The Pagosa Springs High School Pirate baseball team is poised for a rebuilding season behind first-year coach Jon Wells after losing five seniors from last year’s squad.
“Over half of our starting lineup graduated,” Wells said. “We’re young and kind of eager to be successful together, but it will be a little bit of a rebuilding year.”
Right now, the varsity roster is made up of three seniors, two juniors and four sophomores. There are also three players who are still playing basketball and will join the team when their season is over. There will also be a group of swing players who play on junior varsity and varsity, according to Wells.
Wells emphasized that at this point in the season the roster is fluid and certainly subject to change.
Despite having a small, young team, Wells explained he feels that the team’s biggest strength is the way that they come together and support each other.
“I mean this is a fantastic group of boys,” he said. “They love playing baseball. They love supporting each other. They’ve got great camaraderie. You know, I think there’s strengths on the field for sure, but I think that’s gonna be the biggest driver of our success this year.”
The Pirates began offseason workouts in January and their official practices started on Feb. 23. The team wasn’t able to practice on the field due to snow until Monday, March 2. Still, Wells noted he feels that with this year’s mild winter the team will be able to get plenty of time on the field early in the season.
Practice so far has had a focus on strengthening the foundation of the team by hammering fundamentals, noted Wells.
“Attitude, respect and hard work,” are Wells’ three expectations for the players throughout the season both in games and at practice.
The team is small, so every player will play multiple positions in the field, hit and pitch this season, Wells added.
The Pirates new pitching coach, Thomas Rooke, was an All-American collegiate pitcher at Kansas State University. Wells suggested he is hopeful that his coaching will develop more arms for the team because they only have one returning pitcher from last season.
Sophomore Taylor Wells is the team’s only returning pitcher from last season and one of the three players Jon Wells feels can make an immediate impact on the team this year. Senior Zach Pouyer and junior Sebastian Gonzalez are the other two players the coach mentioned.
“Zach is gonna be kind of our senior,” said Jon Wells. “He’s extremely talented, he plays baseball at a very high level, so you know he’s definitely one to keep an eye on. Bash is gonna be probably one of our leading hitters. We’ve got several kids that I think are gonna be impact players; those three would probably be the biggest.”
Ahead of the start of the season this weekend, the Pirates have set goals for the team, according to the coach.
This year is a rebuilding year, but they still want to strive to make the playoffs as a team. With the youth of the team, the coach suggested he feels like in two years the team can possibly be competing for state championships as well.
The Pirates will start their season off with a tournament at Aztec High School in New Mexico.
Opening day will be on Thursday, March 5, against Dolores at noon. The Pirates’ second game will be the following day against Aztec beginning at 9 a.m., and their final game will be Saturday, March 7, against Kirtland Central beginning at 3 p.m.
The Kirtland-Central Broncos are 1-1 on the season.
Schedule
The following schedule was accurate as of press time, but is subject to change.
After their opening weekend tournament, the Pirates will play a doubleheader at Cedaredge High School on Friday, March 13, starting at 2 p.m. The following day, the Pirates will play another doubleheader at North Fork High School starting at 11 a.m.
Then the Pirates will have a home stretch.
They’ll start with a double header against Dolores on Thursday, March 19, starting at 3 p.m.
They’ll then host Sanford for a doubleheader on April 7 starting at 3 p.m.
Finally, they’ll host Alamosa for a doubleheader on April 11 starting at 11 a.m.
The Pirates will be back on the road for a doubleheader in Durango on April 14 starting at 3 p.m.
They’ll return home to face Montezuma-Cortez for a doubleheader on April 18 starting at 11 a.m.
The Pirates will close out the regular season on the road.
They’ll head to Centauri High School in La Jara on April 25 for a doubleheader starting at 11 a.m.
Then they play a doubleheader in Bayfield on May 5 starting at 11 a.m.
The Pirates’ regular-season finale will be a doubleheader in Ignacio on May 5 starting at 3 p.m.
jsellner@orourkemediagroup.com
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