Broncos face top league teams in early season competition

The Broncos gathered at their home field for a one-sided double header against Northwest Christian. NWC, one of the top teams in the league with more experience than age, left the Broncos with one win this season.

Though the Broncos coaches were not too enthusiastic about this double header, they are continually proud of their young and inexperienced players and look forward to future games.

Cort Ruzicka started for the Broncos on the mound pitching for the first two innings. With Broncos down by six runs and 55 pitches thrown, coaches took Ruzicka off the mound to be replaced by relief pitcher Brandon McClure.

Ruzicka has struggled with dead arm and coaches are making sure not to over use his arm in working to build up his strength, which will help with his control and effectiveness in his senior year. Jason Hilzer, assistant and pitching coach has been working intently with Ruzicka, McClure, Easton Nelson and Colin Sheffels with all three new players showing great potential and growth on the mound.

As the relief pitcher for the Broncos, McClure stepped onto the mound with good contact and control. Throwing only 29 pitches in two innings, the coaches see a raw talent for the first-year pitcher. Head Coach Jason Aldrich stated he and Jason Hilzer like what they see out of McClure as a relief pitcher and are excited to work on getting more depth and watch this young player become more consistent in his pitching career.

In the first game Ruzicka and Sheffels had an RBI that would keep the score for the Broncos at two runs for the game. Defensively, the Broncos struggled allowing NWC to score 14 overall.

This game is tough mentally and physically and with a team so young and inexperienced, Aldrich stated it is hard for the players to stay excited when the game isn’t going so well.

“Not an excuse, but a challenge,” said Aldrich continuing about his excitement for his team.

With trial by fire and protecting the young players as he can, he gives a lot of respect to his team and is very excited for this season’s potential.

The second game against NWC showed to be a knockout. Broncos overall had too many mistakes on the field. Mental lapses and wandering focus from the Broncos allowed them to make physical mistakes allowing NWC to win 19-5.

Again, with such a young inexperienced team, this game was quite a learning experience and as Aldrich told his players, the Broncos will flush this loss, take what they’ve learned and apply it to the upcoming games in the season.

First year starter Easton Nelson took the mound and showed great potential in the position. He has a knack for keeping calm, which as a pitcher is very important. Coaches are excited to teach the art of pitching and mold the young athlete into the amazing pitcher they potentially see allowing him to go deeper into the game.

Aldrich is excited to move deeper into the season and really watch his Bronco players grow and learn.

He believes as the season goes on, with his encouragement, excitement and overall coaching these players will end the season strong.