Spartan Nine Slide Through Districts
May 7, 2008
TJ Baseball moves on to the Elite Eight in the state playoffs.
by Marc Houghton
Photo by Ryanne Mollo
The Spartan baseball boys showed some perseverance and had a number of clutch performances in getting past the district round of the playoffs on Saturday, May 3rd. After blowing by Skyview in the first game by a score of 10-2, TJ battled a talented team from Cheyenne Mountain into extra innings, and came out with a 4-3 victory.
TJ was a little slow to start with the bats in their first game against Skyview, but they stayed patient behind great pitching from Sophomore Brennan "Bubba" Henry and saw their hitting come alive. Henry had consistent control all game, and allowed only two runs in five innings. Freshman Chris Van Dyke pitched the last two innings and shut down the Skyview offense, leading to a final score of 10-2. The Spartan offense showed the same talent they have all season against Skyview, and they were confident going into the second game behind their ace pitcher Dylan Smith.
After beating Mountain Range in their first game, Cheyenne Mountain carried some momentum into the deciding match-up against TJ. Both teams were fighting for a spot among the final eight, as the winner would go on and the loser would go home. Both teams came out strong in the first inning, Cheyenne Mountain scoring two runs in the top half, after two solid hits from the top of their lineup. TJ manufactured one run of their own in the bottom of the first, bringing the score to 2-1, where it would stay until the sixth.
Read more
Baseball Finishes Regular Season With a Bang
April 30, 2008
TJ Baseball defeats East 17-4, and prepares for the upcoming playoffs.
by Marc Houghton
Photo by Ryanne Mollo

The Spartan baseball team is on a roll, coming off their sixth consecutive city championship after romping the East Angels in their last regular season game on Monday. TJ came out of the gates swinging and never cooled down, as they finished off their DPL rivals by a score of 17-4 in the sixth inning. After a tough loss against 5A Doherty on Saturday, April 26th, the boys bounced back, and are now carrying some strong momentum into the state playoffs.
TJ's offense has been working well for them all season, and they showed their talent at the plate against East on Monday. They got out to an early lead, and were up by a score of 13-4 after five innings, with help from a home run by Brett Nathan, his seventh of the year. The final blow came when Michael Mankoff hit a grand slam in the bottom of the sixth inning to end the game by the 10-run rule, and to give TJ the outright city championship along with their Read more
Baseball Cruises to 10-1
April 8, 2008
TJ Baseball continues their ten-game win streak, beating Skyview 15-7.
Photo by Ryanne Mollo
The TJ baseball boys are on a roll, winning ten games in a row against an array of league and non-league opponents. The Spartans have seen their bats come alive and played solid defense all season, and they to be in top form, and ready to take on any challenge that the rest of their schedule offers.
Coming off their yearly trip to Arizona during spring break, the Spartans have taken advantage of the time they spent practicing, by winning four games in one week. In their last four games, they have outscored opponents from Montbello, North, Falcon, and Skyview by a margin of 58-20. The powerful TJ offense has shown no weaknesses since their opening loss to Cherry Creek, hitting thirteen home runs in just eleven games. As a team so far this season, their combined batting average is over .400, with a slugging percentage of .640. Things are also going well for the coaches along with the players. With their win last Wednesday against Montbello, Tory Humphrey earned his hundredth win as the TJ head coach. Read more
Baseball Tops Ralston Valley
March 20, 2008
Solid hitting and defense lead the Spartans over the top-ranked Mustangs.
by Marc Houghton
photo by Ryanne Mollo
The Spartan baseball team came away with a big win on Wednesday, beating the pre-season, number-one ranked Mustangs from Ralston Valley by a score of 9-2. This game was huge for TJ, and they proved that they can beat a top-notch opponent, something they will need to do if they are going to get another chance at a state championship.
Dylan Smith was the starting pitcher for the Spartans, and he showed again that he is their go-to man for big games. Smith held the dangerous Ralston Valley offense to only two runs on five hits. The defense had another solid performance as well; with only one error, they gave Smith the assurance he needed to pitch another great game. Read more
Slug-Fest Gives Baseball Another Win
March 15, 2008
Strong hitting and solid defense leads TJ to a victory against Eaglecrest.
by Marc Houghton
The Spartan baseball team had a great all-around game on Friday, as they rocked the Eaglecrest Raptors by a score of 17-7. After slow starts from the plate against Cherry Creek and Mountain View, TJ seemed to be right where they left off last season, scoring runs at will against the Raptors from the start.
Not only did TJ recover on offense, they also played phenominal defense all game, something they had trouble with in their second outing against Mountain View. Starting pitcher Michael Mankoff pitched a great game, fooling the Eaglecrest hitters left and right with his off-speed pitches. The Raptors also had trouble picking up the unique sidearm motion of senior Ross Kastens, who made his first appearence on the mound for TJ this season. Read more
Walk-off Homer Clinches Comeback Win for Baseball
March 14, 2008
Late rally and game-ending home run by Nathan gives TJ a win in their home opener.
by Marc Houghton
photo by Ryanne Mollo
TJ baseball takes a win in their second game of the season after coming back from a nine-run deficit to beat Mountain View by a score of 14-13. An eight run effort in the fifth inning, and a walk-off home run by second baseman Brett Nathan, left TJ with the victory after a slow defensive start had them down early.
The game started out rough for the Spartans, as errors in the field let the Mountain Lions take a big lead. Starting pitcher Ryan Allen had a great game, allowing only three earned runs of the ten that were scored while he was in the game. After the fourth inning, TJ was down 13-4 and things were looking glum. But as they have shown so many times before, this talented TJ offense can never be counted out . In the fifth inning they rallied, scoring eight runs and bringing the deficit to one. The defense settled down later in the game behind more good ptching from sophomore Bubba Henry and freshman Chris Van Dyke, both in their first appearances as varsity players. Read more
TJ Baseball Falls to the Bruins
March 11, 2008
Spartan boys suffer a near miss in their season opener.
