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Sometimes quantity doesn’t equal quality.
Jacob Gleason and Cody Collige are proving that to be true. Both play on the Dodge City Senior Legion Rangers baseball team, but are also Spearville Lancers during the school year.
Spearville High School is classified in KSHSAA as a 1A school, the smallest classification in the state. Dodge City High School, the school most of the Senior Rangers attend, is in class 6A, the biggest.
Making such a jump can have many challenges.
“The speed of the game is much different, the pitchers are better and the hitters make better adjustments,” said Rangers head coach Chris Chilton. “At the plate I think is the hardest transition for the boys, the pitching is much better here, they are seeing competition that they maybe see once or twice a year every day, which is good for them.”
Both players are showing that they have the ability to compete at the highest of levels.
Gleason leads the Rangers in earned run average and has a team best 3-1 record on the mound.
“He has proven to be a very effective pitcher when he throws strikes,” said Chilton. “When he has his control, he is one of the top pitchers on the team. He is also very versitile. He can catch or play infield if we need him.”
Collige, meanwhile, has found a pitching role on the Rangers, but also plays first base. He is filling his role on the mound very successfully, leading the team with a .218 opponent batting average when he is pitching.
“Cody has accepted his role very well with us,” said Chilton. “He understands that his job is to pitch when we need him, and I try to work him in at first base whenever I can.
“He doesn’t throw real hard, but when he finds the zone, he keeps every hitter off balance,” Chilton added.
The skills both players are gaining through the Legion will help them greatly as they step up to the next level. Chilton said he believes both Gleason and Collige are going to try to walk on at Dodge City Community College.
“I am glad we had both of these boys come over from Spearville this year,” said Chilton. “They both have gotten better and they have helped out a great deal, especially with their attitudes. They come out and give us everything they have. I wish we could have had these boys in summers past if anything to help them during their high school seasons and to be better prepared for the transition from high school to college.”
Chilton also said he would like to see more kids from small towns like Spearville, Bucklin or Minneola to come and try out for the Rangers.
“We typically use our Legion program to help prepare our Dodge City kids fro the next year, but extending the invite to these smaller schools will give our Dodge boys some competition that can only improve our team,” he said
Sometimes quantity doesn’t equal quality.
Jacob Gleason and Cody Collige are proving that to be true. Both play on the Dodge City Senior Legion Rangers baseball team, but are also Spearville Lancers during the school year.
Spearville High School is classified in KSHSAA as a 1A school, the smallest classification in the state. Dodge City High School, the school most of the Senior Rangers attend, is in class 6A, the biggest.
Making such a jump can have many challenges.
“The speed of the game is much different, the pitchers are better and the hitters make better adjustments,” said Rangers head coach Chris Chilton. “At the plate I think is the hardest transition for the boys, the pitching is much better here, they are seeing competition that they maybe see once or twice a year every day, which is good for them.”
Both players are showing that they have the ability to compete at the highest of levels.
Gleason leads the Rangers in earned run average and has a team best 3-1 record on the mound.
“He has proven to be a very effective pitcher when he throws strikes,” said Chilton. “When he has his control, he is one of the top pitchers on the team. He is also very versitile. He can catch or play infield if we need him.”
Collige, meanwhile, has found a pitching role on the Rangers, but also plays first base. He is filling his role on the mound very successfully, leading the team with a .218 opponent batting average when he is pitching.
“Cody has accepted his role very well with us,” said Chilton. “He understands that his job is to pitch when we need him, and I try to work him in at first base whenever I can.
“He doesn’t throw real hard, but when he finds the zone, he keeps every hitter off balance,” Chilton added.
The skills both players are gaining through the Legion will help them greatly as they step up to the next level. Chilton said he believes both Gleason and Collige are going to try to walk on at Dodge City Community College.
“I am glad we had both of these boys come over from Spearville this year,” said Chilton. “They both have gotten better and they have helped out a great deal, especially with their attitudes. They come out and give us everything they have. I wish we could have had these boys in summers past if anything to help them during their high school seasons and to be better prepared for the transition from high school to college.”
Chilton also said he would like to see more kids from small towns like Spearville, Bucklin or Minneola to come and try out for the Rangers.
“We typically use our Legion program to help prepare our Dodge City kids fro the next year, but extending the invite to these smaller schools will give our Dodge boys some competition that can only improve our team,” he said
