As the professional baseball season is winding to a close, Wyoming’s baseball team is just getting started. Coming off quite a successful season, in which they were crowned champions of District VIII and earned a berth in the NCBA Division II World Series, the University of Wyoming club baseball team is looking to build on that success in their fall exhibition season.

“League play doesn’t actually start until mid-April, so this fall is more of a tune-up season for us so we can see some competition, gauge where the guys are at, but mostly just to get out on the field and play,” Wyoming coach Aaron Lozano said. “It’s good to get everybody some live action because, once the weather gets nasty over the next few months, the only action we’ll get is soft tossing in Corbett.”

The Cowboys have a full slate of games and tournaments scheduled for the fall season. They face their first test as defending champs in late September when they travel to Gunnison, Colo. Western State University, also a member of District VIII, along with the Cowboys, will host the fall tournament Sept. 26th through the 28th. A week later, the Cowboys will head back to Colorado to play in a weekend tourney, hosted by the Pioneers of the University of Denver.

Lozano thinks it will be a great opportunity for the Cowboys to see what they’re up against. “Nearly every team from our conference is scheduled to play so it should be a good indication of what we will face in the spring,” he said.

For baseball fans hoping to see the Pokes defend their home turf, they will get that chance in late October, assuming weather cooperates.

“Right now, we’re in the process of organizing a three-day tournament here in Laramie the 24th through the 26th of October,” assistant coach Frank Javy said. “We’re trying to get some good competition with the likes of the University of Northern Colorado and possibly Western Nebraska Community College, a junior college team from Scottsbluff, Neb. We are also trying to face a competition against the defending national champions of NCBA club baseball: Colorado State University. It’s still in the works, but we’ll definitely have some sort of home series or tournament here (in Laramie) this fall.”

Expect the team to be highly competitive once again this year, as they only lost six players from last year’s championship squad, and return a handful of experienced starters.

“Leading the way for us this year will be a lot of the guys who were an integral part of our competitive showing at the World Series,” Lozano said. “We have a lot of strong arms in Carlos Casas (Laramie), Kelly Helbig (Marina, Cali.), Chance Marshall (Jackson), and Will Lee (Casper) who can hopefully give us a lot of innings. Carlos and Kelly were both ranked in the top ten nationally in nearly every pitching category.”

The other half of that pitching battery, catcher Tony Covello, will be back behind home plate managing the game. The junior, from Torrington, also shined on the offensive end last year, holding down the critical No. 3 spot in the batting order, and was nationally ranked in numerous offensive categories.

Sophomores Jordan Mette (Rapid City, S. D.) and Derek Bohlander (Douglas), along with junior Travis Belt (Wright) will fill out the infield for Lozano.

“Travis has played for us now for three years and can always be counted on for the big hit or play whatever infield position we need him at,” the fourth year head coach said. “Mette and D-Bo (Bohlander) just joined us last year, but came up huge for us in our run to the district title. They’ll be counted on again this year to make big plays for us.”  

Also returning are juniors Britt Marsh (Torrington) and Sean Schoonover (Cody) will roam the outfield in center and left, respectively, and sophomore Nathan Stamstead (Greybull) who Lozano says, “is a great asset to the team.”

Some fresh faces will also be joining the squad this year as they look to contribute to another successful run through the conference. Hailing from Rapid City, S.D., Josh Masten, will supply Lozano with another talented infielder, who has a dangerous bat, and Bernie Bornong, a Sheridan native, will likely compete for a starting role in the outfield.

Lozano said newcomer Dalton Osterman, of Laramie, is “a much needed addition who can give Tony (Covello) a break behind the dish at any time.”

Wyoming has every intention of repeating as conference champions, again. The upcoming contests will tell if they have what it takes to make another, more victorious run in the World Series.

Lozano claims that the team has, “everything in place: the experience; the players, including the new guys who will help us out a ton; and the momentum. Undoubtedly we are the team to beat so we’ll have a big target on our back.”  

From the sounds of it, however, the team is just fine with that. Every member of the Wyoming team echoed the coach’s final thought. “Bring ‘em on!”

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