2025 Alpine Cowboys Season Recap - A Different Summer Following the 2024 Championship

The 2025 Alpine Cowboys entered the season in a completely different position than they had one year earlier. In 2024, Alpine had produced one of the greatest seasons in franchise history, going 45-4 during the regular season before surviving the Tucson Saguaros, sweeping the Garden City Wind and sweeping the San Rafael Pacifics to win the Pecos League Championship. The Cowboys entered 2025 as defending champions, but duplicating the dominance of the previous summer proved impossible. The 2025 club experienced winning streaks, losing streaks, close games and significant roster turnover before putting together one of its strongest stretches during the final week of July.

The season opened on May 27 with an excellent pitching performance and a 2-0 victory. The promising start was followed by three consecutive losses, as Alpine fell 5-3, 5-1 and 9-3. The Cowboys closed May with a 7-4 victory, giving them an early indication that the 2025 season was going to require much more of a fight than the championship season that preceded it.

June began with consecutive losses of 8-7 and 13-6 before Alpine's offense came alive. The Cowboys won 12-7 and then exploded for a 28-4 victory. Alpine followed with wins of 4-2 and 17-10, putting together its first significant winning streak of the summer. An 8-6 loss interrupted the run, but the Cowboys immediately responded with victories of 17-7, 9-6, 4-3 and 10-4.

For a stretch in early June, Alpine again looked like the offensive force that had dominated the Pecos League during the previous summer. The Cowboys could score in bunches and were capable of quickly turning games into blowouts. The 28-run performance was the most obvious example, but victories of 17-10 and 17-7 demonstrated that there was still plenty of offensive firepower at Kokernot Field.

The middle of June brought more inconsistency. Alpine suffered a 17-5 loss before the schedule recorded an unusual 11-11 result as an Alpine win. The Cowboys then won 18-10 before losing consecutive games 9-7 and 19-3. Alpine answered those losses with another strong offensive stretch, winning 15-6, 10-7 and 25-14.

The 25-14 victory was another reminder that the Cowboys remained capable of overwhelming opponents when the lineup was clicking. Alpine then won 5-1 and 7-6 on June 23. The end of June became much more difficult, however, as the Cowboys lost 7-6, won 2-1 and then lost 12-9 and 12-4.

The 2025 offense was led by several familiar names from previous Alpine teams. No player was more important than James Prockish, who continued his remarkable run with the Cowboys. Prockish appeared in 49 games and hit .387, collecting 70 hits in 181 at-bats. He scored 49 runs, hit 10 doubles, two triples and a team-high 11 home runs and drove in a team-high 67 runs. He also drew 41 walks while striking out only 18 times.

By 2025, Prockish had become one of the most recognizable players of the modern Alpine Cowboys era. He had been a major contributor in 2021, 2022, 2023 and the 2024 championship season, and he again served as the centerpiece of the lineup in 2025. His ability to combine batting average, power and run production gave Alpine a dependable offensive presence throughout an otherwise inconsistent summer.

Josh Rego returned and produced another outstanding season. Rego appeared in 31 games and hit .391 with 50 hits in 128 at-bats. He scored 28 runs, hit seven doubles and seven home runs and drove in 43. Rego had been one of Alpine's best hitters in previous seasons, and his 2025 performance continued that trend.

Xavier Croxton emerged as another major offensive contributor. Croxton played in 28 games and hit .418, collecting 46 hits in 110 at-bats. He scored 26 runs, hit three doubles, two triples and two home runs and drove in 29. Croxton gave Alpine another hitter capable of consistently reaching base and producing in the middle of the lineup.

AJ Folds returned from the 2024 championship club and appeared in 21 games. Folds hit .341 with 28 hits and scored 31 runs. He hit eight doubles and a triple, drew 20 walks and was hit by nine pitches. He also stole 10 bases, continuing to provide the combination of speed and on-base ability that had made him such an important part of the championship team.

Sean Becker became one of Alpine's most frequently used players, appearing in 48 games. Becker scored 41 runs, collected 44 hits and drew an impressive 42 walks. He added six doubles, two triples and a home run while driving in 24. His ability to reach base gave Alpine another table-setting option throughout the summer.

