'Battle-tested' Rye Thunderbolts baseball team eyeing a potential playoff run
Repeating history is difficult.
For Rye baseball, it's been nearly a decade since the team's undefeated championship run.
And although the Thunderbolts are not undefeated this season, they are teetering on the cusp of a playoff berth and have a chance to reclaim the title of state champion.
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“It's definitely been an up-and-down season, that's for sure,” Head Coach Stacey Graham said. “When we're playing up, we're playing pretty good baseball. But when we're playing down, it's down. We played some pretty good baseball teams this year. We were about two or three innings away; we were right there with them and competing with them and then we fall off.”
Graham said the team struggled offensively and defensively, but once they entered the league season, the team started to turn the corner.
“We are sitting in a pretty good spot,” Graham said. “We need to roll out some wins in some games. We are battle-tested. I will say that for sure. This team, it's not like we're undefeated in the season and we're just rolling. We're battle-tested, and that's a beautiful thing about this sport: it teaches you the highs and the lows. We are learning the game and getting better.”
Graham noted that throughout the season, the team has come a long way from where it started, thanks in large part to some senior leadership and young players stepping up for the team.
“Aydin Swald, he has been good for us, pitching-wise ... his last three outings," he said. "He's been getting a ton of ground balls against some good baseball teams. Will Hamler, behind the dish, he's been solid for us for four years back there. Brandon Benz, I mean, he's just completely solid in the outfield and surprisingly you're going to see him in the infield.
"Blake Walton, my other senior, is a solid first baseman and when we need him to catch, he comes in and catches for us. I've got some young kids, two freshmen starting on the field. Those guys have done a good job for me this year as well.”
One thing is for sure, Graham will have this team ready to play every game. His message to his team this year is to keep fighting, keep working hard, but most importantly, to battle.
“We got to battle, we just got to keep battling,” Graham said. “This game, it'll knock you down, and if you allow it to, you can get down and stay down, and if so, it's going to be a rough, long season. But we are going to keep fighting, keep competing. It's just like life, you're going to get knocked down. But who's going to get back up and get after it? So, just battle. We got to keep battling and keep our heads up and keep going.”
The Thunderbolts currently sit with a 6-9 overall record and are 4-1 in the Santa Fe League, which is good for second place. Six of their nine losses came to top-ten ranked teams in Class 2A and another loss came against a top-ranked team in Class 4A in Pueblo East.
As of now, the team is still in the playoff picture, sitting at No. 22 in the rankings.
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Christopher Abdelmalek is a sports reporter for the Pueblo Chieftain and can be reached at cabdelmalek@gannett.com or follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @chowebacca. Support local news, subscribe to The Pueblo Chieftain at subscribe.chieftain.com
This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Rye Thunderbolts baseball continues 'battle' for a playoff spot
