The 2024 Falcon High School baseball team became the first in program history to qualify for a trip to the state championship.
The goal of the Falcons heading into the tournament was a state championship; instead, they ended up with a hard-earned third place in the 4A division.
The Falcons’ dream season came to a close May 31 with a 5-3 loss to the Pueblo County Hornets, a team they had already defeated in the first round of the championship, which took place at the Air Force Academy’s Erdle Field.
“Honestly, we felt great going into that last game against County. But they just played a spectacular game,” said Brandon Stegman, Falcon head baseball coach. “I have the utmost respect for those kids in that program and their coaching staff. They’re doing a wonderful job.”
Stegman could not point to anything lacking in performances that would have changed the outcome for his team. “When you get to that level, somebody’s gotta’ lose and somebody’s gotta’ win,” he said. “And that day, we didn’t get the bounce we needed, or we didn’t make the pitch that we needed in the time that we needed it, or we didn’t get the timely base hit that we needed to get it in. And that’s just the way a baseball game goes.”
As mentioned above, Falcon, seeded No. 6 in the tournament, beat the No. 3 seeded Pueblo County 5-4 in the first round and beat the No. 2 seeded Golden 7-2 in the second round. Falcon lost to the No. 5 seeded Holy Family in the next round and was cut after the fourth-round loss to Pueblo County. With the Falcons out of the running, the top two teams, Pueblo County and Holy Family, moved on to the final round where Holy Family was awarded the state title, with a 13-6 win.
Stegman said, “Does it burn that we didn’t get to the final two? Yes, but I walked off that field knowing that my boys did everything they could do, my coaches did everything they could do, and I, as a leader, did everything I could do for our school, our kids, our parents. I just walked away smiling.”
Stegman first set his sights on state when he was hired at Falcon High School during the summer of 2019, as he stepped into his first high school coaching job after 20 years of youth and private coaching.
From day one, he told his athletes (many of whom played as seniors this season), “We’re going to get to state and we’re going to make a lot of noise!” Stegman said, “And they really took that to heart.”
Making noise is exactly what they did. Stegman said they ranked inside the top 25 in the entire state almost every week during the preseason. The team might have played under the radar in years past, but Stegman encouraged his team that they “weren’t sneaking up on anybody” this year and they needed to prepare to go all the way.
In January, the team participated in an indoor six-on-six league in Pueblo as a gauge to determine their strengths and weaknesses for the season. Stegman has no doubt that strategy, paired with the team’s growing experience season after season, and the fire fueled by last season’s regional loss to Cheyenne Mountain, helped them into the state tournament this time around.
But even more than that, he attributes the trip to state to the standout team of athletes and the support from the Falcon community.
“I’m super excited to see what these guys do at the next level, you know, not only as baseball players, but as husbands, as fathers, as employees — they’re just those types of kids.”
Brandon Stegman, FHS head baseball coach
Stegman sang the praises of his baseball players and overwhelming pride brought tears to his eyes. He said, “I’m super excited to see what these guys do at the next level, you know, not only as baseball players, but as husbands, as fathers, as employees — they’re just those types of kids.”
“The culture that Coach Stegman has built is second to none. We would run through a wall for that guy,” said senior Isiah Sadorus. “I can’t wait to see what this team does in the future. They believe, we believe, the community believes. That’s good stuff.”
Seven of the players that were part of the 2024 dream team graduated this spring and all but one will go on to play college baseball next year.
“Falcon is truly blessed with the type of kids that we have,” Stegman said. “And the things that our community has done to rally around our high school athletes is really special to watch.”
The support from the people of Falcon this season was unlike anything Stegman, a Falcon resident since 2006, has ever seen. That spirit carried his team toward their goal. “We had home games that I bet had 500 people in attendance,” he said. “It was standing room only out there, and that just never happens at a high school baseball game.”
“The community support was amazing,” said senior Chase Kessler. “Seeing our field at regionals packed and then our games at state where it was standing room only was such a great feeling. Knowing we had that much support made it just that much more fun.”
The entire school adopted the team’s motto “NOW” and even teachers dyed their hair to show support.
“It just felt like this season everyone came together a little bit more,” Stegman said. “We had a wonderful training staff that kept my guys healthy … . We’ve got administrators, we’ve got board members, we’ve got business owners, we’ve got community members. All those guys were out there with us.”
“We have unfinished business,” said Jaxon Schleper, who graduates in 2025 and returns to the team next year. “This past season was amazing. We got to take the field with High Plains Little League, we had school mascots out at games, we had ceremonial first pitches, we had some amazing moments, and our community was such a huge part in that.”
Falcon High School assistant baseball coaches: Rodney Biechler and David Kester
Graduating seniors:
- JP Cates
- Those playing college baseball:
- Uriah Maestas — Benedictine College in Kansas
- Chase Kessler — Dodge City Community College in Kansas
- Rowan Kliniske — Garden City Community College in Kansas
- Isiah Sadorus — Colby Community College
- Jayden Colclasure — Garden City Community College
- Josh Nemeth — MidAmerica Nazarene University in Kansas
Unfortunately, the NFH did not have enough space to include all the names on this year’s baseball roster. So congratulations to the entire Falcon High baseball team and coaches.