Trevor Tripoli returned after playing an important role on the 2024 championship team. Tripoli appeared in 44 games and collected 47 hits while batting .307. He scored 34 runs, hit nine doubles and stole a team-high 19 bases. Although his power numbers were down from the previous season, Tripoli continued to contribute with speed and the ability to get on base.

Jake Sisto appeared in 38 games and hit .317 with 32 hits, seven doubles, a triple and 23 RBIs. Kyle Rodriguez played in 43 games and hit .321 with 45 hits, three home runs and 13 RBIs while stealing eight bases. Brandon Andrews appeared in 42 games and hit five home runs while driving in 22. John Tuttle added two home runs and 13 RBIs while drawing 16 walks.

Several players made significant contributions during shorter stays with the team. Tyler Young hit .344 with nine doubles and two home runs in only 15 games. Najay King hit .343 and drove in 13 runs in 11 games. William Glick hit .500 during his 10-game stint, collecting 13 hits in 26 at-bats. Matteo Avallone returned for 13 games and hit .313.

Unlike the 2024 championship club, however, the 2025 Cowboys did not have an entire lineup filled with .400 hitters. The previous season had featured extraordinary production throughout the order. In 2025, Prockish, Rego and Croxton carried a much larger percentage of the offensive burden, while other hitters moved in and out of the lineup throughout the season.

The pitching staff also experienced significant changes from the championship season. Parker Wakeman emerged as one of Alpine's most dependable starting pitchers. Wakeman made nine starts and finished 5-3 with a 3.43 ERA. He worked 57.2 innings, allowed 44 hits and struck out a team-high 66. His ability to provide innings and miss bats made him one of the most important members of the rotation.

Humberto Vela returned after going undefeated during Alpine's 2024 championship season. His 2025 season was much different, but he remained an important part of the rotation. Vela made nine starts, worked a team-high 67 innings and finished 2-3 with a 4.29 ERA. He struck out 48 while walking 24.

Jacob Bradley became another regular starter, making 10 starts and working 55 innings. Bradley finished 5-3 and struck out 42. Brendan Konal made eight starts and went 3-2 while working 42 innings and striking out 38. Dieterich Guertzgen appeared in nine games, including six starts, and worked 38.2 innings.

Jesse Garcia continued his long association with the Cowboys and appeared in 13 games, including three starts. Garcia finished 3-2 and struck out 43 in 32.2 innings. Ethan Rivera went 2-1 in four appearances and struck out 17 in 15 innings.

The bullpen included several pitchers who worked in late-inning situations. Kaden Kneip posted a 2.57 ERA in seven appearances and recorded three saves. Jean Reyes appeared in 16 games and recorded four saves. Armando Ceballo made 13 appearances and recorded a save, while Ronin Tachibana also recorded a save. Ben Paugh went 1-0 and recorded one save in six appearances.

The pitching numbers illustrated the biggest difference between the 2024 and 2025 Cowboys. The championship club had been loaded with pitchers producing exceptional earned run averages and undefeated records. In 2025, Alpine still had quality arms, but the staff was much more vulnerable. Wakeman provided the strongest consistency among the regular starters, while Vela, Bradley, Konal, Guertzgen and Garcia experienced varying levels of success.

July became the most difficult month of the season. Alpine opened the month with consecutive losses of 4-1, 9-4 and 12-11. The Cowboys responded by winning both ends of a July 4 doubleheader, 12-11 and 7-6, but those victories were followed by a 9-2 loss.

Alpine then won consecutive road games by scores of 6-1 and 5-4 before entering another difficult stretch. The Cowboys lost 7-3, 8-2 and 6-5 in three consecutive games. They responded with a 12-11 victory but then lost 4-1 and 7-6. A 10-3 road victory briefly stopped the slide before another 7-5 defeat.

For a team that had lost only four regular-season games during the entire 2024 season, the contrast was enormous. In 2025, Alpine regularly found itself in games that could go either direction. Several losses were decided by a single run, including 8-7, 7-6, 12-11, 6-5 and 7-6 defeats. The Cowboys remained competitive, but the ability to consistently finish close games that had characterized the previous championship team was no longer automatic.

