Seemingly lost in the wake of the 2A/1A San Juan Basin League’s second State Championship – Nucla doubling up Holly, 8-4, for the Class 1A title May 20th at MSU-Denver’s Regency Athletic Complex – in three years (Dove Creek captured the 1A crown in 2015) was a listing of the circuit’s own superlative stars.
But what was hidden has been revealed, and contains much positivity for the Ignacio Bobcats.
As one would expect, NHS – led by Coach-of-the-Year Randy Gabriel and senior third baseman Sladen Hendrickson, the Player-of-the-Year – dominated the First Team All-SJBL selections, with senior pitcher/infielder Trenton Armintrout, junior catcher Cord Colson, senior infielder Devyn Rummel, senior outfielder Tyler Weimer and sophomore first baseman/utility player Will Gabriel all honored.
Despite trailing the Mustangs (13-9 overall, 5-0 SJBL) in the league standings, and finishing 9-10 overall in 2017, five IHS regulars were also named First Team All-League: junior 3B/P Kai Roubideaux, junior 1B/P Marcus Chapman, senior LF/P Dalton Labarthe, sophomore OF Joe Herrera-Atencio and versatile senior Timmy Plehinger-Williams. Plehinger-Williams played infield, outfield, catcher and pitcher during the season, and was chosen as a designated hitter.
Rounding out the First Team picks were Dolores sophomore infielder Dakota ‘D.K.’ Smith and junior RF/LF Beck Anderson, as the Bears finished 7-12 overall, 2-3 [a postponed late-season game versus Nucla was not rescheduled, given that IHS’ 4-2 loop mark had clinched second place] in the SJBL.
Ignacio senior P/OF Zach Weinreich was the squad’s lone Second Team All-League honoree. Joining him were DHS senior P/OF Brandon Ward and junior OF/C David Schmittel, NHS senior shortstop/pitcher Graden Steffan, with junior C/OF/P Derek Kibel and freshman infielder Ty Smith of DCHS (0-19, 0-6) rounding out the recipients.
DID YOU KNOW
The 2017 State Championship was Nucla High School’s first, and the West End area’s first since Norwood – which presently co-ops with the Mustangs in multiple sports including baseball – brought home the 1980 Class A title via an 8-7 win over Wiley.
“It shows the San Juan Basin League is strong,” Rummel had said, remembering Dove Creek’s run for the ultimate prize. “We take pride in our baseball …. We’re not a joke; we can come and compete with anybody.”
But until this spring, the closest either school had come was the 1983 Mavericks’ runner-up result against Ovid Revere. Nucla, however, hadn’t played for the entire enchilada since losing the Class AA title to Ault Highland in 1976. Norwood, meanwhile, reached the Class A-West semifinals that year – the last year both programs were active so late in a season.