BAYFIELD, CO, September 24, 2026 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Anthony Hotter has been recognized for achievement in construction.

Early Roots: Baseball, Work, and Design

Anthony Hotter was born on October 5, 1984, in Mesa, Arizona. From his earliest years, he was energetic, athletic, intense, and focused. His parents remember a child who was wild in the best sense of the word: always moving, always competing, and completely consumed by baseball.

He remembers sitting with his mother in the bleachers at a youth baseball game when he was very young and becoming fascinated by what was happening on the field. His parents encouraged that interest. They bought him a tethered T-ball set, which he used for hours in the backyard, and he practiced with it repeatedly on his own. Later, while spending time in Arizona with family, he would throw a tennis ball against a wall over and over, teaching himself how to field ground balls through repetition. Baseball was not simply an activity. It was life - every day, every hour, every minute.

At ten years old, Anthony was one of five players selected to join the league championship team as it advanced to the state level. Coaches had already recognized that he could throw much harder than most players his age, and he was moved into pitching. He fell in love not only with velocity but with the art of making the baseball move, dance, and do things hitters did not expect.

Anthony played on multiple All-Star teams representing Durango and the Four Corners region, traveling for tournaments throughout Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and California. At thirteen, he set what was then a Babe Ruth tournament record for the most strikeouts in a single game and the most strikeouts in an entire tournament. During that tournament, he also met Babe Ruth's granddaughter. He earned multiple baseball MVP awards and, at fourteen, was named Offensive Most Valuable Player at the Triple Crown World Series. In middle school, he also received a football award for Most Inspirational Player.

His parents also saw early signs of the instincts that would later define his career. With his mother, Michele Hotter, Anthony drew and redesigned houses, changed floor plans, and rearranged rooms on paper. He enjoyed thinking about how spaces could look and work. At home, he reorganized furniture and garages, helped with projects, built football goalposts with friends, and even built his own pitcher's mound. His father, Carl Hotter, a mechanic, urged him to find his own direction rather than follow him into automotive work. In high school, Anthony chose woodworking and construction classes, discovering how much he enjoyed tools, materials, and building things by hand. Around eighteen, he helped lay flooring at the family's Florida Acres home.

At the same time, Anthony bought home-design software and spent late nights using it for fun. While other teenagers were absorbed in more conventional video games or partying, he would stay up until two or three in the morning designing homes and exploring new layouts. Long before construction became his profession, he was already drawn to imagining how a place could feel, function, and come together.

Soon after high school, Anthony spent more than a month traveling through Europe by RV, visiting fourteen countries. The experience opened his eyes to the world and to the distinct architectural styles, materials, and design traditions of different places. It deepened his interest in architecture and helped motivate the educational path he would later pursue.

Baseball Mentors and a Defining Loss

One of Anthony's youth teammates was Rocky Craig, grandson of Major League manager and pitching coach Roger Craig Sr. Rocky's father, also named Roger Craig, coached Anthony's team and recruited Anthony's father, Carl Hotter, to help coach so Anthony could join the team. Through that connection, Roger Craig Sr. was often around practices and games. He worked directly with Anthony on his mechanics and taught him how to throw a split-finger fastball and a circle changeup.

During his senior year, Anthony spent evenings at the fairgrounds pitching from a mound with Hall of Fame pitcher Steve Carlton. Carlton taught him how to throw a cut fastball and told Anthony that he had something special in that pitch. He believed Anthony's mechanics and talent as a pitcher could draw interest from scouts he knew with the St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers. By his later high-school and college years, Anthony was throwing a fastball in the mid-90s.

After high school, Anthony attended the University of Northern Colorado, hoping to continue pursuing baseball. He missed the tryout window, and after one semester returned to Durango and enrolled at Fort Lewis College, where he played on the college's club baseball team. Still uncertain of his direction, he spent approximately seven months in Los Angeles, where he explored whether baseball might open another door while working for Sallie Mae, consolidating student loans. The difficulty of establishing a stable life there brought him back to Colorado and back to Fort Lewis.

