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This is where we'll announce the most recent news about the Laramie Colts Baseball Program. If you've visited us before and want to know what's changed, take a look here first.

Colts nipped by a run

By DAVID WATSON / dwatson@wyosports.net • Saturday, June 05, 2010

It will go down in the books as a one-run loss, but the Laramie Colts improved in about all aspects of the game Friday night at Cowboy Field.

The Grays (2-2) had an answer whenever the Colts (1-5) staged a rally for a 7-6 Mountain Collegiate Baseball League (MCBL) road win. The Colts battled from behind the entire game after a 5-0 deficit going into the bottom of the fifth inning.

“We just ran out of innings,” Laramie head coach Nate Schwartz said. “That was the best we looked at the plate so far and we hit the ball hard. A lot of the credit goes to their shortstop (Josh Leo). He made some plays that most shortstops don’t make and he killed some of our rallies.

“It was a good baseball game, and I’m happy.”

Part of the reason for the improved play for the Colts was the addition of Robert Lawrence (Middle Tennessee State) and Nate Smith (Evansville).

Lawrence showed his speed on the bases with three stolen bases and Smith was the bookend of a three-run bottom of the seventh when he pulled the Colts to within a run (7-6) with an RBI triple.

“We have a bunch of new guys in and they played their butts off, which is great to see,” Schwartz said. “I couldn’t ask anything more from Robert (Lawrence) and Nate (Smith) for driving in late today and getting in to play.”

The RBI from Smith scored Matt Henriksen, who was also part of the seventh-inning one-out rally when he followed Nick Gentili’s double with one of his own. Laramie out-hit Greeley in the contest, 13-10.

“It was basically a brand new lineup, and everything started gelling as the hits came in packages. Once one hit comes, it is usually followed with two or three,” Henriksen said.

Colts’ starter Chris Poché (0-2) took the loss in five innings of work. He gave up six hits, five earned runs with four walks and five strikeouts.

“I was leaving the ball up some. I have to work on getting my stride length out there, stay on top of the ball and work down in the zone,” Poché, a lefty from Southeastern Louisiana, said. “Being a wood-bat league; if your throw strikes, you can get people out.”

Leo was also productive in the batter’s box for the Grays when he tallied a double, a triple and three RBIs. The two-run triple in the top of the seventh proved to be the game winning drive that rolled to the fence.The Colts did put a possible tying run on in the bottom of the ninth when Nick Andrews walked and Chris Brown came in as a pinch runner. Brian Patrick then hit a two-out single to center field to move Brown to second base. Corbin Williams then hit a first-pitch fly ball to left field to end the game.

The Colts next take on the Fort Collins Foxes at 6:35 p.m. today. Laramie is still looking for its first win over Fort Collins after three previous tries during in the first week of the MCBL season.

Getting the start for Laramie will be Logan Frame (1-0), who was instrumental last Sunday for Laramie’s only win so far — 12-4 over Greeley.

“As of right now, I would call (Frame) our ace,” Schwartz said. “He threw extremely well last Sunday and he is a gamer with great mound presence. I look for good things from him in every start we get out of him this summer.”

—

GRAYS 7, COLTS 6

Greeley                   001  130 200  —  7   10    1

Laramie                   000 021 300  —  6   13    2

Greeley hitting: Artie Carrera, (1B, 1B, RBI); Nate Goldstein, (1B, 3B, 2RBIs); Chris Fahey, (RBI); Stuart Wilson, (1B, 1B); Josh Leo, (2B, 3B, 3RBI); Mitchell Bean (1B); Sterling Monfort (1B). Laramie hitting: Nick Gentili, (1B, 2B, RBI); Matt Henriksen, (1B, 2B, RBI); Nate Smith, (3B, RBI); Nick Andrews, (1B); Cody Voelker, (1B, 1B); Brian Patrick, (1B, 1B, RBI); Corban Williams, (1B, 3B); Chris Pfau, (1B). Greeley pitching: Alex Ellison, (W, 6 1/3 IN., 11H, 6R, 6ER, 3BB, 5K, 1BK); Bryce Ruff, (S, 2 2/3 IN., 2H, 0R, 0ER, 2BB, 2K, 1WP). Laramie pitching: Chris Poché, (L, 5 IN., 6H, 5R, 5ER, 4BB, 5K); Jordan Chavis, (3 IN., 4H, 2R, 2ER, 1BB, 2K); Justin Kanas, (1 IN., 0H, 0R, 0ER, 0BB, 1K).

