Archive for Monday, April 28, 2008

Drama on the diamond

Steamboat can ruin Moffat County's league title hopes

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Western Slope baseball standings

Palisade 11-3

Moffat County 9-3

Delta 8-4

Eagle Valley 9-5

Rifle 7-7

Steamboat Springs 5-7

Glenwood Springs 3-9

Battle Mountain 0-14

Source: Rocky Mountain News

— Steamboat Springs High School spent last week out of school on Spring Break, but Sailors baseball coach Dave Roy wasn't about to let several days of perfect baseball weather go to waste.

"We only had two or three guys still in town and felt they needed a break too, but an assistant coach and I went out and hit fly balls, fielded balls and threw it around," Roy said. "We took advantage of the good weather, though I don't know what kind of impact that will have on our games."

It was one of the few times this season the weather hasn't simply been frustrating for the squad. Steamboat, which typically tries to get all of its games in before the week-long break, must suit up again Tuesday, traveling to play at Moffat County to make up for a pair of long-delayed games.

Now the Sailors will be forced to face off against their U.S. Highway 40 rivals despite only practicing one day in the past eight.

"We will work on our defensive situations and hope to sharpen up, do some hitting in the cage and get our pitchers going to throw a little bit just to see how they feel," he said. "We'll get a good workout in."

Which Sailors pitchers draw the two starts depends on who best responds to the return to action, Roy said.

What the team is playing for has only recently begun to clear up. Steamboat, with a 5-7 league record and a 6-17 season mark, was ruled out of any postseason considerations last week. To advance, it would have needed to finish among the top four teams in the Western Slope League. While a pair of wins Tuesday would even the team's league record, the best that could do is tie it for fifth place with Rifle.

Moffat County, meanwhile, will be playing to potentially share the league title with Palisade. The two teams split a doubleheader earlier this season, but Moffat County now needs to win both games against Steamboat to catch Palisade in the standings.

The importance of the two games was not lost on Roy and the Sailors.

"We would love it - love it," he said when asked about his team playing spoiler to Moffat County's league title dreams.

It's possible, too, he said, recalling last season when the Sailors knocked off Moffat County, 3-2.

"It's two big games for both of us. They are a good team, but we're coming into our own, and if we get a couple good outings from our pitchers, we definitely will be competitive and will have a chance to win them both," he said. "There will be some hair flying out there Tuesday, I'm sure. We've got some seniors with a lot of pride, and they've been battling these guys for four years.

"There will be some drama unfolding."

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