Fast start, rough finish for Fort Lupton High School

BY STEVE SMITH SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA

Fort Lupton High School baseball coach Jackie Campbell has one thing in mind for this season.

Campbell knows that the Bluedevils also have to improve their play on the eld if the postseason is going to be part of the plans.

Greeley Central spotted FLHS three runs in the rst inning March 29, then took advantage of errors and miscues to beat the Bluedevils 14-4 on a blustery day in Fort Lupton.

FLHS started fast. Danny Rodriguez, who injured his leg in a game before spring break, reached on an error and advanced to second when Eloy Lezama walked. Both runners moved up on a passed ball. Jesse Ceretto walked to load the bases. Daniel Becerra’s in eld single drove in one run. A wild pitch brought home Lezama, and Ceretto scored on a dropped third strike.

But then, the bats went silent and the defensive lapses took over.

“We beat ourselves .. lots of errors,” Campbell said. “ ey played in it (cold temperatures and wind) too. e coaches have to get better, and the players have to get better. We haven’t played a team that’s better than us. at’s disappointing.” rough the rst four games this season, FLHS was batting .169 as a team, Campbell said. FLHS added six hits to their season total against the Wildcats. But FLHS wasn’t able to string two hits together in a single inning.

“Pitchers are usually better this time of the year,” Campbell said. “Hitters don’t like cold weather. We just have to work. We’re not going home.”

“Four runs is not enough in high-school baseball,” Campbell said. “Pitchers did a good job in this weather (Campbell singled out starter Scotty Sanders. Sanders struck out four in three innings). We had too many passed balls, wild pitches, dropped y balls. at’s on me. If we’re not hitting, we’re going to bunt. It got us moving. And then we didn’t hit again until Jesse hit in the last inning.”

Campbell wants to see the Bluedevils in motion.

“Too much standing around,” he said. “I like fast-break baseball. I want everybody running like their hair is on re. You get on that eld, you go full speed all the time. We don’t do that all the time, and that’s on me.”

Rodriguez nished with two hits and an RBI. Ceretto had a seventhinning base hit and an RBI. GCHS’ Reid Richardson had three hits, including a double, and drove in three runs. Mari Hernandez had three hits, two of which were doubles, and drove in two runs. “I liked the pitchers and their toughness,” Campbell said. “I liked that we started good. But you have to continue it every inning. eir pitcher (Richardson) threw a lot of fastballs. You have to hit fastballs to win high-school baseball games. at’s what we have to do. And de- fensively, we’re a lot better than we showed. But everybody is frozen.

Fort Lupton’s Daniel Becerra asks for time as Greeley Central’s Luke Arguello looks to continue to apply the tag after a picko attempt March 29 in Fort Lupton.

“I like my senior class,” Campbell added. “It’s a good group of kids. We have eight seniors, and they come from good families. at’s what’s huge. I like the younger guys that are coming up. e goal is to build it for the future. We have a bright future. at’s what’s exciting.”

Spring is coming - join us as a community scientist fter the cold and wet winter we’ve been experiencing in Denver, I know everyone is looking forward to spring. As the days grow longer and warmer, we all start looking for the telltale signs that spring is arriving — birds chirping, trees lea ng out, lilac buds, bulbs emerging out of the damp soil. As you observe nature around you, why not start taking pictures, recording your observations and contributing to large projects as a community scientist? April is the perfect month to join community science e orts across the globe.time. e eco in EcoFlora represents going beyond a traditional ora and encompassing the study of urban ecosystems. We run the Denver EcoFlora project on the iNaturalist platform where we engage the community in documenting plants living in the Denver metro area. Our goal is to document all plants living in the seven county metro area (Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broom eld, Denver, Douglas and Je erson counties) using the iNaturalist app. Why? You may ask. Well, understanding the ora of an area is the best way to protect it. bird, insect, fungi. Observations made between April 28 and May 1 count towards the competition. Last year, we had nearly 400 participants observe more than 600 species. Our goal is to surpass those numbers this year. And, if the wet winter unfolds into a sunny spring, we just might be able to do it. Many local partners are organizing hikes or bioblitzes during the City Nature Challenge. Check our website (botanicgardens.org/ science-research/citizen-scienceprograms/city-nature-challenge) for details on events and how to register.

At the Denver Botanic Gardens, we seek to connect people with plants. Our scientists are particularly interested in studying patterns and processes of biodiversity. One way we do this is through community science (also known as citizen science) initiatives such as the Denver EcoFlora project. ese initiatives allow participants to connect with plants by making observations of biodiversity patterns in their environment. EcoFlora is based on the traditional ora concept, a list or inventory of plants in a given area or period of

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As part of the EcoFlora project, we send out monthly challenges called EcoQuests to engage participants in documenting a speci c species, group of plants or theme.

April’s EcoQuest has two parts: the rst is focused on some of the rst owers to emerge in spring, the pasque owers (Pulsatilla nutalliana). en, starting April 28, a global competition begins with the start of the City Nature Challenge - a challenge to document the most biodiversity within cities. Using the iNaturalist app, you can make observations of any wild organism: plant,

You can contribute to scienti c studies by downloading the iNaturalist app and using it to take photos of the nature around you. We encourage you to get outside, feel the sun on your face and contribute to science while you’re out there.

Denver Botanic Gardens Citizen Science projects: botanicgardens. org/science-research/citizen-science-programs

Denver EcoFlora project: inaturalist.org/projects/denver-eco oraproject

Denver Botanic Gardens City Nature Challenge information: Denver-Boulder Metro City Nature