The Greeley West Hall of Fame ceremony coming up on Friday serves as a powerful reminder that sports can unite and inspire, and for the 1975 baseball team, it’s a celebration of legacy that continues to shine bright half a century later.
The 1975 team carved their names in history with an underdog win in the state championship game at Jackson Field here in Greeley against a heavily favored Grand Junction High School, who had won five big school state championships prior to that. But the Spartans pulled it off and won against them 15-4 to win the state title, but John Christensen, the head coach in 1975, says that the real championship game was the semifinals game the day before.
The squad drew up Denver North as their semi-final game the day before. Denver North had won the Denver City league that year. Two of the best pitchers in the state went face to face. North had Tim Carroll, but Greeley West also had an outstanding pitcher, Rod Scheller. In the top of the seventh inning, West trailed North 2-1, but finally one guy drew a walk. The next batter, Johnny Martinez, who was a catcher, came up to bat and knocked one out over the left field fence, giving West a 3-2 lead.
Several people expected Christensen to pitch their ace, Shceller, two days in a row, for the championship the next day, but Christensen refused and pitched his backup Mike Edgerton. The Edgerton award handed out to the MVP after a West Central football game is named after him as he also was a running back.
This team, set to be indcuted, won the Northern League in 1971, 1972, and 1974. “There were the biggest nine leagues in the state of Colorado in 3A so we were playing the biggest and best,” Christensen said.
To get to the playoffs, you used to have to win the Northern League to get to go and since most of the guys from the ‘71 team were back on the ‘74 team, they truly thought that they had a chance. “It didn’t happen automatically,” said Christensen. “We really thought we had a chance and so our attitude was that we were going to try and win it all.”
The whole team had a part in these big wins. The team had a junior catcher and the whole staring left side of the infield were sophomores. “It was an extraordinary bunch of seniors that believed they could get it done, and they were unselfish.” No one specific person called the shots or was too verbal on the team.
“When I look back at all of my coaching, it’s more relationships with players over the years that has the most meaning (rather than the wins),” Christensen mentioned.
