THORNTON - The Horizon and Prairie View high school baseball teams are off to a strong start to the 2023 baseball season.

The two squads faced off on the diamond Thursday with the Thunderhawks coming out on top 12-6 to pick up their third consecutive win and fourth victory in the Front Range League.

It’s a challenging road ahead for both the teams playing in the revamped Front Range League. It will be Prairie View’s first year in the league after playing in the East Metro Conference. Horizon was fifth in the FRL last season.

The Front Range League features some of the top teams in Class 5A, including the defending Class 5A state champion Broomfield and also Legacy - the runner up last year. The top-ranked Rocky Mountain Lobos are also another headliner from the league.

“It’s a tough league, we have our work cut out for us,” said Prairie View coach Mark Gonzalez. “There are a lot of good teams and quality programs.”

The Thunderhawks rolled through their non-league schedule, winning five of six games and their lone loss coming in a tight 4-3 defeat against North Penn (Pa.).

The two losses in conference for the Prairie View were to Loveland (6-4 loss) and Rocky Mountain (9-7). Against Rocky, the Lobos scored three runs in the sixth to steal the victory.

The strong showing has Prairie View right on the verge of being ranked in Class 5A.

“We are right there; have a really good group that really like to compete,” Gonzalez said. “We play our game we have a chance down the stretch.”

Junior Wyatt Waterhouse is leading the way with 15 hits, 18 runs and is batting .417 at the plate.

Senior Trevor Devincenzi and sophomore Jerry Stone have also done well at the plate, each connecting on 12 hits.

Against Horizon, Prairie View took advantage of the Hawks mistakes down the stretch to get the wins Getting four runs across in the both the sixth and seventh innings.

Six different players had hits for Prairie View and Favi Gaeta and Travis Teague led the way with two RBIs each and Anthony Rivera scored three runs.

Senior Hunter Blea earned the win on the mound after pitching seven innings and allowing one run and striking out five batters.

“I’m proud of the guys. They really have played well, and we just have to keep competing,” the coach said.

The Hawks, like Prairie View, are on brink of being ranked. Horizon (7-6 overall, 3-3 FRL) are led by a strong senior class.

Nick Lay has been one of the top hitters in the state, he is tied for third in Class 5A with five home runs and leads the Hawks with 22 RBIs, 18 hits and 20 runs.

Jeremaya Martinez chipped in 14 hits and 15 runs, while senior Davis Wilkins chipped in 15 hits and 14 RBIs for the Hawks, he also picked up the win Friday against Arvada West after striking out seven batters.

Both teams are in for a full docket of games this week.

Prairie View hosts Broomfield Monday, travels to Brighton Tuesday, Erie Thursday and then hosts Fort Collins. While Horizon is at Loveland Monday, host Poudre Tuesday, at Rocky Mountain Thursday and then host Mountain Range on Saturday.