During his second period at Fort Lewis, Anthony again played club baseball. A scout from the Kansas City Royals approached and spoke with him. Although they never crossed paths again, the moment reinforced that the dream he had carried since childhood was not entirely out of reach. Soon afterward, a throwing-arm injury changed that trajectory. As it became clear that baseball would no longer provide the future he had envisioned, Anthony made the difficult decision to leave Fort Lewis and step away from the sport that had shaped so much of his identity.

A New Direction: Fort Collins, Denver, Seattle, and Chicago

Anthony moved to Fort Collins, Colorado, where he lived with his brother, Mitchel Hotter. In the summer, he worked for Fort Collins Landscaping, a landscape-construction company where he gained experience in more substantial site work, including retaining walls. In the winter, he worked at a sawmill producing custom crown molding and other millwork. Even while searching for a new direction, he remained surrounded by landscaping, lumber, craftsmanship, and the process of turning raw materials into something purposeful.

During that year, Anthony met his future wife, who lived in the same apartment complex. When an opportunity opened with Coors, he encouraged her to apply. She was hired, and the couple moved to Arvada, Colorado.

While living in Arvada, Anthony commuted to Boulder to work for Berg Hill Greenleaf & Ruscitti, a Boulder law firm specializing in construction-related matters. The firm gave him the flexibility to attend evening and weekend classes at Front Range Community College, where he studied construction management, engineering, architectural design, drafting, and related prerequisites. As he continued those studies, the attorneys recognized his interest in architecture and discussed helping him pursue the architectural program at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Before completing his degree, a MillerCoors joint-venture opportunity moved Anthony and his future wife to Seattle. There, he continued his Front Range coursework online and ultimately earned his Associate of General Studies degree from Front Range Community College. After approximately a year and a half in the Denver area, the couple had become engaged and married in California, then returned to Colorado and bought their first home together in Littleton before the Seattle move.

During their time in Seattle, his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. Still in his late twenties and trying to define his own professional identity after the loss of baseball, Anthony was simultaneously completing his education, supporting his wife, and confronting the possibility of losing her. Later, a corporate MillerCoors position took the couple to Chicago, where Anthony worked in an architectural firm in downtown Chicago and gained firsthand exposure to the professional design industry. He also gained brief commercial construction-management experience with Pepper Construction and worked temporary administrative roles while navigating a difficult personal period.

His wife ultimately overcame cancer, but after approximately seven years of marriage and nearly a decade together, they separated. The accumulated pressure of illness, divorce, uncertainty about his future, and an unhealthy relationship with alcohol took a profound toll. During a trip to California for his cousin's daughter's high-school graduation, Anthony's family recognized how deeply he was struggling. They told him he would not be returning to Chicago alone - he was coming home to Colorado.

Coming Home and Learning to Build Again

Anthony initially returned to Colorado with his family, leaving much of his life in Chicago behind. About eight months later, they traveled back with him, collected what remained, and helped bring it home. For the first several months after returning, Anthony was exhausted and recovering emotionally and physically. He did not have a car, was trying to get steady again, and applied for maintenance work, including positions that moved slowly or did not call back.

His parents, Michele and Carl Hotter, gave him a place to live while also asking him to contribute and earn his keep. About three to four months after returning, the family began taking on practical projects around the property. Using a skid steer, Anthony drew on his landscape-construction experience to reshape the backyard and improve the yard. He built a fence around the house, constructed a shed, helped create a sunroom and small dining-room addition, and later built a deck.

The work became more than a way to stay busy. It gave Anthony tangible progress, time outside, physical strength, and the confidence that comes from seeing a difficult project through. His parents watched him begin cautiously and then steadily rebuild himself through work. The more he completed, and the more he completed correctly, the more confident he became that he could build something meaningful and make a living doing it.

The Beginning of Homerun

In January 2020, after roughly a year of rebuilding and finishing the projects at his parents' home, Anthony saw an inexpensive trailer advertised for sale. He bought it for $500, drew on his 401(k) to purchase a blue Dodge Ram, acquired a basic set of Ryobi tools, and went to the city for a business license that cost about $50. There was no polished business plan. His initial idea was to market himself as a handyman, take smaller jobs, and create an opportunity because conventional employment was not materializing.

Anthony launched Homerun just as the COVID-19 pandemic began disrupting small businesses and everyday life. With limited resources and no established customer base, he continued building the company through the uncertainty - earning work project by project and turning a difficult moment for new businesses into the foundation of a lasting design-first company.

