Rejuvenated Basic starts ‘2002 season’ on high note

Spencer Patterson

Thursday, June 14, 2001 | 10:54 a.m.

For the Basic Wolves, the 2001 high school baseball season didn't go exactly as planned.

Coming off a 2000 campaign that saw them finish ahead of Henderson area powers Silverado and Green Valley atop the Southeast Division, the Wolves opened play as the popular choice to win it all this year.

But after an up-and-down regular season, Basic made an early exit from the 4A State Tournament.

Just a month later, the Wolves appear to have put that disappointing experience behind them. The school's red-hot American Legion team is off to a 9-1 start (5-1 in conference play), putting itself in prime position to claim one of the area's six automatic bids to the playoffs.

"My philosophy is once the final out was made in the state championship game, the 2002 season started," Basic coach Mike Kazek said. "These kids need to work to learn the system because there are so many new kids out there for us."

Shortstop Mark Rose is the lone graduated senior playing for the Wolves. He opted to stay with the team even though a football scholarship to Dixie College awaits him in the fall.

"He's giving us a lot of leadership," Kazek said. "It helps us to have somebody who the other kids respect like that."

Basic's summer roster also features some of the bigger names from its high school squad, most notably ace pitcher Matt Elliott and second baseman Micah Schnurstein, a pair of Sun all-state first teamers.

Both have been invited to participate in the annual Area Code Games later this summer, however, which means the Wolves could be without their services come postseason time.

With that in mind, Kazek has worked hard to develop his younger talent this summer. Juniors-to-be Ivan Marquez and Frank Blurton have emerged as two promising left-handed hitters, while incoming sophomore right-handed pitcher Arnold Tombs already has two wins this summer.

The Timet event will bring together 24 teams: local squads Basic, Bonanza, Cimarron-Memorial, Centennial, Palo Verde and Cheyenne, along with squads from Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, California, Texas, Michigan and Northern Nevada.

Play begins next Wednesday at Basic, CCSN's Lied Park, Burkholder Park and Arroyo Grande Park and continues through Sunday, with the title game June 24 at noon at Burkholder.

The seven-team Stoker tournament will feature local entries Durango, Silverado and first-year Coronado. Games begin next Wednesday at Durango and Silverado, with the championship scheduled for June 23 at 8 p.m. Durango.

Also, the Trailblazers will host the J.V. Blazer Bash, a junior varsity tournament featuring local squads, tonight through Sunday, with play at Durango, Bonanza, Centennial and Cheyenne.