While the Summit County area was being blanketed in several fresh inches of snow, the Summit High School baseball team escaped to the high desert of Montrose for the team’s first weekend of games. 

After barely missing the regional baseball tournament last season, the Tigers began its quest to return to postseason play by taking on Alamosa High School on Thursday, March 13. 

Serving as one of the first games of the Montrose Tournament, the two teams both managed to put up points in the first inning. The Alamosa Mean Moose brought in two runners in the top of the first before Summit brought one runner home in its half of the opening inning. 

The Tigers were then able to prevent the Mean Moose from scoring in the second inning before scoring three additional runs. With a 4-2 lead entering the third inning, Summit did everything it could to hold onto its lead and get its first win of the season. 

The Mean Moose and the Tigers each scored a run in the third before Alamosa brought home five runners in the fourth inning to take a 8-5 lead. The influx in points stalled the Summit defense, leading to the team not recording another run for the remainder of the game.

Alamosa defeated Summit, 9-5. 

In the loss, Summit junior Hogan Tobias led the team in hits, recording a total of two. Senior Gus Bradford recorded a hit and two runs brought in (RBI) while junior Jojo Gambino and senior Lucas Comcowich recorded a hit and an RBI each.

Although the loss to Alamosa was disheartening, Summit wasted little time wallowing. The team quickly returned to the diamond to take on 4A Western Slope league opponent Eagle Valley High School. 

This time Summit got the win it was searching for, dominating the Eagle Valley Devils from start to finish.

Leading the charge for the Tigers was junior Sam Eldredge. The California Polytechnic State University commit put together a master class in pitching, striking out 14 out of the 15 batters he faced and recording the program’s first no hitter since 2018. Summit defeated Eagle Valley, 11-0.

“I am really proud with how the team responded,” Eldredge said. “We came back really quickly and played well against a league opponent. My favorite thing to do is to go out there and compete on the mound to give the team a chance to win. I had a little extra motivation and hunger after our first loss to go out there and turn the corner. It was special for sure. It was a lot of fun.”

Bradford once again was able to get his bat going in the win over Eagle Valley, recording two hits and three RBIs. Comcowich secured two RBIs of his own while Eldredge notched a hit. 

The win gave Summit the momentum it needed to close out the tournament on a strong note against Montrose High School on Friday, March 14. Summit steadily racked up the score throughout the six-inning game, recording one run in the first and six runs in the third.

The Tigers then scored a sole run in the fourth before scoring an additional six runs in the top of the sixth. With a total of nine hits and 12 stolen bases, Summit advanced to 2-1 overall on the season with a 14-7 win over Montrose.

Sophomore JP Vietti led the performances from the batter’s box with four RBIs off of four at bats. Additionally, Eldredge recorded two hits and one RBI while Tobias led the team in stolen bases with a total of six. 

Summit will now prepare to take on Thomas Jefferson High School on Thursday, March 20. The game will be the biggest test of the season thus far for the Tigers, but Eldredge believes that the team has the capability to record another dash in the win column.

“It will definitely be our toughest challenges yet,” Eldredge said. “I think we are focused on continuing to build a culture within the offense and learning to play to our strengths.”

After traveling to Denver to take on Thomas Jefferson, Summit will face Conifer High School on Tuesday, March 25 and Evergreen High School on Saturday, March 29. Both games will be played on the road.