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Last night, Kent Mincer from The Team 1340 joined us to talk about the race in the Southwestern League.  Right now, Grand Junction is the team to beat with a 3-0 record, but they very easily could have lost to Central.  The Tigers trailed 6-2 for most of that game, and found a way to scrape up a few runs and pull out a win.  That being said, good teams find a way to win.  So let's dive into the teams that I think have the best chance at winning a league title.

WHY KITZMAN IS SO VALUABLE TO CENTRAL:  In my opinion, Central's Alex Kitzman is the best pitcher in the league (at least out of the four local teams).  Not only does he throw hard, but his breaking ball is nasty, and he can go deep into games (it seemed like he threw 140 pitches the other night against Fruita Monument).  Having an ace like Kitzman gives the Warriors a huge advantage in league play because the schedule is so spread out.  He could easily start 7 of their 10 league games.  The three that he would miss would be @Durango, @ Montrose and home for either Durango/Cortez, which are back to back.  As long as he's pitching, and Central can provide defense and a few runs like they did against FMHS, they've got a great shot at contending for a league title.

WHO HAD THE BETTER OFFENSE:  JUNCTION FOOTBALL OR JUNCTION BASEBALL?:  The Tigers were one of the best in the state at scoring on the gridiron this past fall, and now they're doing the same on the diamond.  Junction is averaging 14.4 runs per game in their eight wins.  They don't have a weak spot in their line-up and almost everyone, 1-9, is capable of hitting the ball out of the yard.  On top of that, they have some arms in their rotation.  Steve Baldwin, Chandon Rose, and Garrick Lemley gutted out a win over Central when they didn't have their best stuff.  Junction's toughest tests:  Fruita Monument twice, Central, and a road trip to Durango/Cortez.

CAN THE FMHS COMEBACK KIDS BRING IT TO LEAGUE PLAY?:  Fruita got off to a great start, thanks to some miraculous comebacks.  But lately they've been the team trying to hang on to leads (and barely succeeding).  The Wildcats almost let one slip away against Montrose at Suplizio Field and also allowed Cortez back in the game last week.  FMHS started 3-0 against league teams, but they might also be the bottom three teams.  But I think Fruita's balance will keep them in the thick of it.  They, too, can score plenty of runs, and their never-say-die attitude has to scare teams.  But to keep things interesting, they need to beat Junction.  And no one has done that yet.

But imagine if FMHS beat GJHS next week.  The Wildcats, Tigers and Warriors would all have just one loss each, all to one another.  That would make things VERY interesting.

Let us know who you think is the best in the SWL.  Go to "KKCO 11 Sports" on facebook and answer our poll question, or go to www.nbc11news.com/sports and answer it there.