2020 Roswell Invaders Season Recap - The COVID Pod Season in Houston

There has never been another Roswell Invaders season quite like 2020. There were no games at Joe Bauman Stadium, no traditional road trips through New Mexico, Texas, Colorado or Arizona, and no normal Pecos League schedule. Instead, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Roswell Invaders spent the entire season in Houston, Texas as part of a one-location Pecos League pod at Coastal Baseball Park.

Four teams participated in the unusual season. Roswell played alongside the Tucson Saguaros, Salina Stockade and Houston Apollos. Every game was played at the same complex, teams saw the same opponents repeatedly, and there were no true home games or road games. For the Invaders, it was professional baseball stripped down to its simplest form: show up at Coastal Baseball Park, play baseball and try to survive a season unlike anything the franchise had experienced before.

Roswell finished the shortened regular season 11-18. The Invaders qualified for the postseason but lost to the Salina Stockade in the Wild Card Round. It was a disappointing baseball result, but simply playing the season at all made 2020 one of the most unusual chapters in Pecos League history.

View the complete Roswell Invaders franchise history.

Baseball During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The 2020 season was supposed to look like every other Pecos League summer. Roswell was expected to play at Joe Bauman Stadium, travel throughout the Mountain Division and compete in front of fans throughout the Southwest. COVID-19 changed everything. Restrictions surrounding gatherings, travel, stadium operations and professional sports made a conventional Pecos League season impossible.

The league instead created a controlled one-location format in Houston, and Coastal Baseball Park became the center of the entire Pecos League universe. Roswell temporarily existed as a Houston-based baseball team. Tucson and Salina did the same, while the Houston Apollos were the only club actually playing in their home market.

For Roswell players, the season meant spending the summer away from New Mexico and playing every game at the same facility. The official Roswell franchise history summarizes the year simply: the Invaders played in Houston in a one-location Pecos League.

Read the official Roswell Invaders season history.

Four Teams - One Ballpark

The 2020 Pecos League pod consisted of the Roswell Invaders, Tucson Saguaros, Salina Stockade and Houston Apollos. Instead of the geographic divisions and long bus trips that normally define Pecos League baseball, the teams continually rotated through games against one another at Coastal Baseball Park.

The format created familiarity very quickly. Pitchers saw the same hitters over and over, hitters repeatedly faced the same pitchers, and there was nowhere else to go on the schedule. Every opponent already knew what the other team had. The result was a completely different style of season from anything Roswell had played before.

Roswell Opens the Pod Season

The Invaders began play in early July and picked up their first victory against the Houston Apollos at Coastal Baseball Park. Taichi Nakamura led the way with three hits as Roswell opened the unusual campaign with a victory.

But the Invaders struggled to build momentum. Salina shut out Roswell 6-0 on July 4, Houston defeated the Invaders 6-4 on July 5 and Tucson beat Roswell 9-7 on July 8. Roswell was quickly finding out that the shortened format offered very little time to recover from losing stretches. Every game mattered more because there were far fewer games than in a normal Pecos League season.

A Big Win Over Salina

On July 9, Roswell produced one of its first major offensive performances of the summer with a 14-9 victory over the Salina Stockade. Joe Slocum earned the victory after throwing six innings, Ausar Rankin led the Roswell offense by going 3-for-4 and Tyler Schmidt picked up the save.

It was an important early victory because Salina would become one of the strongest teams in the pod and ultimately the team that ended Roswell's season.

View 2020 Pecos League game stories and results.

Coleton Horner Leads the Roswell Offense

Coleton Horner became Roswell's most productive overall hitter during the abbreviated season. Horner played all 29 regular-season games and hit .340, collecting 35 hits in 103 at-bats. He scored 29 runs and hit 10 doubles and four home runs while driving in 28.

Horner also drew 24 walks and finished with a .469 on-base percentage. His combination of average, power and ability to reach base made him one of the most dependable bats in the Invaders lineup.

View Coleton Horner and the complete 2020 Roswell statistics.

Ian Yetsko Drives in 34

Ian Yetsko provided much of Roswell's power production. Yetsko played all 29 games and hit .320, producing 31 hits, six doubles, one triple and a team-high seven home runs. His 34 RBIs led the Invaders.

Yetsko also scored 26 runs and stole six bases. His .619 slugging percentage was the highest among Roswell's regular everyday players.

View the official 2020 Roswell Invaders hitter statistics.

Taichi Nakamura Gets on Base

Taichi Nakamura became another important piece of the Roswell offense. Nakamura hit .309 in 29 games, collected 30 hits and scored 27 runs, but his biggest contribution came from his ability to reach base.

