AURORA – The Fossil Ridge baseball team has already lost more baseball games in 2025 than it did all of last season.
 
And the SaberCats are probably OK with that.
 
Fossil Ridge was 22-1 in the regular season and was the No. 1 seed for the 5A postseason last year, but was upset by No. 32 Eaglecrest, 5-1, in the first round of regionals.
 
“It kind of came from out of nowhere,” shortstop Owen Morgan said. “We didn’t think we would lose that game. There was a lack of adversity all year – we kind of coasted through about every game. This year, with a harder schedule, we’ve already dealt with more adversity than we had last year, and I think that will help us in the long run.”
 
Fossil Ridge is off to an 8-3 start and was ranked No. 5 in the CHSAA rankings released Monday. The SaberCats slipped to 10^th after an 8-7 loss later Monday against Mountain Vista.
 
“We tried to play a little tougher schedule this year just to prepare ourselves for a regional run and a state run,” Fossil Ridge coach Marc Wagner said. “That’s more of what our focus is on this year. Last year, we just kept winning and we didn’t know what to think about it. Maybe our luck ran out, or we had just won too many in a row.
 
“This year, from our first meeting of the year, we’ve said that Game 24 is the one we want to win and then we’ll take it from there.”
 
Morgan, a senior who has signed to play baseball at Oregon, has been a key cog in the Fossil Ridge lineup for the past three years after getting into 19 games as a freshman.
 
He’s batting .400 this year, with three homers and 15 RBIs, after hitting .500 (39-for-78) last year with 17 extra-base hits (nine doubles, seven triples and a homer) and 30 RBIs. In 74 career games, he’s batted .411 (86-for-209) with five homers, 22 doubles, 11 triples and 68 RBIs. He’s also 31 for 33 in career stolen bases, including a perfect 6 for 6 this season.
 
“He’s dynamic offensively,” Wagner said. “He can do a lot of different things – he hits for power and hits for average. He handles all the pitches. He can really run. He kind of makes us go offensively, and then he’s our shortstop defensively.”
 
Morgan, whose grandfather played a couple seasons of minor league baseball, said his first exposure to baseball came as a 3-year-old, when his parents took him to a park and he hit balls as far as he could.
 
“My strength has always been hitting, and I’ve dedicated most of my time to that,” Morgan said. “But when I made the transition from second to short (before his sophomore season), I kind of struggled to start, especially with my arm strength, but I’ve worked every day at practice to get better at it – footwork, throwing, everything.”
 
An all-state honorable mention selection last season, Morgan is one of the many highly-decorated and heavily-recruited players competing in baseball across Colorado this season. The list includes 5A Player of the Year Mason Scott of Cherry Creek (an Army recruit) and his all-state first team teammates from defending state champion Cherry Creek, Connor Larkin (bound for Oklahoma), Wyatt Rudden (Michigan) and Ryan Falke (Washington State).
 
For 17^th-ranked Cherokee Trail, Carter Wilcox (Iowa) and Ethin Woltz (New Mexico) are among the standouts, and Trevor Gottsegen of No. 25 Highlands Ranch (Utah) was among the all-state second team last season. The list of individual standouts is lengthy.
 
Through Tuesday, the No. 1 teams in the updated rankings were 11-1 Castle View (5A), 5-1-1 Cheyenne Mountain (4A), 8-2-1 Coal Ridge (3A), 7-1 Dayspring Christian Academy (2A) and 7-2 Haxtun (1A).
 
Five classes full of baseball talent are pointing towards the postseason, which for Class 1A starts in early May and wraps up May 15, with Classes 2A through 5A beginning regional play on May 16 and continuing on through the May 31 state championships.
 
Fossil Ridge is hoping to be part of the postseason for much longer this time around.
 
Known for his bat, Morgan’s progress at one of the premium defensive positions has been a key developmental element.
 
“What I’ve been really impressed with this year is that he’s dedicated himself to getting better at shortstop,” Wagner said. “Even though Oregon has said that may not be his spot there, he’s really working at it and has made strides there because he knows that makes our team better. He’s an unselfish guy.”
 
Morgan’s work ethic has helped his progress.
 
“I’m a big consistency guy, so even if it’s not a whole lot, I like to make sure that I at least get some sort of work in,” Morgan said. “I try to get up early and get my workouts done before school – get to the gym and lift. I’m usually done with school around 2:30, and I try to get my hitting in. Some days I’ll get to practice early and take some extra ground balls. After practice, I’ll get some good food in me and recover.
 
“And that’s a good day for me.”
 
Listed at 5-foot-11 and 180 pounds, Morgan has continued to gain strength.
 
“He’s definitely worked on his body,” Wagner said. “And the thing that’s going to help him at Oregon in particular is that he’s already got that college mentality – when you’re not in school, you’ve got to be working on something. He understands that. He gets it.”
 
And while Oregon has said that second base or the outfield (where Morgan’s speed would play up) are his most likely defensive destinations, Wagner said that Morgan’s hitting will be his carrying tool.
 
“As we all like to say, ‘If you hit, you will not sit,’” Wagner said. “And I think he’s going to hit, and his speed is very dynamic – and speed never slumps. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in the outfield because of his speed.
 
“He’ll learn more about the small game, bunting, hitting behind guys – all the refinements you have to make to play at the next level – and I think he has a great chance to play for several years.”
 
Morgan has developed a patient approach at the plate, even though middle-of-the-order hitters can feel pressure to swing over-aggressively because they are counted upon to drive in runs.
 
“The most impressive thing for me is that he doesn’t chase,” Wagner said. “He doesn’t go out of the zone. He’ll take his walks, and being patient is hard to do for a young guy. But he believes in his teammates and knows the guys behind him will have a chance to drive him in. And after that happens a few times, then late in games guys will have to pitch to him.”
 
And if he gets his pitch, Morgan doesn’t miss it very often. Case in point was March 22 against Legacy, when the only strike he saw all game was on a two-ball, no-strike pitch in the second inning.
 
“It was like Barry Bonds,” Wagner said. “He saw one pitch in the strike zone the whole game and he hit it for a two-run homer. That’s a mature and advanced hitting philosophy that a lot of high school guys just don’t understand yet. His maturity as a hitter is special. It’s next level.”