With their sights set on their first victory, the Gilpin Eagles Baseball Team headed to Jaycee Park in Northglenn Thursday, April 13, to take on the Rocky Mountain Lutheran Eagles. The identically named squads would do battle on an afternoon where the thermometer read a balmy 75 degrees at 4 p.m. and a gentle breeze blew out over the right field fence – in other words, a perfect day to be at the ballpark for a springtime baseball game.

As the visiting team, Gilpin County was first at bat. Head Coach Joe Wuchter noted that, “Lately, we’ve been hitting the ball hard.” Unable to take advantage of the trend, a baserunner was left stranded at first base to conclude the top of the first inning. Rocky Mountain Lutheran hung four runs on Gilpin in the bottom of the first.

The pitching was solid for Gilpin in the second inning with senior hurler William Siegrest throwing numerous strikes. An error hurt the Gilpin Eagles who gave up another run to end the inning. Score after two innings: Rocky Mountain Lutheran 5, Gilpin County 0.

In the third inning, best forgotten in the annals of Gilpin sports history, all hell broke loose. Rocky Mountain Lutheran poured in eight runs to Gilpin’s zero. Far from being completely the fault of pitching with enough blame to go around, junior Dusty LeBeau spelled Siegrest on the mound for the rest of the contest.

Down but not out, senior Kaedon LaFone got on base then stole second and third in the fourth inning. With LaFone in scoring position, senior Jameson Lane belted a shot deep into left field resulting in a double and an RBI. Rocky Mountain Lutheran added another two runs.

Just starting to hit their stride, Gilpin scored once more on a fielder’s choice RBI by freshman Mason Sechler in the top of the fifth inning, but the eight runs registered by the opposition in the third inning was too much to overcome. The mercy rule was applied. Final score: Rocky Mountain Lutheran 15, Gilpin County 2.

Undaunted without an iota of quit in himself or his team, Coach Joe Wuchter shared after the game that, “Our pitching is improving a lot. (On the downside), we need to get better on defense and find more clutch hits when runners are in scoring position. I’m proud of the effort shown and progress made by every one of our ballplayers.”

At a disadvantage each year, all of the Gilpin Eagles’ baseball games are played on the road. Despite the adverse arrangement without their full complement of fans cheering them on, the players persevere for their love of the game.

Gilpin has four regular season games remaining on their schedule beginning with Flatirons Academy (4/18) followed by Dawson School (4/21), Longmont Christian (4/24), and Arrupe Jesuit (4/27).