There are myriad reasons why Falcon baseball is off to a red-hot 10-0 start this season. 

One has doubtless been the play of senior pitcher Aaron Jaquez, who leads Colorado in RBIs with 23, three shy of his total from last season. That said, Jaquez, who is the leadoff batter for the Falcons, would be the first to applaud his teammates at the bottom of the lineup who are reaching base consistently. 

But ask Josh Millikan, who is a parent of four-year varsity player Brayden Millikan, and he’ll say the biggest contribution to the team’s best start since 2021 comes from someone who hasn’t taken a single at-bat. 

After the Falcons were knocked out of the 4A state tournament by Palisade last season, coach Brandon Stegman made a promise to his team. 

“I said, ‘I promise you. I will be better for you,’” Stegman said. 

Though in that moment Stegman didn’t know how he was going to be different, the promise sparked a change, professionally and personally. 

He did the work one might expect and pored over statistics and film. In addition, late-night conversations with artificial intelligence helped deepen his understanding of the game. 

For example, Stegman is emphasizing hitting doubles to his team this season. He said previous state title winners and more successful programs at the collegiate level aren’t hitting all homers, but rather are consistently and effectively attacking the gaps in a defense through doubles.

The bigger and more impactful part of Stegman’s changes, however, is the one to his character. 

A self-described control freak who previously employed a “my way or the highway” approach to coaching, Stegman has learned the value in letting go. 

“They’re high school kids. I need to foster an environment that it is OK to fail in, and then we build on that failure,” Stegman said. “In years past, boy, I’d probably light ‘em up, I’d get really mad and everybody, they’d deflate for a little bit and I’d have to bring them back. Now, I’ve got kids playing freer, calmer, my heart rate is lower, their heart rate is lower.”

Stegman has always asked for blind trust from his players and their families, and now he’s investing that trust back in the team. Players have more say in how practices are run, including what parts of the game they want to work on. Stegman is even letting players pick the jerseys they wear, according to senior catcher Garrett Kyle. 

Over his four years, Kyle made his way to varsity from the C-team. A veteran of the program, he has noticed a change in the way Stegman is coaching this season. 

“He’s cut down on yelling and being emotional. He’s been able to control emotions more, be able to lead us, show us that we should control our emotions as well,” he said. “When you have a program that everybody has a say in, that ends up flourishing a lot more successfully and I think that shows in our start this season.” 

Nate Sadorus has seen plenty of Falcon baseball. His son, Ronan, is a senior pitcher on the team and his older son, Isaiah, went through the program as well. He said Ronan has always been a very even-keeled person, even to the point of being hard to read. 

This year has been different, however. 

“I’ve seen him smile more on the baseball field than any other time,” Nate Sadorus said. “I’m sure some of that’s coaching, and I’m sure some of that’s because he’s a senior and he’s getting ready to graduate so I’m sure he’s just on cloud nine. Obviously, the biggest piece of that is he knows this team has a real shot to go deep.”

Falcon has been a 4A powerhouse in recent history. The Falcons have won no fewer than 17 games each of the past four seasons and have made the eight-team state tournament the past two seasons. 

If there’s anything that can help the Falcons improve on their excellence and perhaps capture the ultimate prize itself, it could be this new approach, which is something Stegman’s wife has long advocated for. 

“His wife was huge in some of this right now,” Millikan said. “Because she had been telling him for the last year or two, ‘You wear your emotions on your sleeves. Your boys follow your lead and your mannerisms, or your competitiveness. Sometimes, 16-, 17-year-old boys don’t understand that you’re just intense and in the game, and passionate, and they look at that as you’re mad at them or you’re angry and some of those boys shut down.’”

Wednesday’s game proved her right. Whereas in the past, the Falcons may have fed on the coach’s emotion, they fed off his calm demeanor against visiting Pueblo County. 

Falcon trailed 6-4 in the top of the fifth inning.

Millikan said Stegman was the coolest, calmest guy on the field.

Falcon scored two runs in the bottom of the inning and took the lead with three runs in the bottom of the sixth. The deciding run came on a suicide squeeze, in which a runner on third sprints for home as soon as the pitcher starts his delivery, requiring the batter to bunt. 

In years past, Stegman might have just told his players to execute the play this time, he asked junior Tyler Reichers his opinion. Entrusted with his coach’s belief, Reichers was up to the challenge.  

“I asked him what he wanted to do and he was like, ‘Coach, I’m the best bunter around, I’m going to get it done,’” Stegman said. 

The moment encapsulates one of the pillars of Falcon’s program: A person’s word is their bond. 

“If you say you’re going to be somewhere or do something, you do it,” Stegman said.

The Falcons’ coach isn’t exempt from that. He promised change and delivered, resulting in the most fun he’s had at the head of the program, whether it’s arriving early to set up practice or dancing with his players after a game. 

Regardless of where his team ends up once the final inning of the season has been played, he knows this change has been for the better. 

He has a team of talented players and the support of parents, school administration, students and the community as a whole. The biggest prize for Stegman isn’t a state title but the chance to give his players what baseball gave him. 

“I want them to be free as kids. I remember my high school days. This game saved my life. My high school coach saved my life,” Stegman said. “I want to make sure I give these guys and send them on to something with some confidence, and that they thoroughly enjoyed playing here.”