2013 Alpine Cowboys Season Recap - Roswell Ends the Cowboys Championship Defense
The 2013 Alpine Cowboys entered the season with expectations that had completely changed in only two years. When the Pecos League began in 2011, the primary goal was to establish a new league, keep professional baseball alive at Kokernot Field and build a new Alpine Cowboys identity following the end of the Continental Baseball League. By 2013, simply having a successful professional baseball team in Alpine was no longer enough. The Cowboys were the defending Pecos League Champions, and the expectation at Kokernot Field was to win another championship.
Alpine had captured the 2012 Pecos League title by defeating the Las Cruces Vaqueros two games to one in the Championship Series. That victory established the Cowboys as one of the premier organizations in the young league and gave Alpine a championship in just the second season of the Pecos League. The challenge in 2013 was trying to do it again.
The Cowboys returned with a lineup that featured several outstanding offensive players and a number of familiar names. Derrick Fox emerged as one of the most important players on the team. Fox appeared in 66 games and went 100-for-284 for a .352 batting average. He scored 63 runs, hit 14 doubles, stole 27 bases and drove in 41 runs. His 100 hits led Alpine and his combination of contact and speed made him one of the most dependable players in the Cowboys lineup.
Joel Carranza provided the biggest power threat. Carranza played in 63 games and hit .356, collecting 89 hits in 250 at-bats. He led the Cowboys with 26 doubles, 15 home runs and 78 RBIs. Carranza gave Alpine the middle-of-the-order run producer it needed and became one of the most dangerous hitters on the club.
Eric Herman also had an outstanding season. Herman hit .374 in 62 games with 88 hits, 18 doubles, four triples and four home runs. He scored 68 runs, drove in 38 and stole 19 bases. Herman's .374 average was the highest among Alpine's regular everyday players and gave the Cowboys another consistent offensive threat.
Logan Lotti was another major part of the lineup. Lotti hit .356 while scoring 70 runs and collecting 74 hits. He finished with 21 doubles, two triples and 12 home runs while driving in 49. He also drew 58 walks and stole 18 bases, giving Alpine a player who could reach base, hit for power and create problems once he reached base.
Conor Thompson also produced a .356 batting average with 74 hits, 21 doubles, 12 home runs and 49 RBIs. Thompson scored 70 runs, drew 58 walks and stole 18 bases. Between Thompson and Lotti, Alpine had significant offensive production and patience in a lineup that could create scoring opportunities throughout a game.
Casanova Donaldson brought additional speed to the Cowboys. Donaldson appeared in 63 games, collected 72 hits, scored 56 runs and stole 24 bases. He added 12 doubles, three triples, seven home runs and 43 RBIs. With Fox stealing 27 bases, Donaldson stealing 24, Herman stealing 19 and Lotti and Thompson each recording 18, Alpine had the ability to pressure opposing defenses without relying entirely on home runs.
Brycen Bell hit .307 in 43 games and drove in 23 runs, while DJ Johnson appeared in 47 games and contributed 34 hits, six doubles, three home runs and 22 RBIs. Mike Dobre added depth behind the plate, and Billy Crowe appeared in 31 games as another catching option.
The offensive numbers showed why Alpine remained dangerous throughout the season. The Cowboys had multiple players capable of hitting above .350, several legitimate power threats and enough speed throughout the lineup to manufacture runs. It was an offense built to compete in the high-scoring environment of the early Pecos League.
The pitching staff had several strong performances of its own.
Brian Smith became one of Alpine's most important starting pitchers. Smith went 7-2 in 11 starts and worked 65.1 innings. He posted a 4.54 ERA and struck out 64 batters. Smith also completed two games, giving the Cowboys a dependable starter who could work deep into games.
Shane Youngdale was equally important to the rotation. Youngdale finished 7-1 with a 4.56 ERA in 11 starts. He worked 65 innings and recorded 45 strikeouts while completing one game. Between Smith and Youngdale, Alpine received 14 victories from two starting pitchers, providing stability at the top of the rotation.
Bryce Weidman returned to the Cowboys rotation and went 5-3 in nine starts. Weidman worked 52.1 innings and struck out 39 hitters. Josh Cruse made six starts among his 18 appearances and threw 48.1 innings, giving Alpine another pitcher capable of handling significant innings.
The strongest part of the pitching staff may have been Scott Hartling at the back of the bullpen. Hartling appeared in 29 games and finished 4-2 with a 2.33 ERA and nine saves. In 34.2 innings he allowed only 23 hits and nine earned runs while striking out 33. His 0.97 WHIP made him one of Alpine's most effective pitchers and gave the Cowboys a legitimate late-inning option.
