LITTLETON — A 16-8 record and first-round regional playoff loss/exit last season for Rocky Mountain’s baseball program has quickly been put in the rearview mirror.
The Lobos — No. 5 in the CHSAANow.com Class 5A rankings — are off to a 3-0 start that includes road wins over No. 7 Mountain Vista and No. 3 Douglas County.
“We feel like we’ve got off to a good start for sure,” longtime and legendary Rocky Mountain coach Scott Bullock said after the Lobos’ latest victory Wednesday at Dakota Ridge High School. “We are excited about beating some good teams early. Everything has been on the road. We are happy with the start for sure.”
Bullock has coached the Lobos to six 5A state titles (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2014 and 2017). A 16-8 record and fourth-place finish in the Front Range League in 2022 was a bit of an anomaly for the most successful 5A baseball program in Colorado over the last two decades.
The Lobos took a 9-3 victory over Dakota Ridge during the chilly late-afternoon non-league game in Littleton. Rocky Mountain scored three runs in the first and second innings to bust out to an early lead.
Senior Phoenix West started a 3-run, 2-out rally in the top of the first inning with a solo home run with two strikes. Senior Trey Lindenfeld added a 2-run flare single off Dakota Ridge starting pitcher Jack Libby to right field to push the lead to 3-0.
West drove in his second run with a deep sacrifice fly in the top of the second inning. Senior Christian Wood launched a monster 2-run home run over left field to cap off the 3-run inning to give Rocky Mountain a 6-2 lead.
“I think our best offensive baseball is still yet to come,” Bullock said. “It is early, but we feel like we’ve got a team that can score some runs for sure.”
Rocky Mountain’s pitching staff is experience with sophomore Ross Frank leading the way. Frank picked up his second victory over the season throwing 5 and 2/3 innings giving up three runs on four hits.
“He (Frank) threw a lot of innings as a freshman. He is a very mature pitcher for a sophomore,” Bullock said. “We are lucky to have him. He does a great job with his command.”
Frank had eight strikeouts. The sophomore’s pinpoint location was evident with seven strikeouts looking.
“I really like to pound the zone. I don’t have overwhelming speed,” Frank said. “I like to pound the outside zone and get called strikes.”
Dakota Ridge senior Jacob White picked up an RBI single in the bottom of the first inning off Frank to cut the Lobos’ lead to 3-2. The other two runs the Eagles scored were both off errors.
“We didn’t make any adjustments,” Dakota Ridge coach Jeff Legault said of the Eagles’ seven strikeouts looking against Frank. “He was painting spots and in control of every pitch. The umpire was calling it and we just didn’t make adjustments to that outside corner.”
Rocky Mountain senior lefty pitcher Rahlen March-King relieved Frank when the sophomore hit his pitch-count limit with two outs in the sixth inning. March-King was just as dominate striking out three of the four batters he faced to close out the win.
“I feel like it’s going to be a good season,” Frank said. “It’s a good start already.”
Dakota Ridge (3-4 record) has an extremely tough non-league schedule before getting into its 5A Jeffco League stretch in about three weeks. The Eagles face No. 2 Legacy, No. 7 Mountain Vista, No. 4 Cherokee Trail and No. 10 Rock Canyon over the next 10 days.
“Our big thing that we learned in Arizona (spring break trip) and our few games here is to fight,” Legault said. “With our schedule I’ve told our kids they just have to fight. If teams are better than us, they are better than us. I’m pleased with their energy and fight they had in them to get prepared for league.”