Cotopaxi, a mountain school 75 miles west of Pueblo, is running teams right out of games this spring. Literally.
The Class 1A baseball program is 128 for 128 in stolen-base attempts, and that’s in just six games.
Wes Westberg leads the state with 24 swiped bags, while teammates Justin Dunn, Zach Winkley and Kaiden Zeleznikar are all tied for second with 18.
Get this: In an 18-3 win over Centennial last week, the Pirates had 28 stolen bases, their fourth game with more than 20.
In this week’s look at baseball across the state, we dive into some of the early stats leaders in each classification and what it means for their respective teams.
Class 5A
Eze Rojas, Lakewood: The Tigers shortstop leads the state with five home runs in 30 plate appearances.
The Gulf Coast State commit (Florida) hit a pair of bombs in a 19-2 win over Wheat Ridge Monday, helping Lakewood improve to 6-2. He’s batting .478 on the season.
Last spring, Ponderosa’s Dylan Carey and Ralston Valley’s Markus Hamre finished as the state’s home run leaders with 13.
Haydn Benoit, Rampart: The junior pitcher leads the classification with 36 strikeouts through 19 2/3 innings.
Despite his high fan rate, Benoit (1-1) has had mixed results through four appearances this spring.
He gave up a total of seven earned runs in losses to Fruita Monument and Lewis-Palmer. He then didn’t allow an earned run in a win over Air Academy and a loss to Discovery Canyon.
His ERA currently sits at 2.49 for the 4-5 Rams.
Class 4A
Eli Morgan, Lutheran: The Lions outfielder is tied for the class lead in home runs with four, and he leads the state with 24 runs driven in.
In a 16-1 win over Conifer Monday, the junior homered twice and had seven RBIs, powering Lutheran to 6-4-1 on the season.
He’s hitting .595 in 43 plate appearances.
Trey Gregory-Alford, Coronado: The junior pitcher has been among the bright spots in a 1-6 start for the Cougars, posting a state-most 46 strikeouts through just 18 innings pitched.
In each of his four appearances, Gregory-Alford has double-digit Ks.
He allowed two unearned runs and punched out 15 in five innings against Sterling last week. The Cougars lost, though, allowing four runs in the bottom of the seventh to fall 6-5.
Class 3A
Walker Martin, Eaton: The Arkansas commit leads the class with four home runs and is second in RBIs with 19.
Eaton, looking for the three-peat, is 7-0 to start the spring, outscoring teams 107-7.
Martin, batting .647 with 19 RBIs, has multiple hits and a homer in each of his last four games.
Nathan Gentzel, Manitou Springs: Gentzel leads the class with 21 runs driven in — seven of which came against the Oregon program Astoria last week.
Behind Gentzel and an offense hitting .350 on the year, the Mustangs have won four straight and are 6-4 heading into the weekend.
Class 2A
Cale Bennett and Lance Beedy, Limon: Both are tied for second in the class with 18 RBIs for the two-time defending champ. Denver Christian’s Asher Hawes leads the way with 19.
Limon had won 46 straight games dating back to 2019 before falling to Fowler in its opener. The Badgers are 8-3 on the season.
Ashtin Gilio, Dawson: The Georgetown commit hasn’t recorded an out in his first 13 plate appearances of the season
Gilio is 6 for 6 at the plate through three games with a homer, eight walks and eight RBIs. The Mustangs are 2-1.
Class 1A
JJ Ward and Peyton Wells, Otis: They go one-two for the top batting average in the classification. Teammate Erick Thorn, with just 10 at-bats, is third.
Ward is hitting .867 (13 for 15) with two home runs. Peyton Wells (18-22) leads the 1A with 18 RBIs.
The Bulldogs are 6-0, outscoring teams 128-12 this season.
Ty Coleman, Cotopaxi: The Pirates can steal bases. See above. And their ace pitcher can get a lot of swings and misses.
Coleman has struck out 34 of the 50 batters he’s faced this season.
With a 1.70 ERA in 12 1/3 frames, he’s allowed just three hits.