Colony graduate excels with Wyoming club baseball squad

PALMER — Rhowe Stefanski grew up around baseball.

He started at the Little League ranks, as most young athletes do. Stefanski continued on through high school, and was a standout for the Colony Knights. But after his senior season, Stefanski found himself in an unfamiliar position. He was a player without a team.

That all quickly changed for the 2009 graduate of Colony High. As a freshman at the University of Wyoming, Stefanski found a home with the college’s club baseball team.

“I didn’t get any offers. I didn’t send out tapes,” Stefanski said by cellphone recently. “I was going to come (to Wyoming) for school. I found out they have a club team as well. I didn’t want my baseball career to end after high school and (American) Legion.”

Opportunity within university club sports is a growing trend throughout the country. While it’s not at the level of programs or conferences sanctioned by the NCAA or NAIA, it goes far beyond college intramural sports.

“It’s an opportunity to extend your baseball career, meet new people and get better,” Stefanski said.

Stefanski also said club sports provide a happy medium for college students who are eager to continue to compete, but may not be interested in the level of commitment that NCAA athletics require.

“It helps players who didn’t get scholarships or offers from other NCAA schools keep living their dream,” Stefanski said.

Stefanski said the practices are more laid-back than what you’d find with the NCAA sports, and the travel is not as demanding. But Stefanski did have the opportunity to make trips with his teammates.

Stefanski and his Wyoming teammates had the chance to play club teams from Boise State and Utah State during an early-season tournament. The regular season included games against Metro State (Colo.), Colorado School of Mines, Colorado State, Colorado and Northern Colorado.

Stefanski and the Cowboys finished 14-14 overall, and used a 12-6 conference record to win the Mid-American West and advance to the regional round of the National Club Baseball Association Division I Tournament.

Wyoming, which had advanced to the Division II World Series for club baseball in the three consecutive years prior to this season, finished 1-2 in the regional tournament. Wyoming edged Missouri 11-10, but dropped a pair of games to Iowa.

Stefanski, who recently capped a five-year career with the Wyoming club team, was a big reason for the Cowboys’ success. A left-handed pitcher, he was named the conference player of the year, after finishing second in the nation in wins. He was 7-0 as a fifth-year senior, with a 2.38 earned run average in 49 innings.

“Seven wins this year was awesome, but it wasn’t just me. The team was hitting in all of those games, and it helped me out a lot,” said Stefanski, who earned a degree in geology while at the University of Wyoming. “I’m happy about it.”