Brendan Fritch’s numbers on the baseball diamond certainly turned some heads this season, but what Broomfield head coach Kale Gilmore lauds most about his star catcher isn’t what he was able to do on the field.

At the beginning of the spring, Gilmore called Fritch and Maverick Scarpella into the press box to tell them that he expected them to take a freshman, Jake Orvis, under their wing. It had been a while since a newcomer made varsity.

That’s when Fritch realized his coach laid the leadership mantle on his and Scarpella’s shoulders. He took it upon himself to drive Orvis to and from practice every day and ensure that he always felt welcome among a roster of 13 seniors.

“Every day I was talking to him, especially early on when you know he’s the new kid,” Fritch explained. “All of us have been playing together since we were 5, 6 years old. All of us know each other, and he’s the new kid. I was just making him feel at home, making him feel like we’re all family. He’s over there, probably super nervous. If he makes a mistake, I’m always bringing him up … because that’s really our culture.”

The numbers, of course, were impressive. Fritch led the team by batting .545, raking in 32 RBIs, 48 hits, 33 runs and five home runs, all while stealing 13 bases. He ended his final campaign with a .932 slugging percentage and a 1.545 OPS.

Through all of it, the Daily Camera player of the year was a quiet leader on a team that boasted talent for days. He helped propel the Eagles to the final weekend of the Class 5A state tournament, where they lost to eventual state runner-up Regis Jesuit.

Gilmore said he was “one of the best to ever do it” at Broomfield.

“Everything he does is just a little bit different,” Gilmore said. “His batting practice, the ball sounds different coming off his bat. His consistency, day in and day out. Even in the offseason, he works harder than anyone else. We haven’t had a guy hit like this since (former BoCoPreps player of the year) Camden Ross a few years ago.

“You wouldn’t know he was one of the best players in the state by the way he acts,” Gilmore said. “He’s always the one out doing all the work for the field, all the work setting up. He doesn’t tell everybody else what to do. He just kind of leads by example, not only on the field, but all the other things around the field too. Great student, kind of just all the way around a polite kid. He plays the game the right way. He’s a great player and just maybe even a better person.”

For Fritch, the pivotal moment in his high school career came not through all the successes he saw over the past couple of seasons, but through time spent on the bench with injury as a sophomore.

He said, more than anything, he missed practicing with his Broomfield brothers, and his eventual return emboldened him to hit the gym, the cages and the field harder so that he could improve in every way imaginable.

“With all the work, I saw (my average) really shoot up,” Fritch said. “My numbers at the plate, I knew I always had it in me. I saw a pivotal role in our lineup junior year and realized how much the game changes and how much faster it goes when you’re on varsity. Trying to get up to that level was kind of a challenge, but I got there, and then once you’re there, it kind of slows down again because you’re used to it.”

Fritch made sure to bring some teammates along with him through every additional workout, and the Eagles only benefited from his commitment when it came down to crunch time. Now, he’ll take that work ethic with him when he heads to the Division I program at Davidson next month, but it won’t be the biggest lesson he’ll take from his time in blue.

“Everyone plays better when they’re having fun,” he concluded. “When I go to Davidson, I really want to take my hard work, all that, but also take the fun part of it. It’s a kid’s game, you know. I’ll just enjoy the fact that I’m out there with my buddies playing a game. It’s restarting, basically, all over again, just like (when) I was freshman back at Broomfield. New opportunity, get to prove myself again. And obviously competition — I’m really excited about that.”