Cottonwood Colts baseball did not have the best start to its season. 

To be fair, the program just lost one of their biggest supporters in Greg Southwick, Cottonwood’s longtime athletic director who passed away in late January. 

That probably put a dent in the kids and coaches from a psychological perspective, and so they limped to an 0-7 start. But, give plenty of credit to head coach Travis Steed for getting the boys back on track—because this Colts bunch has bounced back in a big way. 

It all started with a familiar former region foe in Stansbury, March 21. The Colts let the Stallions get out to a 4-1 lead going into the bottom of the fourth inning. That’s when Cottonwood’s defense, its calling card for many years, kicked into action and the Colts galloped to a 6-5 win behind 11 hits and nine strikeouts from college baseball commit Milo Crayk, who went the distance in the victory. 

Following that win, Cottonwood has won two of its last four games in Region 10 to make a serious push toward the top of the standings. 

Cottonwood (4-9, 2-2 Region 10) really flexed its muscles against Highland on April 2, getting 11 hits in a 16-1 victory. This was a Highland team, mind you, that was flying going into the game having just handed Cottonwood an 8-3 defeat a day earlier, and so to get a big victory against a team that just beat you like that was not lost on Steed. 

“The bats are heating up with 18 hits across the two games (versus Highland), and the boys showed grit to pull out a close one today,” said Cottonwood’s second-year coach of his team that handed Highland its first loss in region play. 

Almost every game has been a tough slog for the Colts, who have needed their defense to keep them in games—particularly the pitching of Crayk, who’s rebounded from a rocky start to go 2-1 with a 3.29 earned run average, tossing 16 strikeouts. 

In addition to Crayk, much has been asked of senior captain Kingston Griffin who leads the team with a 2.80 ERA and has been effective in middle relief. 

This defense extends to catcher, where junior Peyson Summers has been rock solid. His 1.000 fielding percentage ranks 15th in Utah, and his 55 putouts—including nine in that win over Stansbury March 21—make life difficult for opponents trying to get extra bases. Also, as a team Cottonwood is .902, defensively. 

The Colts have long been a team that manufactures runs to win games. It’s a squad that has hit just two home runs as of spring break. 

Thus, their mainstay has always been extra-base hits. As a team, Cottonwood’s hit 19 doubles and five triples. Senior Porter Stonebraker (.378 batting average) has hit a team-leading nine RBI, adding four doubles and two triples. 

Once the Colts get galloping on the base paths, they tend to be a terror there, also. Junior Nolan Weaver (.390 leads team) has a team-high six stolen bases. Teamwise, the Colts have swiped 14. 

Hitting, however, has been a good bit down from previous years. Cottonwood is only hitting .282, a number that has to rise if the Colts are to contend for another region title. The good news is that the Colts are batting .287 in their last four games played. 

The other concern is that Cottonwood is currently sitting at No. 25 in the 4A RPI rankings that seeds teams for the state tournament. If it were to begin today, the Colts would find themselves out for the first time in over a decade. 

So there is work to do for Cottonwood—but it is work they’re doing now to improve their standing. 

Games outside of Region 10 play will also help test the Colts for the stretch run this April and include some of the schools they might have to face at state, such as Logan and Bear River.