BROOMFIELD — Sometimes, all it takes is one small adjustment to make the biggest difference on the diamond.
In Class 4A No. 4 Holy Family’s short ride through the 2022 spring season, the Tigers had found themselves struggling to get much of any offense going. Head coach Marc Cowell changed his late-game approach for Thursday’s home matchup against Greeley West en route to a 7-1 Tigers’ victory.
Senior center fielder Dillion Dahlgren kicked off the top of the sixth inning with a smooth bunt base hit before an error advanced him to second base. That Spartan mishap proved pivotal on the very next play when sophomore left fielder Rylan Cooney hit a fly ball to bring him home and give the Tigers a 4-1 lead.
Senior catcher Andrew Syverson then doubled to make it 5-1 and from there, the Tiger offense finally caught fire.
“We put down two bunts in that inning on purpose, just to try to get some energy going, and that seemed to get that rally going,” Cowell said. “Sometimes, you’ve got to be a little unorthodox to get the energy and that just happened to work for us today. We have to find that magic potion again on Saturday.”
Just three games into a brand new year, the Tigers are starting to figure out the right ingredients for that magic elixir. They lost 12 seniors to graduation in 2021, a class that helped carry them to the Class 4A championship game, meaning they’re fielding a fairly young team led by Andrew Syverson, Jacob Syverson, and seniors Jared Delgado and Jaden Delgado.
Junior pitcher Jacob Syverson already is proving to be quite the ace. He recorded 13 strikeouts on Thursday and eight just two weeks earlier against Littleton. He has yet to give up an earned run.
“You figure when Jake’s on the mound, we’ve got a shot to win,” Cowell said. “It gives us a little bit of leeway in a game like this, where we’re trying to find our bats. We’ll still have good pitching come Saturday, but we’ve got to keep building on our offense.”
After a loss to Thompson Valley last week, the 2-1 Tigers decided to alter their hitting strategy to best fit the competition they would face, as well as their own strengths. The benefits of that approach broke through in the sixth frame and, hopefully, will carry them forward during a tough stretch of games that lie ahead.
Jacob Syverson believes that with a little more time in the batter’s box, the Tigers can build upon their early success and ride that momentum through the rest of the season.
“I think all of us didn’t really have (a hitting) approach. We were all trying to pull the ball and just hit a home run. I think once we stayed middle-out, try to hit it oppo, it helped a lot,” he said. “Last year, we had a lot of guys leave so this year, with all the young guys coming in, they’ve been doing well, getting used to what varsity is like, and I think they’ll keep progressing and doing good. They have a lot of potential in them, and I think that have a really good opportunity to show what they’ve got.”
