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The Spartan Baseball team returns to the diamond for the start of the 2011 spring season.

Photo by Ed Gloor

March is upon us, and with March comes the end of Winter, the beginning of beautiful sunny skies, green grass, and most importantly, the start of baseball season.

The Spartan baseball team took to the field for the first time this season after a year of hard work in the off-season to prepare for this opening day. The team opened the season against a tough Golden side that was known for solid pitching and a stacked batting line up. However, the Spartans came into the game with their own repertoire of good pitching and depth in the batting line-up which consists of many returning standouts from last year’s team. Senior Ace Kyle Freeland is one of the major assets for the team this year and is considered one of the best pitchers in the state for the 2011 season. Kyle also contributes to the Spartans’ offensive side of the game along with a strong hitting line up from top to bottom. Returning seniors Grant Maloney, Austin Hearne, Joe Sedig, Sean Gonzalez, Angel Gamboa, Mitch Mankoff, Miles Mercer, Cody Smith and Kelly Sinopoli-Martinez are all important parts of the line up this year and will be the key to the team’s success this season. “I really think the senior leadership we have on the team will be a great asset for us. A lot of the seniors have been playing together for a long time and we know how and motivate each other to play our best,” said Senior Captain Grant Maloney.

Many underclassmen such as Trevor Thronton, Evan Walter, and Brandon Gonzales are also key factors to the team’s success and are expected to come up big this year with the bat in their hands.  Junior Evan Walter is resident big slugger on the squad, batting 4th or “cleanup” for the Spartans and a lot of big hits are expected from him this season.

The Spartans have already started out the season on a positive note, battling both Golden High School and Gateway High School this past week. The Spartans opened the season against the Golden Demons, who are a tough 4A opponent from Jeffco. The first pitch for the Spartans was thrown by the team’s ace, Kyle Freeland who only gave up four runs and six total hits in the game. Kyle also recorded 13 strikeouts in the seven innings he pitched which helped to keep the Spartans in the game against Golden. In the third inning, the Spartans were up 2-1 and were in the driver’s seat with their dominant pitching, gap-finding hits, and efficient base running. However, in the top of the seventh inning, the Demons found a way back into the game with a single run and tied the score 4-4. Due to lack of daylight, the game ended in a tie at this score, but could be continued later in the season depending on scheduling.

Next, The Spartans took on the 5A Gateway Olympians on Saturday, March 12th, and proved their prowess with an impressive win of 12 runs to 4. The Spartans came out swinging right from the start against gateway, recording 12 runs in the first four innings. The run production for the Spartans was helped along by the big bats on the team, with home runs by both Evan Walter and Kyle Freeland. Also, the Spartan pitching combination of Joe Sedig and Kelly Sinopoli-Martinez helped TJ along to their first win of the season, holding Gateway to only four runs and 12 hits in the entirety of the game. “This game definitely shows what kind of team we [TJ] have this year. To say the least, I’ve got high hopes for what we can accomplish,” said Shortstop Austin Hearne.

The team can be seen in action today, Tuesday March 15th at 4:15 against Aurora Central. The game will be on TJ’s home turf, so make sure to catch this one.