Nakamura drew 33 walks in only 97 at-bats, helping him post a .477 on-base percentage. He also stole a team-high 14 bases. For a team that needed baserunners in a shortened season, Nakamura repeatedly gave Roswell opportunities to create offense.

Ausar Rankin and Seth Strong Add More Offense

Ausar Rankin appeared in only 19 games but was one of Roswell's most productive hitters when available. Rankin hit .369 with 24 hits in 65 at-bats, scored 16 runs, drove in 11 and drew 21 walks. His .534 on-base percentage led the regular Roswell hitters, and he also stole four bases.

Seth Strong played only 15 games but hit four home runs and drove in 17. Strong scored 15 times and drew 11 walks. Darryl Donerson added two home runs and 12 RBIs in 18 games, while Jacob Lentz hit .316 in 12 games.

Roswell had several capable offensive players. The problem was producing enough consistent offense and pitching to keep pace with Tucson and Salina throughout the pod.

View all 2020 Roswell Invaders hitting and pitching statistics.

Tyler Schmidt Becomes Roswell's Workhorse

Tyler Schmidt provided the largest pitching workload for the Invaders. Schmidt appeared in 14 games and made four starts, throwing 42.1 innings and striking out 46 hitters. He finished 1-1 with a 3.40 ERA and also recorded a save.

In an abbreviated season with constant games against the same opponents, innings were valuable. Schmidt gave Roswell more of them than any other pitcher on the staff.

Stephen Keller Gives Roswell Quality Innings

Stephen Keller was statistically one of Roswell's best pitchers. Keller appeared in six games and made three starts, posting a 2.03 ERA over 17.2 innings. He allowed only 13 hits and four earned runs while striking out 19 and walking only three.

Keller also recorded one save, and his 0.94 WHIP was one of the best marks on the pitching staff.

Matt Cronin Emerges Late

Matt Cronin became particularly important as the season progressed. Cronin appeared in 10 games, made four starts and finished 3-3. He threw 28 innings and struck out 30 hitters, while his 4.82 ERA was solid in the offensive environment of the Pecos League pod.

By the time the postseason arrived, Cronin had become important enough that Roswell selected him to start the winner-take-all Wild Card Game. The Pecos League described Cronin as 3-2 with 24.1 innings leading into the Wild Card matchup and noted that he had previously been the United Shore League Pitcher of the Year.

Read the Pecos League Wild Card preview.

Jonathan Fleckenstein Joins the Invaders

Jonathan Fleckenstein also became an important part of the staff. Fleckenstein went 2-0 with a 4.95 ERA in seven appearances, throwing 20 innings and striking out 18.

On July 31, he helped Roswell survive one of the wildest games of the season. The Invaders defeated Salina 20-17 in a game that produced 37 combined runs and 32 combined hits. Taichi Nakamura went 3-for-4 for Roswell. It was Pecos League baseball in its most extreme form.

Read the Pecos League recap of Roswell's 20-17 win over Salina.

A Difficult Middle of the Season

Roswell spent much of the summer below .500. The Invaders fell to 4-11 after a July 22 loss to Houston, and by the end of July they were only 5-13.

With such a short schedule, that put Roswell in a difficult position. There wasn't enough time for a conventional two-month turnaround. The Invaders needed to start winning immediately, and they did begin to improve.

Roswell Finds Some Momentum in August

On August 4, Roswell defeated Houston 11-3. Matt Cronin struck out six over five innings while allowing only one earned run, and Darryl Donerson led the offense with two hits.

Three days later, Roswell beat Salina 10-5. Donerson had one of his biggest games of the season, going 3-for-5 with two home runs. On August 12, Roswell defeated Salina again, 8-4. Tyler Schmidt earned the victory after throwing five innings while Ian Yetsko went 2-for-3.

Roswell was beginning to show that it could compete with the Stockade. That mattered because the two teams were moving toward a likely postseason matchup.

Coleton Horner Delivers Against Salina

On August 16, the Invaders beat Salina 6-5. Matt Cronin earned the victory, while Coleton Horner went 2-for-3 and led the Roswell offense. The win moved Roswell to 10-17.

Read the official Pecos League recap of Roswell's 6-5 victory.

A few days later, Horner delivered an even bigger performance. On August 20, Roswell defeated Salina 14-4. Horner went 4-for-6 and hit a home run, while Alexander Merithew earned the victory after throwing five innings.

The win moved Roswell to 11-18 and gave the Invaders confidence entering the postseason. They were about to face Salina again.

