Photo by Will Cornelius
Last Monday was the opening day of spring training for the baseball program at Berthoud High School.

By Will Cornelius
The Surveyor

Baseball season officially began in the Garden Spot on Monday as ballplayers from Berthoud High School warmed up for the first time this season at Bein Park after school finished for the day.

“It’s going to be a fun year man,” says Head Coach Buddy Kouns. “We’re super excited about the year and I think these guys will take a step. I think they will take a step from what we were even last year.”

In 2023, the team went 15-8 over the regular season before falling to The Classical Academy in regionals hosted far to the southwest in Cortez. The team was unstoppable in April, winning all 12 of their games. Playing in the brutally tough 3A Patriot League conference, back-to-back losses to University and Eaton High School at the end of the season killed the Spartans’ season momentum. Eaton went on to win the 3A baseball playoffs, beating University 13-3 in the championship game.

Regardless, last season was a vast improvement from 2022, when the team went 5-17. But Kouns knows things will be different for the team this season. “Last year, they kind of caught some people by surprise. They’re not going to surprise anybody this year, nobody’s going to underestimate them this year.”

He expects opposing teams to have Berthoud marked on their calendar this season and save their best pitcher for games versus the Spartans. “I think that we saw a lot of number twos last year. [This year] we’re going to see a lot more number ones.”

For Berthoud, the mound at Jack Sommers Field will feature returning pitchers Adam Hayes and Connor Jorissen. “Adam Hayes is a year bigger and a year stronger and he had a good sophomore year,” Kouns says. Senior Jack

McCrae returns to the team but will not pitch in his final year due to an injury.

But Kouns says the team has pitching depth with players fighting for the number three spot. “Wyatt [Barmes] threw a bunch as a freshman. Wyatt will step in and he will take a bigger role on the mound.”

Taking over as catcher will be senior Kaeden Kettle. “He will step right in behind the plate initially,” Kouns says. “But Kaeden’s going to have to throw for us a little bit too.”

There are still unanswered questions for some positions, but Kouns is more excited than worried given the talent across the roster. “We got some battles though, I mean there are some things that aren’t settled yet. We got battles in the outfield going on, we got battles on the corner in the infield.”

However, with a talented team comes expectations. “We’re anticipating a little deeper penetration into the postseason. That’s where we’re aiming,” Kouns explains about the team’s mindset.

The first game of the season is set for Mar. 9 at home against Northridge High School.