Click Here to listen to WebCast Audio
by Marc Houghton
photo by Ryanne Mollo
The Spartan baseball team played hard to the finish on Monday night, but wasn't able to come out with the win against the talented 5A Cherry Creek Bruins, losing by a score of 5-4. Although TJ is disappointed to start their season with a loss, they showed a lot of promise, generating some strong offense and holding the dangerous Bruins to only seven hits on the night.
Cherry Creek came out of the gates hitting, as they jumped out to an early 2-0 lead within the first two innings. TJ was making good contact at the plate in the early going, but couldn't find any gaps in the Creek defense. It took a rally in the fifth and sixth innings to get the boys on the scoreboard, and they made a strong run for a comeback, as they were trailing 5-0 in the fourth inning. The bats came alive for the Spartans in the fifth, but they were only able to post up four runs by the end of the game. Read more
Baseball Schedule
February 5, 2008
Varsity Schedule
| Date | Opponent | Location | Time | Result | Stats |
| 2/26/2008 | Highlands Ranch | TJ | 3:30 PM | N/A | Stats |
| 3/1/2008 | Greeley West Scrimmage | Fort Collins | 11:45 AM | N/A | Stats |
| 3/1/2008 | Ft. Collins Scrimmage | Fort Collins | 2:30 PM | N/A | Stats |
| 3/7/2008 | Rifle | TJ | 4:00 PM | W 13-5 | Stats |
| 3/10/2008 | Cherry Creek | All City Fields/Stadium | 6:00 PM | L 4-5 | Stats |
| 3/12/2008 | Mountain View | TJ | 4:00 PM | W 14-13 | Stats |
| 3/14/2008 | Eaglecrest | TJ | 4:00 PM | W 17-7 | Stats |
| 3/18/2008 | Ralston Valley | Ralston Valley | 3:30 PM | W 9-2 | Stats |
| 3/20/2008 | Adams City | TJ | 4:00 PM | W 9-5 | Stats |
| 3/22/2008 | Loveland | Bill Swift Field/ Centennial Park | Noon | W 6-3 | Stats |
| 4/2/2008 | Montbello | TJ | 4:15 PM | W 18-4 | Stats |
| 4/4/2008 | North | Denver North | 4:15 PM | W 19-5 | Stats |
| 4/5/2008 | Falcon | Falcon High School | 1:00 PM | W 6-4 | Stats |
| 4/7/2008 | Skyview | Skyview | 4:00 PM | W 15-7 | Stats |
| 4/9/2008 | South | Denver South | 4:15 PM | W 20-6 | Stats |
| 4/16/2008 | JFK | TJ | 4:15 PM | W 13-7 | Stats |
| 4/18/2008 | George Washington | All City Fields/Stadium | 7:30 PM | W 14-4 | Stats |
| 4/19/2008 | Sterling | Coors Field | 12:00 | W 11-3 | Stats |
| 4/23/2008 | Lincoln | TJ | 4:15 PM | W 12-2 | Stats |
| 4/25/2008 | West | All City Fields/Stadium | 4:30 PM | W 16-2 | Stats |
| 4/26/2008 | Doherty | TJ | 11:00 AM | L 5-6 | Stats |
| 4/28/2008 | East | TJ | 4:15 PM | W 16-13 | Stats |
| 5/3/2008 | Skyview | All City Field | 10:00 AM | W 10-2 | Stats |
| 5/3/2008 | Cheyenne Mountain | All City Field | 3:00 PM | W 4-3 | Stats |
| 5/9/2008 | Golden | Machbeuf | 12:30 PM | Stats | |
| 5/16/2008 | State | TBD | TBD | Stats | |
| 5/17/2008 | State | TBD | TBD | Stats |
Coaches
Head Coach: Tory Humphrey
Varsity Assistant: Tom Maloney
Varsity Assistant: Bob Mantooth
Varsity Assistant: Taylor Hargrove
Varsity Assistant: Nick Nathan
Junior Varsity Head Coach: Brad Seibenaller
C Level Head Coach: Steve Bond
Roster
| Last Name | First Name | Position | Class | Jersey # | Stats |
| Allen | Ryan | P | Senior | 28 | Statistics |
| Blackburn | Justin | P | Senior | 7 | Statistics |
| Fitzgerald | Devon | 3B | Senior | 0 | Statistics |
| Freeland | Colin | 3B/ Utility | Senior | 3 | Statistics |
| Hearne | Cooper | OF | Senior | 5 | Statistics |
| Henry | Brennan | P | Sophmore | 6 | Statistics |
| Jost | Kian | OF | Senior | 13 | Statistics |
| Kastens | Ross | P | Senior | 16 | Statistics |
| Maloney | Grant | C | Freshmen | 8 | Statistics |
| Maloney | Max | C | Senior | 44 | Statistics |
| Mankoff | Michael | OF/P | Senior | 23 | Statistics |
| Mankoff | Matthew | 1B | Senior | 33 | Statistics |
| Nathan | Brett | 2B/ P | Senior | 21 | Statistics |
| Siddle | Ryan | Utility | Senior | 19 | Statistics |
| Smith | Dylan | P/ OF | Senior | 10 | Statistics |
| Thomas | Sam | OF/C | Junior | 27 | Statistics |
| Thornton | Tyler | SS | Senior | 1 | Statistics |
| Van Dyke | Chris | P/3B | Freshmen | 41 | Statistics |













