Blue Jackets open 2011 baseball season

Big home stand this
weekend

As is often the case for our local Babe Ruth baseball team, the Blue Jackets, spring training was a bit dubious this year. Players trickled into the fold and the team battled the winter that wouldn’t end in an effort to get ready for the season.

“The first day we had five guys practicing in the parking lot in the rain,” says rookie head coach Vann Taylor. “Anywhere there was sun we went to practice and if there wasn’t any sun in the valley, we went into the gym.”
Taylor comes from an extensive career in baseball, reaching his pinnacle in high school at a 6A school in Oklahoma.
He went on from there to play junior college ball and closed out his career pitching college baseball in Kansas City.
This year he decided to step into the head coaching position.
“I had some awesome coaches and I’ve had all this junk in my head and it was time to get it out and share it,” explains Taylor.
Eventually, Taylor ended up with 10 players on his roster and it was obvious most would get some time on the mound at some point.
“I knew we were going to need some pitching,” says Taylor. “And everybody knew they were going to play everywhere eventually.”
The Blue Jackets had a rough start to their season, opening with a 21-0 loss to Olathe on Friday, May 27.
“I felt like there were a ton of first-game jitters,” says Taylor.
The Crested Butte pitchers gave up 15 walks in the game and that had an effect on the Blue Jackets both in the field and at the plate.
“There’s nothing your defense can do about walks,” says Taylor. “I feel like we were falling asleep in the field watching all those walks and we were still pretty much asleep at the plate.”
The Blue Jackets made a near complete turnaround in their next game on Tuesday, May 31 against Gunnison.
They opened the game scoring three runs in the top of the first. Sam Reaman and Dakota Wiggins led off with back-to-back singles. Base hits from Peter Bright and Liam Mortell drove in two runs and then Bright scored when Gunnison tried to turn a double play.
Taylor looked to Aaron Blunck to start on the mound, hoping his energy would carry through to the rest of the defense.
“I put confidence on the mound and it filtered through to the rest of the team,” says Taylor.
It took until after a tough first inning though before the confidence really took hold. The Blue Jackets were sitting on a 3-1 lead with two outs and two Gunnison runners on when a handful of mistakes gave up eight more runs.
“One day last week was the first time we got to work on game situations,” says Taylor.
The Blue Jackets then tightened up on defense and Blunck gained more confidence on the mound.
They held Gunnison scoreless in the second and third innings and were back on track.
“They came off the field with so much energy,” says Taylor.
Blunck then started to struggle on the mound in the bottom of the fourth and Gunnison scored two more runs before Taylor looked to give Quinn Winter his first stint on the mound.
“I had the utmost confidence in him,” says Taylor.
It paid off as Winter opened up throwing strikes and never stopped.
“I hit a gem with Quinn,” says Taylor. “He settled in and threw strikes. His fastball just tails in on the hands of the hitters.”
Down 12-3, the Blue Jacket bats came alive. Dakota Wiggins crushed a triple to the fence down the leftfield line and scored on a single by Bright. Bright eventually scored on a passed ball and the Blue jackets scored one more off a power bunt RBI single by Montana Wiggins, cutting the Gunnison lead down to six runs.
The Blue Jackets defense and Winter’s pitching held Gunnison scoreless the rest of the game and the Blue Jackets bats pushed in two more runs, but the Blue jackets eventually fell short 12-9.
Despite the loss, the team put in a completely different game than the opener against Olathe and found reason to be psyched.
“It was like night and day,” says Taylor. “Spirits were definitely high. I felt good about how we settled in defensively. I still feel like I have a lot to learn about where everybody is strongest.”
The Blue Jackets host three games this weekend, facing Delta on Friday, June 3 at Tommy V Field at 6 p.m. They follow that with a double-header on Saturday, June 4 against Paonia, with games at 12:30 and 3 p.m. also at Tommy V Field.