#69 Colorado Classic

Colorado connections: Born and raised in Lamar, and graduated from Lamar High School.

Accomplishments: "I have seen the future of Colorado high school baseball, and his name is Scott Elarton." That's what some sportswriter wrote after seeing Elarton lead the Lamar Savages to a state championship at Pueblo's Runyon Field as a mere freshman. That proved to be the case, and Elarton was no one-sport wonder, either. At 6-foot-7, he was an all-state basketball player and the starting quarterback in football. Elarton led coach Jess Downey's baseball team to two more state titles before he was done. Then Elarton was a first-round draft pick right out of high school, going 25th overall to the Houston Astros in 1994. His climb through the minor leagues was rapid, and he made it to the bigs at age 22. Elarton played 10 seasons in the major leagues, not including sitting out 2002 because of injury. His best season came in 2000, when he went 17-7 for the Astros. His journey included one full season and parts of two others with the Colorado Rockies, for whom he went 4-4 as a starting pitcher in 2003, which is a bit better than it sounds, because the Rox won only 74 games that season. Elarton went 11-7 for the Cleveland Indians in 2005, starting a career-high 31 games. He also played two seasons for the Kansas City Royals.

On deck: A hardworking Roughrider.

[Post edited by BuffsIn2020 at 06/28/2020 12:03AM]