The Cowboys nevertheless finished the final full week of the regular season playing some of their best baseball. Alpine defeated its opponent 8-2 on July 24 and followed with a 10-7 victory. On July 26, the Cowboys delivered a dominant 17-1 win. The following night Alpine survived a 9-8 game before winning 6-4 on July 28.

The winning streak continued on July 29 when Alpine exploded for a 19-2 victory. The Cowboys had won six consecutive games, scoring 69 runs during the streak. After all of the inconsistency that had defined June and July, Alpine had suddenly rediscovered its best baseball at the end of the season.

The final two games reversed that momentum. Alpine lost 8-2 on July 30 and then lost a high-scoring 16-12 game on July 31. The schedule therefore closed with two defeats after the six-game winning streak, providing a fitting conclusion to a season in which Alpine repeatedly moved between strong stretches and difficult ones.

The 2025 season could never realistically be evaluated without comparing it to 2024. The previous year's Cowboys had established an almost impossible standard. Alpine had gone 45-4, dominated the Mountain Division and finished the postseason by sweeping the San Rafael Pacifics for the Pecos League Championship. The 2025 Cowboys were defending champions, but they were not the same team.

The roster had changed. The pitching staff had changed. Several of the extraordinary performers from the championship season were no longer producing the same numbers or were no longer with the club. The result was a much more traditional independent baseball season filled with roster changes, winning streaks, losing streaks and close games.

There were still outstanding individual performances. Prockish hit .387 with 11 home runs and 67 RBIs. Rego hit .391 with seven home runs and 43 RBIs. Croxton hit .418. Folds continued to reach base and create runs. Tripoli stole 19 bases. Wakeman went 5-3 with a 3.43 ERA and 66 strikeouts, while Vela worked 67 innings and Kneip and Reyes handled important bullpen situations.

The season also continued the remarkable run of Prockish as one of the central figures in Alpine Cowboys baseball during the 2020s. He had been part of the rebuilding season in 2021, the strong 2022 and 2023 teams and the championship club in 2024. In 2025, with the roster around him changing again, he remained one of Alpine's most productive hitters.

The late-July winning streak provided one of the best memories of the summer. Alpine won six consecutive games by scores of 8-2, 10-7, 17-1, 9-8, 6-4 and 19-2. It was a reminder of what the Cowboys were capable of when the pitching and offense came together. For that stretch, Alpine once again looked like the team that had dominated the Pecos League one year earlier.

Ultimately, however, the 2025 season belonged to a different chapter in Cowboys history. The previous summer had been about dominance and a championship. The 2025 season was about trying to defend that championship with a changing roster and discovering how difficult it was to reproduce a historic season.

The Cowboys still won 30 games recorded as victories on the 2025 schedule, and the offense remained capable of spectacular performances. Alpine scored 28 runs in one game, 25 in another and 19 during the late-July winning streak. The Cowboys also won numerous close games, including victories of 4-3, 7-6, 2-1, 12-11, 7-6, 5-4, 12-11 and 9-8.

But the 2025 Cowboys also experienced far more losses than the team that preceded them. The margin for error had returned, and the Mountain Division was no longer a schedule Alpine could simply overwhelm night after night.

The 2025 season therefore stands as a reminder of just how exceptional the 2024 championship team had been. Winning a Pecos League Championship is difficult. Defending one with a changing independent baseball roster is even more difficult.

Alpine entered the summer as the defending Pecos League Champions and spent the season trying to recreate the magic of 2024. Although the Cowboys could not reproduce the dominance of the championship club, Prockish, Rego, Croxton, Wakeman and a collection of returning and new players kept Alpine competitive throughout the summer.

The 2025 Alpine Cowboys season was not another historic championship run, but it was another chapter in the long history of professional baseball at Kokernot Field. The Cowboys experienced the highs and lows of a difficult summer, finished with a six-game late-season winning streak before dropping the final two games and once again demonstrated why Alpine remains one of the most enduring markets in the Pecos League.