Fossil Ridge baseball's season of firsts ends with home regional loss to Douglas County

The bats were rolling to end the season, but they never got going Sunday.

The Fossil Ridge baseball team's nine-game winning streak and remarkable first season under coach Chris Moddelmog came to an end with an 8-2 home loss to Douglas County in the Class 5A Region 2 final.

Though they won the early game 3-2 over Pine Creek, the eighth-seeded SaberCats' bats went cold all day in regional play after averaging 10 runs in the final eight regular-season games.

Huskies pitcher Max Stanley had plenty to do it with it in Game 2.

The Wichita State commit fired a complete game and didn't allow a run until the final frame while striking out 12 batters.

"He's just a dude," Fossil Ridge junior catcher Sam Pease said of Stanley. "He throws really hard and can throw off-speed for strikes. That's what you need in games like this. We needed to put the bat on the ball and get him out of rhythm, but we never did."

"He's one of the top four or five pitchers in the state," Moddelmog emphasized. "When you get this deep, everybody's got a great one."

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No. 9 Douglas County (17-8) took control with a four-run fourth inning off SaberCats junior starter Tyler Kubat. The Huskies plated a pair on a deep double off the fence and two more via a nasty hop on a single.

"I know I can trust my defense behind me so I wanted to pound the zone," Kubat said. "There were three weak hits and just one ball hit well. You trust your guys but sometimes it just bounces that way."

Once down 4-0, the SaberCats (18-7) faced an uphill battle. That's nothing new for this year's Fossil squad, which established a new path for the program.

It was a year of firsts and superlatives in so many respects.

First time hosting a 5A regional. First 5A playoff win. Best Front Range League finish ever (9-2, second place). Most wins (18) in a season in program history.

The emotions were raw for the players afterward, especially for seniors like Zander Reese, Nathan Kaszynski and Jonathan Reed.

But for a program lacking in historical accomplishments, playing deep into May and even having high hopes to be dashed was a huge step forward.

"Just being here and getting to see what it's like, it will help us," Moddelmog said. "We have a young club ready for more."

He's correct there. The SaberCats lose only four seniors — Kubat was quick to laud them for their leadership role in the turnaround this spring — and emerging talent abounds.

Kubat was often electric on the mound with four wins and an ERA near 2.00 despite high winds boosting offense all spring. He allowed six runs Sunday but was far better than the scorebook showed.

"He gave us a chance, and we just didn't score for him," Moddelmog said. "That's baseball."

Pease batted better than .450 while driving in 32 runs with 20 extra-base hits. Freshman Brek Benedict had a brilliant two-way campaign as a reliable reliever and 5-hole hitter who also hit above .400.

At the center of it all is Moddelmog, a staple of the Fort Collins sports community who instantly turbocharged the Fossil program in his return to coaching.

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He's quick to credit the players, but they're adamant: The coach deserves his share of applause, too.

"Oh my gosh, this was a giant step forward for the program," Pease said. "Mogs is the best coach I've ever had. Practices were different, the games were different. We expected to win, and we did exactly that. The culture has just totally changed."

"Coach and our seniors, they built the bottom layer of the house," Kubat added. "Now we want to keep building it."

There's a true belief behind the statement, backed by a season that ended sooner than the SaberCats wanted but far better than most expected.

"We're coming back and going to be even better than this year," Pease said. "We want to make a bunch more firsts next year."

Chris Abshire is the sports and stats content coach at the Coloradoan. Contact him at ChrisAbshire@coloradoan.com. Support his work and that of other Coloradoan journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Colorado 5A baseball: Douglas County ends Fossil Ridge's season in regional