Golden High School’s baseball team is starting the Spring 2026 season following its Class 4A state championship victory in 2025. The Demons, who won their first baseball state title in over two decades last year, are now focused on the current season rather than repeating their previous success, according to statements made on March 19.
The team’s approach this year centers on steady improvement and teamwork. Junior Dylan Paulson said, “People may think we have a lot of pressure to go back-to-back, but that really isn’t what we are focused on. We are really focused on game-to-game and how we can get better to be playing our best baseball at the end of the season.”
Coach Jackie McBroom echoed this sentiment, saying he has been asked many times about the possibility of winning consecutive titles but emphasized that the team is concentrating on each game as it comes. “I’ve got that question a hundred million times. Repeat? Repeat? Repeat? Honestly, we don’t even think about that,” McBroom said. “We are focused on game-to-game. Game-to-game. We lost the other day to Eaton and then we focus on (Summit) today because we knew they have a good pitcher.”
The Demons started strong with a 9-1 win over Summit, where Paulson pitched five shutout innings and struck out 13 batters in his first start as a pitcher for Golden. Paulson noted his transition from centerfield to pitching: “It is definitely a change, but I kind of like it… You have more control over the outcome.” With much of last year’s pitching staff graduated—including Sawyer Brinkman, Taden Svendsen, and Austin Maleki—the team is relying on new talent such as Paulson and sophomore Austin Bittner.
Coach McBroom acknowledged these changes: “We lost our one, two and three for the most part on the bump. That is hard… We aren’t going to have a Sawyer Brinkman.” Despite these losses, he remains optimistic about his pitchers’ abilities: “Even thou he (Paulson) struck out 13 guys… there are going to be more balls in play and we are going to have to play good defense behind him. It’s going to look a little bit different, but I think they’ll be able to get the job done.”
Senior Brody McBroom will likely continue as closer for Golden and contributed offensively by going 3-for-4 against Summit. He said, “I think we definitely have the tools to go back and win it again… We definitely aren’t at our best yet.” The Demons will travel to Alabama during spring break for three games including an opener against Hoover Buccaneers.
Looking ahead, Brody McBroom added: “I think we have good chemistry already as a team… Everyone wants to play for each other and win together.”
