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Eugene Church · 08-24-2011, 06:20 PM

The Islandian Times
Sunday, October 25, 2025

High Mesa Cowboys History
The High Mesa Cowboys started off great in the IPA and won the Pro Cup in its first year of the franchise's existence in 2002. The Cowboys swept the Elnora All-Stars in three games. High Mesa also qualified for the postseason in 2003, but were quickly eliminated in the first round by Tuckanarra, two games to none. Since then the team has only come close one time to qualifying for the Pro Cup playoffs. That was in 2023 when the Tuckanarra Blue Jays edged them out by just a single game. The powerful Blue Jays went on to claim the Pro Cup by whipping Valmara in 6 games. Most of the time the Cowpokes wind up in the first division, but rarely close to the pennant winner. In 24 seasons High Mesa has put up a winning .514 mark in the TU East with a 1898-1798 record.

High Mesa has always featured a high-octane offense and lots of longballs because of its band box stadium, Queen Ranch Stadium, which is only 312 and 306 down the lines and 353 in the power alleys... it's enough to say that High Mesa is a hitter's paradise and a pitcher's nightmare... it's also the home of the greatest hitter in IPA history - the remarkable and legendary 1B Jack Elliott (2013-2025)... Elliott is a 12-time All-Star, 11-time Golden Bat winner, 5-time TU MVP, won 7 batting crowns, 5-time Gold Glover, Rookie of the Year and led the league in homers on 8 occasions... Elliott hit 65 homers in 2021 to set the IPA mark... he also holds the highest IPA lifetime BA at .353 and goes into the 2026 season with 676 roundtrippers... retired great 1B Phil Gravelli is the current leader with 726... Elliott is only 32 and still quite a hitter... it's very likely he will set the all-time HR standard... only recently has Elliott had a good supporting cast... he was the whole show for a decade... it's unlikely that the IPA will ever see the likes of Jack Elliott again.

In the early year of the franchise, the Cowpokes had some solid ballplayers... Adam Zitek, Ed Granberg, Rolf Kellgren, Jay Fessler and John Owens led the team to the Pro Cup crown in 2002... LF Adam Zitek (2002-2006) was twice an All-Star for High Mesa, won the Golden Bat and Tycobbian MVP in 2005 when he slammed 51 homers and drove in 171 runs, while batting .305... Zitek is 6th with 181 home runs and 568 RBIs for the Cowboys... his best seasons were with the Cowboys... Lifetime he played for 13 years, 5 with High Mesa and 8 with South Fork, batting .272 with 262 roundtrippers and 825 runs batted in... 2B Ed Granberg (2002-2006) is the number two Cowboy career batter with a .322 BA, 98 HRs, 483 RBIs (8th)and 498 runs (8th)... Granberg was a 1-time All-Star and Gold Glover... 4-time All-Star SS Rolf Kellgren (2002-2006) is number three with a .312 BA... Kellgren was the 2002 Pro Cup MVP... he hit .466 with 8 doubles, 1 triple and 4 homers as he led the Cowboys to the IPA title, beating the Elnora All-Stars in a three-game sweep... Kellgren also scored 14 runs and batted in 13 in the postseason... Kellgren had a fine 17-year career from 2002 to 2018, playing for five teams in all... Kellgren totaled 2649 hits, 466 doubles, 136 triples, 155 homers, 998 RBIs, 1625 runs and stole 491 bases... his lifetime average was .285... C-1B Jay Fessler (2002-2006) was fourth with a .311 BA... Fessler made the All-Star squad twice... 2-time All-Star IF Wild Deer Etchimin (2008-2021) was second to Elliott with 341 homers, 1077 runs and 1043 RBIs... overall Etchimin batted .276 in his career with 413 home runs, 1308 RBIs and 1330 runs... Etchimin played 17 years in his career, his first 5 seasons were with the Chicopee Braves... 2-time All-Star OF Darrel Alston 2012-2021) split 20 seasons with Eastshore (2002-2011) at first and the later years with the Cowboys... Alston totaled 568 HRs, 1644 RBIs and scored 1563 times in his career and batted .284 for average... he is number three on the High Mesa homer list with 284, fourth in RBIs with 778 and fifth in scoring with 680 runs.

Leading the High Mesa hurlers were 1-time All-Star Kent Wells (2006-2017), who was 193-173 with a 4.05 ERA... 1-time All-Star John Rainer (2005-2024) with a 185-167 mark and a 4.16 ERA... 1-time All-Star Ronald Ward (2016-2025) with a 161-122 record and a 3.91 ERA... and 1-time All-Star Johnny Falcon (2006-2016) with a 159-147 record and a 4.08 ERA.

