If Cole Underwood has a rough day on the pitching mound, he won’t be slamming doors or trashing the locker room.
And if Caden Waldorf struggles for a moment at the plate, he won’t be picking up the nearest Louisville Slugger and going to work on the dugout water jug.
Not that tantrums have ever been an issue for the two Loveland High School seniors, who will be pivotal assets for the Red Wolves in the 2026 baseball season, but their ability to set the tone and be reliable in good times or bad is a cornerstone piece of what Loveland hopes to build going forward.
When the first pitch is delivered for LHS (Saturday at Timnath), Waldorf and Underwood will be happy to lead the way for a roster that is bit thin on varsity experience.
“I’ve always been a guy who tries not to show much emotion. I try to keep it cool and level-headed, something for others to follow,” said Waldorf, who’ll bat third or fourth in the order and be asked to help in the outfield as well as second base. “We had a lot of seniors last year; now we have young guys coming up and I hope they are hungry, ready to go, get us going pretty quickly.”
“You’ve got to be a leader, ready not to show any negative emotion, keep your team as hyped and energized as possible without bringing them down,” said Underwood, a left-hander who will hold the No. 1 spot in the pitching rotation. “A couple guys played basketball, but everybody wanted to be there (in preseason workouts) and put the work in. Hopefully that will get things moving a lot quicker.”
Darryl Baca, a LHS alum entering his fourth season as head coach, has full command of how tough the schedule is with Northern Colorado powers like Windsor, Rocky Mountain and Fossil Ridge on the docket. Working out the early kinks and plotting a path to a finish that gets the Red Wolves into the 32-team Class 5A postseason bracket won’t be effortless, but there’s no shortage of commitment from the squad.
“It’s all about the mindset — being competitive. Our guys believe this is a year we can go and surprise some teams,” said Baca, whose team was 9-14 last year. “What we hope happens is, we make any mistakes early and learn from it. As we get closer to the end and make the playoff push, some of those things are cleaned up. Our group of four seniors played last year and has that knowledge base, and they’ll help the young guys get up to speed as fast as they can.”
Senior Wes Cheever is looking strong as the next option in the rotation after Underwood. The No. 3 spot, and then primary responsibilities out of the bullpen, will be solved from the mix of junior Bennett Gransbery (a transfer from Casper, WY), classmate Ashton Norvell and sophomore Garrett Stilo.
As it stands, look for sophomore centerfielder Easton Hoefler to get a chance to prime the offense as leadoff hitter. Gransbery will be leaned on in the middle of the batting order, Waldorf is critical as an RBI threat, and junior Trace Ewing has shown promise as he rebounds from an ACL injury.
“We are coming together as group, which is great,” said Waldorf, who was a .300 hitter last season. “Last year, we were still working on that before our first game. We just right now need to be level-headed, slow it down, play our brand of baseball.”
“The biggest positive is we all get along, can have fun,” Underwood added. “We don’t have much experience, so we’ll need to get it together quick.”
Loveland’s first home game will be March 21 at 11 a.m. against Berthoud.
Thompson Valley Eagles
Head coach: Chad Raabe (Fifth season)
Last year: 11-12 overall, 11-5 Longs Peak League
Top returners: Sam Engelland (Sr., P/IF), Amari Richardson (Sr., P/IF), Malachi Dougherty (Sr., P), Drae Balke (Sr., P)
Others to watch: Keagan Schra (Sr., OF), Donovan Closz (Sr., OF), Cam Denning (Sr., IF), Dominic Pasquinelli (Sr., IF), Brady Johnson (Sr., IF/OF), Brayden Cronin (Sr., C/OF), Finn McAlpin (Sr., OF), Ryan Woodcox (Sr., IF)
Coach’s outlook: “This year we are senior heavy. Most have seen significant playing time at the varsity level, but we also have a handful of the guys that will be starters for the first time in their high school careers. We are going to have fun, we are going to compete, and we are going to collect as many wins as possible by doing those two things.”
Mountain View Mountain Lions
Head coach: Brian Smela (16th season)
Last year: 8-15 overall, 6-10 Longs Peak League
Top returners: Sam Holt (Jr., P/SS), Cam Frost (Sr., P/OF), Jevin Dorcey (Jr., P/Utility)
Others to watch: August Engel (Sr., P/1B), Noah Hoffman (Sr., P/Utility), Brody Moro (Jr., P/3B), Cam Smtih (Jr., P), Gayge Goode (Jr., P/DH/1B), Barrett Plewes (Sr., P/OF)
Coach’s outlook: “We look to bounce back and finish in the top half of our league. We have a new but talented group that has the ability to win.”
Berthoud Spartans
Head coach: Buddy Kouns (15th season)
Last year: 10-14 overall, 8-8 Longs Peak League
Top returners: Wyatt Barmes (Sr.), Trent Jacobs (Sr.), Gage Slaby (Sr.), Will Yuska (Sr.)
Others to watch: Aiden McCormick (Sr.), Gavin Kirk (Jr.), Kehan Cox (Jr.), Austin Anderson (So.)
Coach’s outlook: “Our outlook for the Spring is enthusiastic, optimistic and driven to improve on last season’s results. We have a tremendous amount of talented newcomers that are battling for playing time. A few will be relied upon to contribute early.”
Resurrection Christian Cougars
Head coach: Mike Magaro (Fifth season)
Last year: 20-10 overall, 6-4 Patriot League, Finished third at 3A state tournament
Top returners: Maddox Sessions (Sr., OF), Braedyn Budd (Jr., P/OF/1B), Colton Barber (Jr., IF/P)
Others to watch: Will Busby (Jr., P/1B), Blake Spaeth (So., C/OF)
Coach’s outlook: “We’re really young this year, with a lot of roles to be filled. Our culture’s been strong this pre-season, and this group has shown how hard working and coachable they truly are. We could surprise some people this year.”
