all sides, and remains convinced that this year’s team has a chance to surpass even last season’s best-ever second place finish in the Centennial League.
He highlighted a number of players who have a chance to make an impact this season.
“I’ve got a leftfielder, a senior named Max Whitehead that’s a good player. A centerfielder named Clay Hansen – he wrestled too,” said Muller. “Jacob Hilton is a sophomore – he’ll be the only sophomore on varsity. He’ll be our shortstop and pitch.”
While Muller has been almost a constant in the Warrior dugout for almost two decades, he’s seen a lot of changes when it comes to baseball in the state of Colorado.
Those changes are reflecting in the makeup up this year’s Warriors team. Muller said that his roster includes 21 players – many of them primarily pitchers, which he attributes to players recognizing that pitching is the easiest way to make a college squad.
“The trend in baseball is going towards pitching. There are guys who are coming into high school that tell us, ‘We just want to pitch,'” said Muller. “I think people are trying to chase a dream. I have seven guys who just pitch, and I know of several guys who are going to have 25 guys on their roster. But when you have a lot of guys who just pitch that’s ok.”
If more and more young players are leaning towards specialization in pursuit of a college scholarship, Arapahoe might be the place to be. Arapahoe has gotten a reputation for sending players off to college programs – 33 in the past eight years. The hope this year is that some of that individual talent turns into playoff run, and possibly the team’s first Centennial League championship – although an element of the unknown remains.
“I think one-though-nine we should be fairly competitive. From that perspective, I feel like we’re going to compete in our league and be better talent wise,” said Muller. “It just depends on how these guys react to their first season.”
Baseball preview
5A
- Defending champion: Rocky Mountain
- Season begins: March 5
- Playoffs begin: May 9
- Championship: May 23
- Returning all-state players: Garrett Hammer, Rocky Mountain, C, senior (second team); Tim Ryan, Fairview, OF, senior (second team); Kyle Winkler, Chatfield, INF, senior (second team).
4A
- Defending champion: Green Mountain
- Season begins: March 5
- Playoffs begin: May 9
- Championship: May 23
- Returning all-state players: Wyatt Featherston, Green Mountain, CF, junior (first team); Josh Ramirez, Green Mountain, P, senior (first team); Talon Schaller, Green Mountain, P/OF, senior (first team); Cole Shetterly, Green Mountain, SS, senior (first team); Billy Clark, Steamboat Springs, CF/LHP, senior (second team).
3A
- Defending champion: Holy Family (moved up to 4A)
- Season begins: March 5
- Playoffs begin: May 9
- Championship: May 23
- Returning all-state players: Luke Bote, Faith Christian, CF, senior (first team); Donovan Contreraz, Sheridan, P, junior (first team); Darin Cook, Lamar, P, senior (first team); Matt Burkhart, Eaton, SS, junior (second team).
2A
- Defending champion: Resurrection Christian
- Season begins: March 5
- Playoffs begin: May 9
- Championship: May 23
- Returning all-state players: Trent Hughes, Rye, 1B/RHP, senior (first team); Luis Ortiz, Rye, SS/RHP, senior (first team); Devan Rupe, Hotchkiss, RHP/CF, senior (first team); Evan Finley, Peyton, C/P/INF, junior (second team); Luke Mondt, Resurrection Christian, UTIL, senior (second team); Trey Walter, Sedgwick County, C, junior (second team); Tyler Woodhams, Sedgwick County, RHP/SS/3B, junior (second team).
1A
- Defending champion: Caliche
- Season begins: March 5
- Playoffs begin: May 2
- Championship: May 14
- Returning all-state players: Tyler Rouse, Eads, RHP/LF, senior (first team); Austin Yahn, Caliche, CF/P, senior (first team); Carlos Diaz, Cornerstone Christian, RHP/OF, senior (second team); Bradey Holtz, Peetz, SS/RHP, senior (second team); Ricardo Juarez, Holly, 3B/P, sophomore (second team); Alex Ogas, Dove Creek, C, senior (second team); Ryan Walther, Caliche, LF, senior (second team).