Local Baseball Fans Anticipate a Panthers’ Playoff Return
Trevor Phipps
Even though many locals believe that winter never officially showed up this year, the spring sports season is now underway.
Early this month, WP spring sports action launched with weather even allowing matches to take place in the “City Above the Clouds.”
According to the forthcoming sports schedule, most Woodland Park High School teams started their spring seasons during the first or second weeks of March. Then, most the student athletes will take a break from competitions during spring break. The brunt of their league matches will then be played during the months of April and May.
This year, unlike years in the past, the mild weather has allowed for home matches to be played in early March. However, the outdoor sports teams do play the brunt of their late winter/early spring games down the Pass in lower elevations.
This year, the Woodland Park spring sports program consists of boys’ swimming, girls’ golf, girls’ soccer, baseball and track and field. If last year is any sign of this season’s potential success, all eyes will be on the track and field and baseball teams as they had the best teams during the 2025 spring season.
The following is a look at how the spring sports team fared last year versus how their schedules look in the coming weeks.
Baseball
Last year, the Panther baseball team put on its best run in recent history. They had a huge early-season winning streak and they made the playoffs for the first time in several years.
Last season, the team lost their first postseason match 21-1 against The Classical Academy. They ended their 2025 season with a 13-9 overall record and a 6-3 league tally.
Now that the young stars on the team are a year older, local baseball fans hope to see the team improve in 2026. Last year, Cody Becker and Link Bryden led the team in most statistical categories. This year, both the stars return as more experienced upper classmen, a factor that is giving the team bullish hopes.
After a mild February, an early eight-inch snowstorm on March 6 unfortunately put a hamper on the Panthers’ season that was supposed to start on March 7. Their first road match was rescheduled, but the Panthers did kick off their 2026 season with two home matches last week. However, the results were not available, prior to press time.
The boys played their first league match last week against Colorado Springs Christian High School. The Panthers then face another league opponent when they play Salida in a double header scheduled for March 17.
After the double header in Salida this week, the Panthers come back home to the St. Mary’s Pirates on March 19 at 3:30 p.m. After spring break, the Panthers return to competition with a home game against the Palmer Terrors on March 31.
Track and Field
Last season, the boys and girls on the track and field team experienced much success individually, and as a team. During the league match in 2025, the boys team took second and the girls team snagged third.
Two-girls relay teams took home the league championship trophy. The boys also had three champions that won in their individual events.
Once it came to the state championship, every girls’ relay team qualified to compete. In fact, the team’s head coach even died his beard bright pink in their honor. The girls 4x100m relay team ended up getting third place statewide with a time of 50.33 seconds.
The team this year has new coaches who use technology to help them train the athletes. Better yet, the team has some returning stars that look to improve their personal bests this season.
Girls Soccer
Last year, the girls had a mediocre season that didn’t fare well enough to see any postseason action. The Lady Panthers finished their 2025 season with a 5-7-3 overall record and a 1-2 league tally.
The good news is the team fielded a rather young squad last year. Plus, a strong possibility exists that they will improve this year. The bad news, though, is that the team did lose their star players, midfielder Missa Kleppe and goalie Raegan Graff, to graduation last spring.
The girls did receive some help from Mother Nature this year as they too were able to play early season matches last week. The Lady Panthers started their regular season last week with two home games against The Vanguard School and Ellicott.
The team plays on the road against St. Mary’s on March 17 before taking a breather for spring break. The team’s next home match is on April 4 against the Thomas MacLaren School.
Girls Golf
This season marks the second-year girls have been welcomed to compete in golf at the Woodland Park High School. Last year, the girls had little practice but made strides in learning the game.
