WINDSOR — As hot as the Longmont baseball team has been over the past six weeks, it was beyond surprising that the Trojans could go cold as quickly and dramatically as they did on Monday evening.
Having won 15 straight games and risen to 4A’s No. 3 spot in the CHSAANow.com poll, the early Northern League champion Trojans (15-2)were no-hit in a 10-0 loss on the road against No. 1-ranked Windsor. Even against the top-ranked team in the state, the Trojans were stunned at their inability to muster a single hit while at the same time committing a season-high four errors.
“We just didn’t show up and we got outworked,” Trojans head coach Tom Fobes said. “Our pitchers threw OK but we gave up a bunch of unearned runs and, of course, we got no-hit. When you do those things, you have no chance to win. It was a rare game when we just weren’t here, we weren’t present and we weren’t ready for some reason. And they played really well.”
Windsor’s Alex Fietek struck out four batters, including the final two of the non-conference game, over the five-inning shutout that included a 30-minute lightning delay. Austin Hassler was Longmont’s only baserunner of the game when he was hit by a pitch in the second inning. Of the 10 runs the Trojans allowed, only four were earned and were split between starting pitcher Noah Befus and reliever Gavin Pohl.
Now in his 19th season coaching at Longmont, Fobes said the only other time he could remember the Trojans being no-hit was against Broomfield in 2009 when the Eagles were led by star Erik Lockwood. Even after Monday’s shutout, they are averaging over eight runs per game this season.
“This one is tough but we’ll try to focus on the fact that we’ve been playing so well and we wrapped up conference a week ago and then swept a conference rival in Niwot last week,” Fobes said. “I think it’s just as simple as having an unexpected let down. It’s just tough when that happens against the best team we’ve played so far this season.”
The Trojans will finish out the regular season with a pair of home games. They will host Wheat Ridge (7-9-1) on Saturday and Elizabeth (10-6) next Monday.
Brad Cochi: cochib@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/BradCochi
Windsor 10, Longmont 0
At Windsor H.S.
Longmont (15-2) 000 00 — 0 0 4
Windsor (16-1) 340 30 — 10 11 0
W — Fietek. L — Befus.
Longmont hitting (ab-r-h-rbi) — Zamudio 2-0-0-0, Renck 2-0-0-0, Befus 2-0-0-0, Hassler 1-0-0-0, Peterson 2-0-0-0, Thompson 1-0-0-0, Carson 1-0-0-0, Deeter 1-0-0-0, Rulon 1-0-0-0. Totals 13-0-0-0.
Windsor hitting (ab-r-h-rbi) — Peninger 3-1-1-0, Barker 3-2-2-0, Martinez 2-2-0-0, Watts 3-2-2-3, Vailpando 3-1-3-3, English 2-0-0-0, Brachtenbrach 2-0-1-0, Rhodes 3-1-1-0, Barker 1-0-1-0, Johnson 1-1-0-0. Totals 23-10-11-6. 2B — Watts, Vialpando. SB — Rhodes 2, Barker.
Longmont pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — Befus 2-7-7-2-1-2, Pohl 2-4-2-3-1-3.
Windsor pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — Fietek 5-0-0-0-0-4.
