Rocky Mountain Lutheran baseball has a big-time ace in the hole
Eli Sievert is having himself a season.
The Rocky Mountain Lutheran senior and his teammates are enjoying what looks to be the most successful season in program history. They are currently 6-4 overall with a 5-2 record in Class 1A District 2 play.
But the real story comes when Sievert makes his way to the pitching mound. To say that he has been dominant on the bump this year just doesn’t do him justice.
In eight appearances this season, Sievert has faced 114 batters. He has struck out 91 of them while allowing 10 walks and two hits.
In 33.2 innings, he has given up two base hits. So one almost every 17 innings. The kid throws two no-hitters (assuming games go seven innings) and goes three more innings in between every hit he gives up.
On average.
Oh, and he hasn’t given up a single run, giving him a steady 0.00 ERA on the season, with two complete-game no-hitters mixed in.
“He’s just a special player,” Eagles coach Mike Schaefer said. “I don’t think I’ve ever had the privilege of being able to coach or have a student like that on our team. At our 1A level, players like that come along very rarely.”
A three-sport athlete through most of high school (he skipped football in 2015 to play fall baseball), Sievert is clearly at his best when he is on the diamond. He has a great mixture of power and command. By his estimate, Sievert throws around 86 or 88 mph. He spent time playing with the Thunder Academy program over the summer and the coaches really focused on his pitching.
As a result, there may not be a team in the state who has a better shot at winning than Rocky Mountain Lutheran does when Sievert is on the mound.
“It feels good to give the whole team a little bit of an extra edge,” Sievert said. “Even the offense picks up and it kind of gives us a rhythm.”
And even at the plate, Sievert is a part of that rhythm. This season he is hitting .536 with two home runs and 15 RBIs.
And scouts are starting to take notice. Sievert has spent some time talking with the University of Northern Colorado as well as several junior colleges. And according to Schaefer, his teammates are aware of what he’s capable of when he’s on the mound.
In fact, the most difficult part of Schaefer’s job this season might be keeping his fielders invested in the game, even knowing that he’s able to strike out 20 of 21 hitters he might face.
“That’s it is to try and keep them keyed in and on their toes and ready to make a play,” Schaefer said. “We’ve had so few that we’ve had to make when he’s been on the mound.”
This was not the case a year ago. When it came to pitching, he went 0-2 with a 4.64 ERA. His decision to focus heavily on baseball in the summer and fall is giving him a season to remember and also giving the Eagles a level of success that they haven’t seen.
“I just really credit all the work in the offseason,” Sievert said. “It was playing at a higher level in the summer and even the fall. It’s been helping a lot and I’ve been getting better.”
At this pace, Sievert’s season could go down as one of the all-time legendary hauls in state history. The team as a whole is focused on getting to the playoffs and making a run, it may be years down the road before Sievert’s teammates understand the significance of what he is accomplishing this season.
“They know he is a great player. They are thrilled he is on our team and love playing with him,” Schaefer said. “I don’t know that they quite understand how good he is.”
Rest assured that one day, they most certainly will.
