Blue Jacket season ends with disappointing defeat in Olathe

“There was a lot of head shaking going on”

Blue Jackets coach Dave McGuire had this to say about the Blue Jackets loss in the first round of the league playoffs:
“How the season went was compounded by how the season ended,” says McGuire.

It’s been a long season for the team, closing with a 2-8 record and heading into the playoffs the number 10 seed. The Blue Jackets never quite found their rhythm and struggled throughout the year as flashes of quality ball were interrupted repeatedly by game breakdowns. There’s no doubt the late start to the season and the erratic schedule had something to do with it but the hope was the team would pull together by the end of the regular season.
Granted, the team was young, but even the veteran players struggled this year. Their hitting was solid, Jenner Currier had a phenomenal year at the plate at one point batting over .900, but it was their play in the field that really did the damage.
Despite the tough road to the playoffs, the Blue Jackets were confident heading into their first game of the playoffs on Monday, June 23 against the seventh seeded Olathe squad.
Unfortunately, that confidence soon dissipated as the Blue Jackets struggled on the mound, at the plate and in the field, losing 5-1.
While the Blue Jackets held Olathe to just two base hits all game long, walks and errors allowed Olathe to score five runs.
Unfortunately, the Blue Jackets struggled on offense as well with just four base hits on the afternoon. A double by Sam Evans pushed Nolan Blunck in for Crested Butte’s only run of the game ultimately letting the game slip away.
“We made a team that we should’ve beaten look very good,” says McGuire. “There was a lot of head shaking going on.”
The good news is that most of the team will return next year giving the coaches a solid foundation for success. In addition, there are a number of strong players moving up to the Blue Jackets from the Little League ranks.
“I’m thinking next year could be a pretty solid squad,” says McGuire. “We gained experience with the guys that hadn’t played much before and look forward to next year.”