Rockies ready for season-opener

There is a multitude of reasons players choose to become members of the 16 to 18-year-old Senior Babe Ruth Baseball team, but the one commonality every player that suits up for the Rockies has is a passion for the game, according to Rockies’ manager Alan Anderson.

Some of the members of the Rockies are looking for additional exposure to continue playing their career, others have major time commitments such as jobs and most just want to keep playing baseball as long as they can, according to Anderson.

The Ronan Rockies will play their first game against the Great Falls Outlaws Saturday afternoon at the baseball diamonds near the Ronan Fairgrounds.

“I think there are a lot of kids out that dedicate themselves to baseball full time and I support that 100 percent,” Anderson said. “Our program is a fantastic program that allows kids to keep going and not have to worry about playing every day.”

Despite the laid-back atmosphere, Anderson said he still enforces rules in order for his players to have an opportunity to play the game.

“I want them to show up mainly on the weekend and the big reason is I don’t like pulling kids out of school because school is very important,” Anderson said. “I still want kids to focus on school and they have to understand that schoolwork comes first. After school is out, it makes it a lot easier for everyone to get quite a bit of traveling in. Our Senior Babe Ruth team will travel statewide. We will be playing teams from Canada, and even some American Legion teams out of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and California.

For years, Anderson dedicated himself to bettering the collegiate prospects for players that have what it takes to make it to the college level.

“I think back when I started the program about nine years ago and after I took a couple of seasons off, I was asked to come back and try to get the Babe Ruth League going,” Anderson said. “Last year, I came back and we had our ups and downs. We are starting with a lot of young players from last year and we know we were going to be up against some very tough teams. We have the majority of our players back (from last year) playing this year and also added a few new players.”

The team also ends the year with an incentive to all of their hard work and dedication the players put into being a member of the Rockies at the end of the season. Last year at the end of the season, members of the Rockies team traveled to Missoula to watch a Missoula Osprey game. The Osprey, an Arizona Diamondbacks’ affiliate and members of the Pioneer League, a rookie-level form of baseball that features some of the nation’s top prospects all allocated from the Major League baseball clubs they were drafted by, give the Rockies players an opportunity to see some of the best baseball the area has to offer.

“It’s the Minor Leagues and it gives (our players) a vision,” Anderson said. “Here are some of the best baseball prospects and college-aged players. If you want to move up, that is the level that is you are looking at. It really gives the players a clear picture of what they need to do, where they need to be at skill wise and what they need to work on. It’s also about having fun. Baseball should be fun because it’s a fun game.”

Currently, the Rockies have no promotions planned for their opening-day ceremonies but said a Mother’s Day game might be in the cards and they also might commemorate several groups or organizations.

Alan said with hard work, he and his dedicated group of coaches will continue to work to help the kids that have the desire to advance to the college level with all of the support they need.

“I want to make it clear that none of these kids are my kids, but they are my kids in my eyes and I want to make sure that I give them everything they need in order to succeed,” Anderson said.

Anderson said he is “looking forward” to getting in a lot of work this season with him, his coaching staff and his team as they prep for 2018.

“I am really looking forward to the season,” Anderson said. “With the weather, we have not had a chance to get to as many practices early on. We are actually progressing extremely well for not having as many practices. I think we will be able to progress quicker than a lot of teams in the state of Montana have because our weather has allowed us to practice outside and (this season) is going to be a fun ride.”

The Following are the roster of the Ronan Rockies:

1 – Ashtin Courville

3 – Noah Bettencourt

6 – Beau Goldberg

7 – Nick Cleveland

10 – Logan Erickson

11 – Nic Peterson

13 – Erik Rodda

14 – Trevor Harris

18 – Nathan Plant

23 – Ryker Wenderoth

24 – Jaryn Tenas

25 – Seth Lake

51 – Billy Palmer

77 – Josh Young

Coaches:

12 – Alan Anderson

2 – Karl Kaphammer