2020 Roswell Invaders - Regular Season Leaders

Record: 11-18

Coleton Horner: .340 AVG, 35 H, 10 2B, 4 HR, 28 RBI, .469 OBP
Ian Yetsko: .320 AVG, 31 H, 7 HR, 34 RBI, .619 SLG
Taichi Nakamura: .309 AVG, 27 R, 33 BB, 14 SB, .477 OBP
Ausar Rankin: .369 AVG, .534 OBP
Seth Strong: 4 HR, 17 RBI in 15 games

Tyler Schmidt: 1-1, 3.40 ERA, 42.1 IP, 46 SO
Stephen Keller: 2.03 ERA, 19 SO, 3 BB in 17.2 IP
Matt Cronin: 3-3, 4.82 ERA, 30 SO in 28 IP
Jonathan Fleckenstein: 2-0, 4.95 ERA
Joe Slocum: 1-1, 3.50 ERA in 18 IP

View complete 2020 Roswell Invaders statistics.

The Wild Card Round

The unusual season produced an unusual playoff format. Roswell and Salina would meet in a winner-take-all Wild Card Game. There was no best-of-three series and no opportunity to recover from one bad game.

Win and advance. Lose and the season was over.

The winner would move on to play the Tucson Saguaros. Roswell handed the ball to Matt Cronin, while Salina countered with Mark Simon. The matchup was described by the Pecos League as a Wild Card Game featuring some of the best pitching available in the league that summer.

Read the official Pecos League Wild Card preview.

Salina Ends Roswell's Season

The Invaders had beaten Salina several times during the regular season. Roswell had defeated the Stockade 14-9, 20-17, 10-5, 8-4 and 6-5. Immediately before the postseason, the Invaders had beaten them 14-4.

But none of those victories mattered once the Wild Card Game began. The postseason was one game. Salina won, and the Roswell Invaders were eliminated.

Their strange Houston summer was over.

The official Roswell franchise history records the result simply: the Invaders played in the one-location Houston Pecos League and lost in the Wild Card Round to the Salina Stockade.

View the official Roswell Invaders franchise history.

A Season Without Roswell

That is ultimately what makes 2020 so different from every other season in Invaders history. The Roswell Invaders played an entire season without playing in Roswell.

There was no Joe Bauman Stadium home opener, no long summer homestands and no traditional Mountain Division road trips. The players didn't spend the summer moving from Pecos to Alpine to Santa Fe to Trinidad. They stayed in Houston.

Every opponent stayed in Houston. Every game revolved around Coastal Baseball Park. It was essentially a professional baseball pod created because normal league operations were impossible during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A Bridge Between Two Eras

The season also became an interesting bridge in Roswell franchise history. Several names from the 2020 pod would become important around the Pecos League in future seasons.

Jonathan Fleckenstein would later become an important member of Roswell's postseason teams and eventually win the 2022 Pecos League Championship with the Invaders. Troy Whitty would return to Roswell in 2021.

The Salina Stockade roster also included Lance Myers. Myers wasn't managing Roswell yet. He was playing against them.

In Houston, Myers showed interest in moving into management. One year later, he would become player-manager of the Roswell Invaders, a decision that would completely change the direction of the franchise.

Under Myers, Roswell would reach the Pecos League Championship Series in 2021 and win the entire league championship in 2022. In that sense, the bizarre 2020 Houston season helped plant the seeds for the Invaders' next championship era.

The COVID Pod Season

The 2020 Roswell Invaders finished 11-18, but the team had plenty of individual talent. Coleton Horner hit .340. Ian Yetsko hit seven home runs and drove in 34. Taichi Nakamura reached base at a .477 clip and stole 14 bases. Tyler Schmidt struck out 46 hitters in 42.1 innings, Stephen Keller posted a 2.03 ERA and Matt Cronin emerged as one of the club's better pitchers late in the season.

But Roswell never developed enough consistency to become one of the top teams in the pod. The Invaders reached the Wild Card Round and lost to Salina.

Under normal circumstances, an 11-18 season ending in the first round of the playoffs would simply be remembered as a disappointing year. There was nothing normal about 2020.

The remarkable part wasn't where Roswell finished. It was where Roswell played.

Houston, Texas.

Every game. Every opponent. One location. One shortened summer. One Pecos League COVID pod.

For the first and only time in franchise history, the Roswell Invaders played an entire season without ever playing professional baseball in Roswell.

And when that strange summer finally ended with a Wild Card loss to Salina, nobody could have known that one of the Stockade players sharing the same Houston pod - Lance Myers - would become Roswell's manager the following season and lead the Invaders into one of the most successful stretches in franchise history.