Rockies gear up for season

Young and experienced, the Mission Valley Rockies should have a nice mix of players this season after a turnout of 19 players.

“It’s the best turnout we’ve had,” manager Alan Anderson said. “And we like to see that.”

Young and experienced, the Mission Valley Rockies should have a nice mix of players this season after a turnout of 19 players.

“It’s the best turnout we’ve had,” manager Alan Anderson said. “And we like to see that.”

The Rockies, who finished second at the Senior Babe Ruth State Tournament last season, return Ryan Anderson, Nick Grogan, Eneas Inmee, Curt Sidel, Jeremiah Crawford and Eric Milner. That core should provide plenty of grit and know-how to take on a growing Senior Babe Ruth league in the state of Montana.

“We’re definitely a lot more confident that we can get over that Pioneer hump this year,” Anderson said.

The Missoula Pioneers have been something like the New York Yankees in the Senior Babe Ruth League, but the Rockies have been the rivals since the beginning.

With new kids adding talent and depth to the roster, Anderson thinks that the Rockies can continue their growth as a program.

Anderson always found a way to get on base, while Grogran was a versatile player and played for a Montana All-Star team during the offseason. Arlee’s Inmee and Sidel will provide athleticism to the team as both were standout athletes for the Warriors.

Crawford has power at the plate and is a workhorse out on the mound. Milner came in to play at the state tournament for the Rockies and was an impressive pitcher.

“We’ve got lots of kids that can play multiple positions,” Anderson said. “And we’re going to have a deeper bullpen.”

Chris Geiber and Bransen Krebs also have playing experience with the Rockies from late last season and Damian Mathes is an 18-year-old from Noxon who will be another good asset for the team.

The Rockies will play a long 40-game schedule of both Senior Babe Ruth and Legion baseball teams this summer.

“They added three Senior Babe Ruth teams so there are more to play,” Anderson said.

BUCS WIN TWO GAMES AGAINST ROCKIES

Starting their season a little earlier than expected, the Rockies played a doubleheader against the Bitterroot Bucs last Saturday.

“We normally don’t start this early but I know the Bucs new manager and we wanted to break the monotony of just practicing,” Anderson said.

In their first game of the doubleheader, the Bucs got out to a quick lead and ended up winning 8-0. Four of Bitterroot’s runs were unearned.

The Bucs scored three runs in the first inning and four in the second inning. Milner would pitch the final four innings for the Rockies and held the Bucs to just one more run.

“He pitched a real good game,” Anderson said. “He was able to get them to hit a lot of grounders.”

Milner also got a hit for the Rockies, as did Crawford, Seidel, Keith Woodward and Warren Wood.

The second game was a different story. Both teams were locked into a low-scoring battle but the Bucs surged late for the 10-0 victory.

“We played great until the fifth inning,” Anderson said. “Our pitching was great and our defense was great.”

The Bucs scored a run in the second inning, but were held in check until the fifth inning by Rockies starting pitcher James Rulison. Rulison struck out five and faced 20 batters.

In the fifth inning, Rulison was relieved by Inmee, who struck out a batter but then a comebacker line drive hit him in the face and knocked him out of the game.

Inmee broke some bones but is recovering and according to Anderson wants to get back out on the field.

“That had kind of a psychological effect on the team and we had about a 45-minute delay in the game there,” Anderson said.

The Bucs would go on to score eight runs in the fifth and one in the sixth for the 10-0 victory. Milner picked up a hit for the Rockies in the game.

“We had some great plays,” Anderson said. “The big issue was our bats because six hits in two games isn’t going to get it done.”

However, a combination of it being an early season game, the cold weather and nerves from it being the first look at live baseball action means the Rockies should definitely improve with their hitting.

“I feel that maybe we weren’t totally ready but it was good to see where we were sitting at and what we need to work on,” Anderson said.

This weekend, the Rockies travel up to Eureka for a doubleheader against the Legion Kootenai Valley Rangers on Sunday.

BUCS 8, ROCKIES 0

MV - 000 - 000 - 0 - 0

B - 340 - 001 - x - 8

MV - 5 hits. Bitterroot - 7 hits

Rockies batting - Nick Grogan 0-3, Keith Woodward 1-2, Chris Geiber 0-2, Jeremiah Crawford 1-1, Curt Seidel 1-2, James Rulison 0-1, Bransen Krebs 0-1, Ryan Anderson 0-1, Ryan Turner 0-1, Warren Wood 1-1, Eric Milner 1-2, Tyler Devlin 0-2, Damian Mathes 0-1, Tristen Santee 0-2, Kyle Hoffman 0-2.

R Pitching - Crawford (2IP, 2K), Milner (4IP, 1K)

BUCS 10, ROCKIES 0

MV - 000 - 000 - 0

B - 010 - 081 - 10

MV - 1 hit. Bitterroot - 9 hits

Rockies batting - Warren Wood 0-2, Chris Geiber 0-2, Bransen Krebs 0-1, Kyle Hoffman 0-1, Curt Seidel 0-2, Jeremiah Crawford 0-2, Eneas Inmee 0-2, Eric Milner 1-2, James Rulison 0-2, Ryan Tuner 0-1, Tyler Devlin 0-1

R Pitching - Rulison (4IP, 5K), Inmee (1/3IP, 1K), Nick

Grogan (1 2/3IP, 1K)