Help is on the way

By Bob Hammond / bhammond@wyosports.net • Wednesday, June 02, 2010

It hasn’t been a good start for the defending Mountain Collegiate Baseball League champion Laramie Colts, but it is likely going to get better soon.

So far the Colts, who are in a welcome two-day break, are 1-3 on the season with a pair of losses to annual rival Fort Collins and a defeat at the hands of Cheyenne, all on the road. The lone victory came over Greeley in a home game last Sunday.

In the first four games, Laramie has been out-scored 39-20.

So is first-year Laramie coach Nate Schwartz a little worried? Not in the least, because he knows help is on the way.

Laramie opened the season last Friday with only 11 players, and, as of today, he has just 12. That’s barely half of his summer roster. The remainder of his squad will start filtering in later this week, and the Colts should be close to fully staffed by some time Sunday.

“Some of this is my fault because most of the summer leagues I’ve been involved (with in the past) didn’t start until after the Memorial Day weekend,” Schwartz said. “I knew about the (college) conference tournaments, but I didn’t realize that they were the same week our season started here.

“That was my fault because I did a lot of recruiting in the fall when not a lot of the schedules were out for all the schools. I was just trying to get the best guys that I could get from the top programs. So, that has hurt us a bit here at the start.”

As a result, Laramie, along with Greeley, has been shorthanded early.

That has forced Schwartz and his assistants to play players out of position, and even count on some of his pitchers as bottom-of-the-order hitters in his lineup.

“We have played really with only four guys playing in the right position so far, and hitting in the order where I had planned on hitting them … and they have done a great job,” Schwartz said. “The middle of the order has done really well. (Shortstop) Matt Henriksen (Tusculum) has been more than what I had expected at the plate.

“The top of our order has been getting on, but then we come down to the bottom where we have been using some pitchers and they haven’t been hitting in some cases. But we are coming around and getting better at bats than we were the first couple of games. In Monday’s game in Fort Collins (a 7-3 loss), we hit the ball all over the place, but right at guys.

“That’s why I’m really not too worried. When we get all our position players in and we get the lineup settled top to bottom, we should be all right.”

Henriksen, who has hit safely in three of the Colts’ first four games, went 3-for-4 on Sunday in the home opener and is hitting around the .500 mark.

Nick Gentili, an outfielder/first baseman from Pomona-Pitzer College, arrived in Laramie on Sunday and has hit the ball well in his first couple of games. The Colts also have received some good at-bats early from Matt Cervantes, a catcher/third baseman from Illinois.

On the mound, the two most productive guys to date have been Logan Frame, a left-hander from St. Ambrose, and Justin Kanas, a 6-foot-5 right-hander from Incarnate Word.

Frame pitched the Colts’ home opener Sunday, allowing only two earned runs while striking out 11 in seven innings. And Kanas has pitched four scoreless innings in relief.

“He’ll probably end up being our closer all season,” Schwartz said of Kanas.

Looking ahead to this week, Schwartz said a trio of players from Evansville — outfielder Nate Smith and left-handed pitchers Seth McCabe and Jordan Chavis — should all be in town before the weekend and available for Saturday’s game with Fort Collins. The rest of his players should filter in Saturday and Sunday.

“I’m only planning being shorthanded for two or three more games,” Schwartz added.

As far as the two early games this week, Travis Hopper, a left-hander from New Mexico State, will get the start Thursday against Fort Collins, while Stephen Poché, another lefty, from Southeastern Louisiana, will draw the starting nod Friday against Greeley.

“We have a couple of pitchers (McCabe and Chavis) showing up in the next few days that will help out in the bullpen,” Schwartz said. “That way we won’t have to ride them (Hopper and Poché) out so long, like we had to do with Travis last time. He pitched really well for four innings, and then got in trouble in the fifth, and we had to ride him out because we didn’t have anyone else.”

Just being at home for a while figures to be a good thing for the Colts too.

“We had a great crowd on Sunday, and that was really good to see,” Schwartz said. “I’m glad we won for them.”

Although the slow start this year may seem like an oddity to some Laramie Colt fans, who have seen nothing but success out of the franchise since the league started in 2005, it isn’t the worst.

In that first year, the Colts opened by losing seven of their first eight games, including the opening four games. That team rebounded to win 13 of the next 16 on the way to a season record of 27-18.

Both the 2007 and 2008 Laramie teams had great starts. The 2007 squad won 13 of its first 14 games on the way to an overall mark of 34-12, while the 2008 team was victorious in 12 of its first 14 on the way to a 36-15 season.

