Last year's University of Wyoming baseball team lost their final championship game. This year, Assistant coach Joy plans to take the team to the next level and in this year's final. (Photo: Courtesy)
May 21 was supposed to be the “rapture” according to Harold Camping, and from the infinite rain it seemed like a possibility. It may not have been the end of the world, but for the University of Wyoming’s baseball team as well as team captain and assistant coach Skyler Joy, it marked the end of their shot at a national title in 2011.
“We started off really strong,” Joy said. The score was 9-2 Cowboys during the first stretch.
“The momentum started to shift to Penn State after that first weather delay. Each time the game stopped, we started losing the will to go back out and start up again,” Joy added.
The season ended 23-4. The University of Wyoming club baseball lost to Penn State 11-12 in that championship game. A game, which lasted five and a half hours, eventually finished at 1:30 a.m. because of rain delays. It is a game that still haunts the UW Baseball team to this day.
Presently the team is leaving the past behind them and looking toward the future with this year’s baseball season.
The Wyoming baseball team has a strong returning line-up this year and looks to build on the success of last year.
“We actually return about six or seven starters; we have a lot of new guys who come out,” Joy said. “We have a lot of Wyoming kids turn out who have played college and kids who have played in legion programs around the state. I think that we will have a lot of talent coming back this year.”
If defense wins championships, the arms of returning starting pitchers Carlos Casas and Dustin Stallings, both of which were undefeated in regular season play, will pave the way for a strong championship caliber team.
“(Casas) is ready to go for his last year. We also have to look at Dustin Stallings who had a great year last year,” Joy said.
Offensively, the Cowboys will rely on the consistent bat of several players including senior Jordan Mette, who posted over a .600 batting average last season.
“Jordan Mette had a great offensive year for us last year,” Joy said. “He’s hit over .500 every year he’s played for us.”
As for Skyler Joy himself, the four-year veteran of the UW baseball team will have to balance a part-time job, college classes, a being a player as well as performing part-time coach duties and team president. Though he may have quite a bit on his plate, baseball he is his passion and is going to strive to get through it.
“It’s definitely a lot of stress, trying to manage all those things but running a team is something I want to do with the rest of my life and is really enjoyable for me. It really gets me used to running all the ins and outs of a program,” said Joy.
Two practices in and 27 players currently on the roster, the line-up will be competitive and filled with unknowns.
Joy said there were many unknowns going into this year’s season. One of the unknowns includes players’ abilities. He said he knew some of the new guys from when they played in the Legion.
“But it’s been a few years since then,” Joy said. “It’s interesting to see their level of play coming into this year.”
As the new season commences, the loss from last year’s championship game will not affect the team negatively. Joy believes motivation and teamwork will be the keys to success for the UW club baseball season in the 2012 season.
“Ending on that note with the loss and the way it happened will motivate us to get back to that point and to take the next step up and win the championship game,” Joy said.
The wet and gloomy night in Johnstown may always stay in the memory of Joy and the rest of the Cowboy Baseball team. But the rapture did not happen and the world did not end. The Cowboys will play to have that shot at the championship again.