08-24-2011, 06:20 PM	#2694
Eugene Church Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 35,985	*The Islandian Times* Sunday, October 25, 2025 High Mesa Cowboys History The High Mesa Cowboys started off great in the IPA and won the Pro Cup in its first year of the franchise's existence in 2002. The Cowboys swept the Elnora All-Stars in three games. High Mesa also qualified for the postseason in 2003, but were quickly eliminated in the first round by Tuckanarra, two games to none. Since then the team has only come close one time to qualifying for the Pro Cup playoffs. That was in 2023 when the Tuckanarra Blue Jays edged them out by just a single game. The powerful Blue Jays went on to claim the Pro Cup by whipping Valmara in 6 games. Most of the time the Cowpokes wind up in the first division, but rarely close to the pennant winner. In 24 seasons High Mesa has put up a winning .514 mark in the TU East with a 1898-1798 record. High Mesa has always featured a high-octane offense and lots of longballs because of its band box stadium, Queen Ranch Stadium, which is only 312 and 306 down the lines and 353 in the power alleys... it's enough to say that High Mesa is a hitter's paradise and a pitcher's nightmare... it's also the home of the greatest hitter in IPA history - the remarkable and legendary 1B Jack Elliott (2013-2025)... Elliott is a 12-time All-Star, 11-time Golden Bat winner, 5-time TU MVP, won 7 batting crowns, 5-time Gold Glover, Rookie of the Year and led the league in homers on 8 occasions... Elliott hit 65 homers in 2021 to set the IPA mark... he also holds the highest IPA lifetime BA at .353 and goes into the 2026 season with 676 roundtrippers... retired great 1B Phil Gravelli is the current leader with 726... Elliott is only 32 and still quite a hitter... it's very likely he will set the all-time HR standard... only recently has Elliott had a good supporting cast... he was the whole show for a decade... it's unlikely that the IPA will ever see the likes of Jack Elliott again. In the early year of the franchise, the Cowpokes had some solid ballplayers... Adam Zitek, Ed Granberg, Rolf Kellgren, Jay Fessler and John Owens led the team to the Pro Cup crown in 2002... LF Adam Zitek (2002-2006) was twice an All-Star for High Mesa, won the Golden Bat and Tycobbian MVP in 2005 when he slammed 51 homers and drove in 171 runs, while batting .305... Zitek is 6th with 181 home runs and 568 RBIs for the Cowboys... his best seasons were with the Cowboys... Lifetime he played for 13 years, 5 with High Mesa and 8 with South Fork, batting .272 with 262 roundtrippers and 825 runs batted in... 2B Ed Granberg (2002-2006) is the number two Cowboy career batter with a .322 BA, 98 HRs, 483 RBIs (8th)and 498 runs (8th)... Granberg was a 1-time All-Star and Gold Glover... 4-time All-Star SS Rolf Kellgren (2002-2006) is number three with a .312 BA... Kellgren was the 2002 Pro Cup MVP... he hit .466 with 8 doubles, 1 triple and 4 homers as he led the Cowboys to the IPA title, beating the Elnora All-Stars in a three-game sweep... Kellgren also scored 14 runs and batted in 13 in the postseason... Kellgren had a fine 17-year career from 2002 to 2018, playing for five teams in all... Kellgren totaled 2649 hits, 466 doubles, 136 triples, 155 homers, 998 RBIs, 1625 runs and stole 491 bases... his lifetime average was .285... C-1B Jay Fessler (2002-2006) was fourth with a .311 BA... Fessler made the All-Star squad twice... 2-time All-Star IF Wild Deer Etchimin (2008-2021) was second to Elliott with 341 homers, 1077 runs and 1043 RBIs... overall Etchimin batted .276 in his career with 413 home runs, 1308 RBIs and 1330 runs... Etchimin played 17 years in his career, his first 5 seasons were with the Chicopee Braves... 2-time All-Star OF Darrel Alston 2012-2021) split 20 seasons with Eastshore (2002-2011) at first and the later years with the Cowboys... Alston totaled 568 HRs, 1644 RBIs and scored 1563 times in his career and batted .284 for average... he is number three on the High Mesa homer list with 284, fourth in RBIs with 778 and fifth in scoring with 680 runs. Leading the High Mesa hurlers were 1-time All-Star Kent Wells (2006-2017), who was 193-173 with a 4.05 ERA... 1-time All-Star John Rainer (2005-2024) with a 185-167 mark and a 4.16 ERA... 1-time All-Star Ronald Ward (2016-2025) with a 161-122 record and a 3.91 ERA... and 1-time All-Star Johnny Falcon (2006-2016) with a 159-147 record and a 4.08 ERA. Attached Images Last edited by Eugene Church; 06-21-2020 at 06:36 PM.