Colts drop season opener

By WYOSPORTS • Saturday, May 29, 2010

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — The Laramie Colts took it on the chin Friday night with 16-0 loss to the Fort Collins Foxes at the Fox Den at City Park South during the Mountain Collegiate Baseball season opener for both teams.

Fort Collins starting pitcher Zach McElroy gave up just four singles for the complete-game shutout win.

“He threw strikes and didn’t walk many guys,” Colts coach Nate Schwartz said. “They also made some good plays behind him, but besides (Matt) Henriksen, we didn’t hit the ball that hard. I think we grounded into three or four double plays. Nothing went our way.”

The lefty from Davis & Elkins College in West Virginia also recorded six strikeouts while walking three Colts batters.

Getting the loss for the Colts was Travis Hopper (New Mexico State). Most of the damage against the left-handed hurler was when the Foxes scored 12 runs in the fifth inning.

“Travis threw well, but you could tell he got tired in the fifth inning when he wasn’t finishing his pitches and kept falling behind to hitters,” Schwartz said. “He gave up a few hard-hit balls, but there were a few bleeders when the ball just didn’t fall our way. We also had a couple of errors that cost us to keep the innings going.

“It’s tough to play when your pitcher is not throwing strikes to get ahead of hitters, the defense is laying back and when the ball gets hit to them, they cannot make the play.

Hopper allowed at total of 16 hits and 12 earned runs with three walks and three strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings.

“What hurt was not having the pitching depth. I had to ride him out and hope he could battle threw it,” Schwartz said. “It was frustrating to say the least.”

Coming in to stop the bleeding was Drew Kendrick, who is an assistant coach for the Colts and still eligible to play. He pitched the final 3 2/3 innings giving up two hits and one earned run with five strikeouts.

But the night belonged to McElroy, who limited the Colts to four singles.

“We just have to play better baseball,” Schwartz said. “We put the ball in play with just six strikeouts, and I know they have not played with wood bats for a while.

The Colts return to action at 6:30 p.m. today against the Cheyenne Grizzlies at Pioneer Field in Cheyenne.

“We have to come back out and playing again,” Schwartz said. “They are good and loose, but are not taking it too hard. We just have to get the intensity back up. The fifth inning took everything out of our sails.

—

FOXES 16, COLTS 0

Laramie                 000 000 000  —  0     4     2

Fort Collins                201  0 12 1 00X  —  16   18    0

Laramie hitting: Corban Williams, (1B); Cody Voelker, (1B); Matt Henriksen, (1B, 1B). Fort Collins hitting: Eddie Allen, (1B, 1B, 1B, RBI); Cody Bishop, (1B, 1B, 2B, 2RBIs); Edder Morales, (2B, 2B, HR, 4RBIs), Pat Dawkins, (1B, 2B, RBI); James Campbell, (1B, 2B, 2RBIs); Steven Keller, (2B, 2B, 2RBIs); Travis Wilcox, (1B, RBI); Charles Bradley, (1B, 2B, 2RBIs). Laramie pitching: Travis Hopper, (L, 4 1/3 IN. 16H, 14R, 12ER, 3BB, 3K, WP); Drew Kendrick (3 2/3 IN. 2H, 2R, 1ER, 2BB, 5K). Fort Collins pitching: Zach McElroy, (CG W, 9IN., 4H, 0R, 0ER, 3BB, 6K).

Laramie Colts Putting Together Team

Laramie Boomerang, January 15, 2010

By BOB HAMMONDBoomerang Sports Editor

 With the thermometer showing temperatures dipping into the –20s the last couple of days, there aren’t many Laramie residents thinking about baseball. Among the few exceptions are new Laramie Colts owners Dr. Kent and Nicko Kleppinger.

The Kleppingers have named University of Texas of the Permian Basin (UTPB) pitching coach Nate Schwartz the Colts’ new head coach for the 2010 summer Mountain Collegiate Baseball League (MCBL) season.

Schwartz is a Milwaukee native who began his college baseball career at Madison Area Technical College before transferring to Augustana College (Sioux Falls, S.D.) after his sophomore year. At Augustana, Schwartz was an All-Conference selection as well as the team’s Pitcher of the Year in both 2005 and 2006.

He got his first collegiate coaching experience at Augustana in 2007. In the fall of 2008, he was named the pitching coach at UTPB. In his two years with the Falcons, UTPB’s pitching staff ERA improved both years. Last spring, he helped the Falcons to their first ever Heartland Conference Championship.

