Woodland Park Staying Strong, Despite Late-Season Losses
Trevor Phipps
Local baseball fans have been thrilled this season to witness the resurgence of the Woodland Park High School baseball team, proving themselves as a reckoning force and experiencing playoff fever for the first time in nearly a decade.
The team put together their best start in school history after only losing one match out of their first 12 games.
The Panthers had a super strong mid-season run when they won eight games in a row. The team then busted their winning streak on April 26 when they lost a close one during the second game of an away double header against the St. Mary’s Pirates 9-8.
The Panthers then came home for a double header against the Florence Huskies on April 29. The Panthers beat Florence 15-0 and then 16-1.
But then the Panthers’ momentum started to fade. After their two big wins against Florence, the team dropped three games in a row. On May 1, the Panthers lost a 3-2 nail-biter against the Colorado Springs Christian Lions. Bad news continued for Woodland Park on May 3 when they lost both road games in a double header against the Elizabeth Cardinals 10-0.
However, even with a stint of bad luck towards the end of the season, the Panthers are still eyeing a playoff spot for 2025. The Panthers haven’t seen postseason since 2016.
Currently the team sports a 13-5 overall record and a 6-2 league tally. The Panthers are currently in third place in their 3A/2A Tri-Peaks League. The Panthers are currently sitting behind St. Mary’s and Manitou Springs who both have 7-1 league records. CHSAA ranks Woodland Park 22nd statewide.
Multiple Baseball Stars Put Up Good Stats for 2025 Season
For the 2025 season, the Panthers have stood strong against opponents due to having a multi-talented team. Many of the Panther players are young and have been putting up outstanding statistics.
Although many Panther starters are strong in all of their positions, two players have definitely stood out this season. Junior Link Bryden and sophomore Cody Becker have impressed their coaches with their recent achievements and have lauded them both for their on-the-mound action and achievements behind the plate.
Becker has been the team’s main starting pitcher, and he is one of their best batters. Becker leads his team in several statistical categories including batting average with a super impressive .556 mark, and an on-base percentage average of a whooping .672. He also has recorded two home runs, 33 runs, 25 hits, and 21 RBIs, just to name a few of his hitting successes this year.
Becker also ranks in the top ten in several categories statewide. Becker is 10th statewide out of all classes and second in division 3A with 84 batters struck out. In division 3A, Becker is 4th in slugging percentage, 8th in on-base percentage and is in 6th place with six wins as a pitcher.
Bryden has also been a key weapon on both offense and defense. This season Bryden shattered the school strikeout record.
While batting, Bryden has a .488 batting average and he has racked up 18 runs, 21 hits, 19 RBIs, nine doubles, a triple and a homerun out of 43 at bats this season. Bryden is second behind Becker on the team with his batting average.
While pitching, Bryden has the best earned-run average (ERA) on the team at 2.41. Bryden has a 3-1 record after 29 innings pitched. Moreover, he has struck out 44 batters this season.
The Panthers have also proven that they have mastered the art of stealing bases this season. During games, the Panthers can be seen attempting to steal quite often, And equally as impressive, they aren’t caught stealing that much.
Senior Gabe Marquez proves himself to be the Panthers’ sneakiest base runner as he is ranked eighth in the most stolen bases in division 3A statewide with 21. But during some games just about every Panther runner will snag a stolen base. Many of the Panther stars have picked up at least one stolen base every game.
Junior Gavin Strouse is the second-best base stealer on the team as he sits right behind Marquez with 18 stolen bases so far this season. That is an average of at least one per game. Bryden also has had some pep to his step with 12 stolen bases in 2025.
The Panthers’ road to the playoffs still seems bright, but the team does have a couple more hurdles in their way. They were supposed to play Salida on May 6, but the game was rescheduled due to a mega snowstorm.
The Panthers played a neutral tournament match against Manitou Springs last Saturday, but the results were not in time for TMJ’s press time. The Panthers last challenge of their regular season will come up this Tuesday, when they play their rescheduled road match against the 9-9 Salida Spartans at 4 p.m.
*Next week, the results from the season should be out, and Panther baseball fans will find out more details regarding the team’s potential playoff situation.
