Preseason Countdown: No.17 Mountain Vista

By John Cackowski
State Director

Leading up to the start of the high school season, we will count down the top 50 preseason teams every day as part of our comprehensive season coverage. The top 50 teams are picked from all classifications, and are not divided up by class level. To see the entire list click here

Team: Mountain Vista
Preseason Rank: 17
2014 Record: 19-7
Conference: Continental
CHSAA Class: 5A
Head Coach: Ron Quintana
Playoff Run: Lost to  2-1 to Rock Canyon in 5A Final Four
2015 Final Rank: 4
Returning Starters: 5
Returning Pitchers: 1

TOP PLAYERS:
Cooer Shearon, OF, No. 67 2016 (Dodge City)
Cole Blatchford, MIF/RHP, No. 25 2017
Alex Clouthier, LHP, No. 54 2017
John Krysa, OF, No. 55 2017
Jalen Saiz, RHP, No. 59 2017
Zach Paschke, MIF, No 15 2018
 

X-FACTOR:
Seeing who steps up in positions lost from graduated seniors off a 19-7 season in 2015

KEY PLAYERS LOST:
Marc Mumper: Grand Canyon

STAT RAT:
The Golden Eagles graduated 113 innings pitched out of a team total of 129 from 2015

BOTTOM LINE:
The Golden Eagles are coming off back to back 5A Final Four runs. Last year they had a heartbreaking loss 2-1 to their rival and eventual 5A State Champion Rock Canyon that knocked them out. There will be a lot of new faces this year for the Golden Eagles, however their program is still packed with talent. 2016 OF Cooper Shearon (Dodge City CC) will be back to provide some power in the lineup. Last year Shearon hit .302 and led the Golden Ealges with 5 homeruns. 2017 OF John Krysa got a lot of experience as a sophomore last year and could be an option to lead off in 2016 with his speed. 2017 pitchers Alex Clouthier and Jalen Saiz return. Saiz threw 20 innings last spring and had an impressive 0.69 ERA. Clouthier will be a tough change of pace LHP for the Golden Eagles and will move into one of the starting spots this spring. 2018 SS Zach Paschke played some important defense last spring when Marc Mumper was on the mound and look for him to move into a full time starting role. A big boost to the team will be the return from 2017 MIF Cole Blatchford from injury. Mountain Vista is still talented, and they will be in the 5A playoff mix, but to make their third straight 5A Final Four appearance they will have to find the D1 and draft talent they have had on the mound the last two years.

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