Sept. 22, 2014
Ashley Thompson
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Don’t tell the club baseball team they’re not a Division II sport. And don’t tell them they need a coach.
The team will travel around the state of Colorado to play some of the best schools this year, and the playerrun team will look to get back to where they almost were last year: the National Club Baseball Association World Series.
After a high school injury, club baseball is the reason junior vice president Kurt Bathelt fell in love with the sport again. Many others have done the same.
Sixteen new players joined the team this year and the team already has great chemistry, something Bathelt and senior president Cameron Dietz like to see.
Bathelt and Dietz both look for a desire to improve, a love of the game and the motivation to win in their new players.
Senior Garrett Byrd will be rejoining the team this year looking to make a fi nal push. Byrd’s competitive drive helps set the tone at practice and games.
“I play club because it brings a level of competition that none of the intramurals do,” said Byrd. “It gives you the chance to continue in the sport you love just of the fun of it, without any pressure.”
Last season, the team almost found themselves at the NCBA World Series.
“Last year we were two games away from going to the NCBA World Series,” said Byrd. “We lost in the last inning to Mines.”
One key difference for this team that Dietz highlighted is the lack of a coach.
“We were the only team last year in the top 20 club teams that didn’t have coaches,” Dietz said.“We are entirely player-run.”
Since the club team is run by students who graduate, presidents and vice presidents don’t last long. It is Dietz’s fi rst year as president of the team, and transitioning from one president to the next can be tricky.
But Byrd thinks the team can make it to the NCBA World Series this year.
“This year we have better pitching and great offense,” said Byrd. “Our team chemistry this year is great. We can defi nitely get there.”