The Woodland Park baseball team ran into a buzzsaw last week. It might be the best thing that could have happened.

The Panthers opened the season with 11 straight wins, all but one by five runs or more. Last week, though, they dropped four straight to a pair of good teams.

“Our younger guys, I think, were getting a little overconfident,” Panthers coach Chris Becker said. “When you play teams like that, it kind of opens their eyes and they see what we have to work on and what we got exposed on.”

Becker pointed to defense and baserunning as areas where Woodland Park struggled.

Against good teams, the margin for error is small. After a close 3-1 loss to La Junta, Woodland Park dropped its next three games (one to La Junta and two to No. 9 Elizabeth) by a combined score of 48-9. The defense was atrocious, as 13 combined errors led to 24 of those runs being unearned.

Woodland Park is ranked No. 23 in Class 3A. They will need to remain among the top 32 to qualify for the state playoffs. Becker figures that three wins over the final six games will ensure a playoff spot.

While he’s confident the Panthers will qualify, the road is challenging. A game against Class 4A Sand Creek will be followed by another against Florence. Next up will be a doubleheader at home against rival Manitou Springs on May 2. The season will conclude with another home doubleheader against Lamar on May 9.

That final date will be a good barometer. Lamar is currently ranked No. 22, one spot ahead of Woodland Park, and has a rich baseball tradition.

“If we can take can of business, they’ll be a really good test for us before we get to the playoffs,” Becker said.

Once they get to the playoffs, anything can happen. That’s because the Panthers have the pitching to compete with anyone.

Junior Cody Becker, sophomore Nate Vieux and senior Link Bryden have carried the bulk of the load so far. As a team, Woodland Park has pitched to a 2.55 ERA and has struck out 123 batters in 77 innings.

“Our pitching is going to lead the way.” Chris Becker said. “We can go toe-to-toe with a lot of teams.”

Aside from the defense and baserunning improvements needed as the playoffs near, the recent rough stretch also showed some holes in the team’s offensive approach. Becker said that there have been too many strikeouts looking and his team is too passive on strike one.

“I’d love to see them attack that first fastball strike and put it in play,” Becker said. “In high school baseball, a lot of things happen when you put the ball in play.

“We’ve got to swing the bat and put the ball in play. Our hitting has been awesome up until the last four games.”

And Becker is hoping the lessons of the past four games can grow into playoff success.