Denver Post preps editor Kyle Newman caught up with Legend baseball coach Scott Fellers to discuss the keys to the No. 4 Titans’ 6-2 start, his team’s aces and top hitters, the difficulty of playing in the Continental League and more.
Q: On Monday, you got a signature win with a 12-7 victory over No. 2 Cherry Creek. What does that do for your confidence early in the season?
A: That was a huge win for us. Anytime you beat Cherry Creek it’s a good thing, and it’s great to play non-league games like that because it sets us up for the tough league schedule ahead. In the last power rankings, six Continental League teams were in the top ten, so every game is going to be tough.
Q: What’s the mindset your team has to have in order to weather the inevitable ups and downs of your league?
A: I have a great group of kids, and we have seven seniors, six juniors and four sophomores. They do everything we ask, and to play high-level baseball you have to have your players buy into your program. All of our guys do that and they’re team-first guys, and by playing tough competition to start the year — we went down to Arizona to play, too — all of that grind and that commitment to the process will set us up for league.
Q: What does your pitching rotation look like at this early point in the season?
A: We’ll go with Monday/Wednesday/Friday starters, and I think that’s the way most teams are going with pitch counts and everything. Next week, we’ll go Kyle Cardona on Monday (against No. 10 Mountain Vista), Jack Baird on Wednesday (against No. 6 Highlands Ranch), and then Tommy Drury or Brody McCord on Friday (against No. 3 Heritage). The benefit we have is that we’ve got a deep pitching staff, so if a guy isn’t starting, we can use him on those days to close.
Q: After losing on a walk-off grand slam in the district championship to Ralston Valley last season, are you using that as motivation?
A: We finished last year strong after starting 2-10, and that was because we made a few tweaks to the pitching rotation and we got the experience under our belt to be more consistent. So we’re definitely building on last season because we were playing well enough at the end to make it to the Elite 8, which is what our goal is this year. If we can make the state tournament and get to that elimination round, we’ll see what happens from there.
Q: Who else is going to be crucial for your success this season?
A: Senior captain Jordan Stubbings is probably the best, most competitive hitter we’ve ever had at Legend, and we’ve had some great kids play for us. Also, guys like Kyle Cardona, Justin Boyd and Joey Rembisz will all be counted on to drive in a lot of runs this spring. Our offense is clicking on all cylinders right now, so I like our chances.
