BROOMFIELD >> Broomfield catcher Brendan Fritch has been playing the position full-throttle since his days in tee-ball.

Even now when thinking back, he’s unsure if he was actually allowed to run down weak grounders off the tee. He chuckles, then ponders. The fact that he did, of course, would likely surprise no one that knows him.

“When your best player is your hardest-working player, then you have a good team,” Broomfield baseball coach Kale Gilmore said.

This spring, Fritch is hitting .549 with 13 extra-base hits, including four homers, and 21 RBIs for the Eagles, who beat crosstown rival Legacy 5-4 on Tuesday for their eighth straight win.

At the plate, the Davidson commit boasts a slugging percentage that currently sits just outside the top 100 in the nation, at 1.020. In his crouch, he’s worked well with the team’s stout pitching staff and, defensively, he has committed zero errors.

So while he may not be comfortable with any comparisons to the program’s last great catching prospect, Camden Ross, who led the Eagles to their first state title in a decade in 2022, there are similarities.

“Both of those guys are the hardest-working guys,” said Gilmore, who was in his first year when Ross delivered one of the best offensive seasons by a high school catcher in state history, hitting .627 with 11 homers. “And they just happen to be the best hitters as well.”

Broomfield’s win over Legacy gives the Eagles sole lead of the 5A Granite Peaks League with two weeks left in the regular season.

Ranked 5A No. 6, with the classification’s 32-team regional postseason slated May 16-17, they’re currently in position to land one of its eight hosting seeds.“I think we’re playing really well. We’re playing as a group,” Fritch said. “I think we’re doing extremely well, but there’s a lot to build off of. You’re never perfect at the game of baseball, though, so there’s always something you can be doing better.”

And no, Fritch isn’t the only local talent behind the dish this season.

With Fairview having its best season since their run to 5A’s final day in 2021 — currently at 10-8 — catcher Jack Espiritu-Niswonger has been invaluable. The Dartmouth commit’s leadership and strong play over the past four years has been crucial in the growth of the roster, per coach David Castillo. Castillo himself was once a touted high school catching prospect who then went on to mentor Major League Baseball veteran Jose Trevino.

At Longmont, the Trojans’ Collin Pool had been throwing out potential base-stealers at a ridiculous rate through the first month and a half, cutting down 11 of the first 15 who attempted on him. He said he works with Erie assistant Conner Fiene, who won the Rawlings All-American Gold Glove when he played at Wayne State College in 2022. Centaurus and Frederick each tout ones hitting over .400 with double-digit RBIs. The Golden Eagles actually have two — Dom LeFevre (.421 and 19 RBIs) and Bryson Satterly (.419, 11). Centaurus’ Ben Sehnert (.439, 18), meanwhile, went 3 for 3 with two RBIs from the plate as the playoff-hungry Warriors beat Horizon, 10-6, on Tuesday. At Holy Family, as the 4A defending champs begin to cook — winners of four straight — so is catcher Brady Anderson, who is 10 of 23 with 10 RBIs in his past six games.

Even outside of the area, there’s a claim that Colorado’s 2025 baseball season is the Year of the Catcher. The Classical Academy’s Zack Hale’s 13 home runs are six more than anybody else in the state. It’s the fourth-most in the nation.