Kris Barone was another valuable reliever. Barone appeared in 28 games and posted a 3.17 ERA, allowing only 10 earned runs in 28.1 innings while striking out 35. Matt Marra pitched in 31 games and worked 35.2 innings, giving the Cowboys another frequently used bullpen arm.
The combination of Smith and Youngdale at the top of the rotation and Hartling and Barone in relief gave Alpine enough pitching to complement its powerful offense. The Cowboys were not simply trying to outscore opponents every night. They had pitchers capable of controlling games and protecting leads late.
As the summer progressed, Alpine remained in contention and once again demonstrated that the 2012 championship had not been an isolated success. The Cowboys were now one of the teams everyone expected to see in the postseason. Kokernot Field had become one of the defining venues of the Pecos League, and visiting teams understood that beating Alpine there was never easy.
The 2013 season was also important because the rivalries of the Pecos League were becoming much more established. By the league's third season, teams had histories with one another. Players had faced the same opponents repeatedly, managers understood the different ballparks and postseason meetings were beginning to create genuine rivalries.
No rivalry was more important to Alpine than the Roswell Invaders.
Roswell had been connected to the Cowboys from the beginning of the Pecos League. The Invaders eliminated Alpine from the playoffs in 2011, ending the Cowboys' first Pecos League season. Alpine responded by winning the championship in 2012. When the 2013 postseason arrived, the Cowboys once again found Roswell standing between them and another opportunity to win a title.
The matchup represented two of the cornerstone organizations of the early Pecos League. Alpine had Kokernot Field. Roswell had Joe Bauman Field. Both teams expected to contend, and both organizations were developing reputations as teams that would regularly be involved in meaningful games late in the season.
This time, Roswell ended Alpine's season.
The Invaders eliminated the Cowboys from the postseason and brought Alpine's attempt to repeat as Pecos League Champions to an end. After reaching the top of the league in 2012, the Cowboys were unable to return to the Championship Series.
For Alpine, the loss was particularly disappointing because the roster had produced so many strong individual seasons. Fox had collected 100 hits. Carranza had hit 15 home runs and driven in 78. Herman had hit .374. Lotti and Thompson had each hit .356 with 12 home runs. Smith and Youngdale had each won seven games, and Hartling had anchored the bullpen with a 2.33 ERA and nine saves.
There was enough talent to believe another championship was possible.
Roswell made sure it did not happen.
The postseason defeat added another chapter to what was quickly becoming one of the first great rivalries in Pecos League history. Roswell had ended Alpine's season in 2011. Alpine had broken through and won the championship in 2012. In 2013, the Invaders again stopped the Cowboys and ended their championship defense.
For Alpine, the disappointment of the ending could not erase the larger significance of the season. The Cowboys had now established a consistent winning culture at Kokernot Field. The organization was no longer simply trying to survive from one summer to the next. Alpine expected to field a playoff team and compete for the Pecos League Championship every season.
That represented an enormous change from where professional baseball in Alpine had stood only a few years earlier. The Big Bend Cowboys had won the Continental Baseball League championship in 2010, but the league disappeared. The Pecos League began in 2011 and gave Alpine a new home. The Cowboys reached the playoffs that first season, won the championship in 2012 and returned as a contender in 2013.
Three years into the Pecos League era, Alpine had become one of the league's cornerstone franchises.
The 2013 Cowboys also featured a roster that helped establish the type of baseball that would become associated with Alpine. The lineup was athletic, aggressive and productive. Fox, Herman, Lotti, Thompson, Carranza and Donaldson gave the Cowboys a deep offensive core. Smith and Youngdale provided victories in the rotation, while Hartling gave the team a dependable closer.
The Cowboys had everything necessary to make another championship run.
They simply could not get past Roswell.
That became the defining ending of the 2013 Alpine Cowboys season. A year after celebrating a Pecos League Championship at Kokernot Field, Alpine watched its title defense come to an end at the hands of one of its biggest rivals.
The 2012 season belonged to Alpine.
The 2013 postseason belonged to Roswell.
But the Cowboys had firmly established themselves as one of the teams that would define the early history of the Pecos League. With a championship already secured, a strong roster again assembled in 2013 and Kokernot Field becoming one of the league's signature ballparks, Alpine entered the future with a standard that had become unmistakable.
In Alpine, making the playoffs was no longer the ultimate goal.
The goal was winning the Pecos League Championship.
