As the lone senior on the Coyotes’ varsity roster this past season, LaRocque was many things for Monarch’s Front Range League championship team.

As the third hitter in the lineup, she was the bat all opposing teams feared.

As the team’s shortstop, she was the field general in charge of setting defenses and calling out plays.

But most of all, LaRocque was the Coyotes’ leader — the one player coach Dan Felknor could look to who would put the team first in any situation.

She was a leader almost to a fault.

At the conclusion of Monarch’s 5-0 loss to Fort Collins in the district championship game on Saturday, Oct. 11 — the loss that eliminated the Coyotes from the postseason — LaRocque was a leader one last time.

As players congregated at the mouth of the dugout, absorbing the season-ending defeat, LaRocque offered an apology.

“I’m sorry guys,” she said as she consoled teammates on the verge of tears. “This is my fault.”

Though Felknor gives LaRocque a lot of credit for the outcome of the team’s season, he wouldn’t let her take the blame for Saturday’s loss.

“We wouldn’t have come anywhere near this far without her,” said Felknor of his only senior. “She does so much for this team with her bat, with her glove, but that’s only part of it. When people come to a game, they only see a third of what she does.”

Most high school players would kill to accomplish a third of what LaRocque has achieved this fall.

In the process of powering the Coyotes to their first-ever league championship, she put up her share of individual numbers as well.

Through the regular season, LaRocque finished as Class 5A’s state leader in home runs with six, and RBIs with 25.

She barely missed capturing the 5A triple crown. Only two players in the state posted better batting averages than LaRocque’s .589 mark.

“Erase today, and this was just a wonderful, unbelievable season,” said LaRocque, following her team’s district loss. “This is a great team. It’s a little bit hard to see it right now, but I think we’ll be really proud of this season.”

LaRocque has good reason to be proud of hers.

In the field, she was an equally dangerous weapon.

The fastest player in a Coyotes’ uniform, LaRocque has range to spare and the arm to throw out any would-be baserunner from any spot between second and third base.

Her glove is the place infield singles go to die.

“I’ve had few players in 25 years of coaching who are that complete,” said Felknor. “She makes plays you’re just not supposed to be able to make. But even off the field, she keeps everybody up in the dugout and gets the job done in the classroom.”

So, unfortunately, Felknor’s plans to sabotage LaRocque’s academic record and keep her around for a fifth season cropped up too late.

“The coaches always joke with me that I should flunk a bunch of classes so I have to come back and repeat them next year,” said LaRocque. “ I wish I could stay around here forever. These girls can’t do anything but get better. They’re going to be an awesome team next year.“

But LaRocque can’t stay in Monarch black and gold forever.

Now that the season is over, she’s concentrating on her college search, even though recruiters are sure to come calling in the months to come.

“I definitely want to go to college, and if I can play ball that would be awesome,” she said. “It would be a dream come true. But it’s going to be hard to leave here. This is where I am and this feels like home.”

In her last day on Monarch’s home diamond, LaRocque unveiled one more talent when she combined with sister Lindsay, a junior first baseman, to sing the national anthem before the Coyotes’ tourney opener against Boulder.

Perhaps it was her way of making sure she left on a positive ‘note’ — as if that were ever in question.