Schwartz also spent the last two summers as the pitching coach for the Eau Claire Express in the Northwoods Collegiate Baseball League. In his tenure there, he coached 14 players that were either signed or drafted by a Major League Baseball-affiliated team.

“They wanted me to come back, but at the end of last summer I told my boss up there that I was going to look for a head job because I hadn’t done that yet and it was something that I wanted to do,” Schwartz said.

Enter the Laramie Colts and the MCBL, who he stumbled across on the Internet while researching summer league placements for his current players at UTPB.

Schwartz quickly put together a résumé and sent it off to the Kleppingers.

“We had listed our position on a Web site and received something like two dozen e-mails and résumés in a week,” Kent Kleppinger said. “That’s a nice compliment that people want to come up here and coach this team. We looked at people from the Midwest, a couple from the Deep South and several people from California.”

The one that stood out was Schwartz.

“Part of the reason we picked Nate is that he has had some experience coaching in the summer leagues in a situation like ours,” Kleppinger continued. “When I talked to him, there was a good maturity about him. One of the first things we talked about was that the Colts have been in the (MCBL) championship five out of five years and won it three times.

“And the first thing he said was, ‘I don’t like to lose, and we’re not going to lose that championship this year.’ And I thought, now there’s a guy who I can work with. We then talked about players and he said, ‘The door is open, and I’ll bring in the best players I can get my hands on.’ And that was good enough for me.”

Colts Head Coach Nate Schwartz

“I’m about as competitive as it gets,” Schwartz said. “I’m going to do everything I can to win. I understand that these guys will be up there for the summer to get better as players and to have fun. And I’m going to tell them to have fun. I don’t know many athletes who are not competitive and don’t want to win, so I’m not to worried about that part.”   

Schwartz, who has a BA from Augustana and an MA from UTPB, has already lined up an assistant coach and has most of his summer roster for the Colts already lined up.

While Schwartz will manage the Colts and serve as the team’s pitching coach, Sean O’Brien, an assistant coach at Iowa Central Community College, will be Laramie’s hitting coach.

Colts horseshoes

 An Early Roster — Schwartz has already received summer contracts from 15 players with five more on the way. He also has four other players who have told them they will soon sign contracts.

The list includes players from 11 schools from all across the country — Oregon, South Dakota, Missouri, Indiana, Illinois, New Mexico, Tennessee and Louisiana.

“With the exception of two, all the contracts I have back at this time are from Division I players,” Schwartz said. “Right now, we have 24 players lined up and I would like to add four more pitchers. I hope to have 28 player commitments even though the ideal squad is 25.

“You figure you are going to lose some guys who have committed for one reason or anther. There are always some guys who don’t show up because they get hurt in the spring, and then there are some who don’t get their grades and have to go to summer school. So, you sign more than expected. If they all show up, that’s fine, too.”

Among the players on this year are two Colt returnees from last year — Ben Panther, a right-handed pitcher from Portland, and Eric DeJong, a first baseman/third baseman from South Dakota State.

Building the Colts — Schwartz said he has received help from former Colts’ head coach Ryan Goodwin in building the 2010 Laramie team.

“Ryan has helped me quite a bit in determining what kind of players to get who will be successful up there,” Schwartz said. “He told me that we needed to get speed, and we have gotten guys who can run. We also have some guys with a little pop (in their bats).

“I’ve had players recommended to me from coaches who I trust. I have a lot of connections, and I trust what they have to say. So, I feel pretty good of the kind of team we are putting together.

“We have guys from everywhere. We have older guys who will probably end up starting right away and younger guys who will fill in,” he added.

New-look Colts — The Kleppingers are planning some new changes in the Colts for the summer season. Among the changes are new pinstripe uniforms as well as a new team logo.

“We are going to have fun with this team,” Kleppingers said. “You’ll see all the good things the (former owners Matt and Heidi) Petersons did, and you’ll see some other things that may be a little over the top.

“The pinstripe uniforms will give us a little spicier look, while we are updating the logo. The logo should look pretty sharp on the pinstripes.”

MCBL still looking to expand — The summer of 2010 still see the same four teams in the MCBL. In addition to the Colts, the Fort Collins Foxes, the Cheyenne Grizzlies and the Greeley Grays will be back. But future expansion remains a big part of the league’s plans.

“We’re still looking to expand,” Kleppinger said. “We have a lot of interest from Torrington, Windsor (Colo.), Aurora (Colo.) and Scottsbluff (Neb.). It would be nice to get up to seven teams in a year or two.”

Bob Hammond’s e-mail is bobh@laramieboomerang.com

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