The original name was Homerun Construction, Design & Landscaping. "Homerun" intentionally combined the two words into one distinctive name - different from the generic "Home Run" spelling used by other construction businesses - while preserving the personal connection to baseball. The original blue-and-orange brand was also a nod to Anthony's lifelong Denver Broncos fandom.

Early lead generation came through Facebook, Facebook Marketplace, and paid lead services. Anthony had included landscaping in the original name because of his background in landscape construction and retaining walls, not routine lawn and garden work. But the wording brought frequent calls for mowing and weed pulling, which was not the work he intended to do. After approximately a year, he removed "Landscaping" and focused the company as Homerun Construction & Design.

The early work was a learning process. One of Anthony's first deck leads did not come together, and the uncertainty around estimating and pricing made him question whether he was ready. His mother encouraged him to keep trying. The next opportunity was the Enchanted Forest project: a massive covered deck with an attic above. Anthony initially priced it without yet understanding the true scale of the work, but the homeowner trusted him, supplied materials through Alpine Lumber, and allowed the project to move forward. It was the same custom outdoor-living project that would ultimately include lighting, an outdoor kitchen, and a hot tub. The experience gave Anthony his first major construction opportunity, allowed him to acquire the tools the work required, and forced him to learn how to coordinate subcontractors, communicate with a client, and take responsibility for every part of a project.

A local interior designer and former high-school connection saw Anthony's work and brought him into a Riverview renovation project. Working from inspiration photos rather than formal blueprints, Anthony helped turn the design ideas into a real space. While that project paused for materials, Anthony also rebuilt a Trex deck for the designer. Those early jobs kept the company moving and helped Anthony recognize that decks and outdoor living were becoming a natural fit for both his design instincts and his developing construction skill.

From Contractor to Design-First Builder

Design was never an afterthought for Anthony. The home-design software he had explored for fun since high school became a working tool on the Enchanted Forest project, his first large custom outdoor-living project. He listened carefully to the client, took detailed notes, and developed the design for the covered deck, attic, lighting, outdoor kitchen, and hot tub as one coordinated vision. Showing the homeowner a concept built around their own goals was what sold the project.

That experience established the way Homerun would work: first understand the homeowner's vision, how they use their property, and what they want the space to become; then design the project around those needs; and finally build it with care and accountability. Anthony continued taking a range of work, including cabin remodels and other construction projects, while exploring whether his long-term niche would be remodeling, custom-home design, or general contracting.

Over time, the market answered the question. More and more of the work coming to Homerun involved decks and outdoor living spaces. In 2024 and early 2025, the company moved from its earlier house-style logo and blue-and-orange colors to the current black-and-gold shield identity. The brand change reflected a deliberate move toward premium outdoor living, refined details, and architecturally informed design-build work.

In 2026, the direction became even clearer. Anthony became a TrexPro builder, a designation granted to a select number of builders in specific markets, earning one of those positions serving Southwest Colorado. Homerun was featured in Deck Specialist's Trex-sponsored January/February 2026 digital edition. The Project Profile, "Winter Watch," highlighted a Pagosa Springs deck built through challenging winter conditions. That year, BusinessRate also recognized Homerun Construction & Design LLC as a 2026 Top 3 Construction Company in La Plata County, Colorado. The recognition confirmed what the work had already been showing him: decks and outdoor living were not merely one service among many. They were his specialty.

The Homerun Standard

Today, Homerun Construction & Design LLC is a design-first residential construction company focused on custom decks, covered structures, pergolas, multi-level outdoor spaces, and complete outdoor-living environments throughout Southwest Colorado. The company is grounded in consistency, communication, and respect for the homeowner's vision.

For Anthony, the homeowner is not a number on a schedule. It is their home, their investment, and the space they will live with long after construction is complete. Homerun listens carefully from the first consultation through design, material selection, construction, and final completion. The company balances a client's vision with budget, structural requirements, code, and the practical realities needed to build the project well.

Homerun does not approach a deck or outdoor space as an attachment added onto a house. Each project is designed to flow with the home's architecture, the property, and its surroundings so it feels intentional - as though it has always belonged there. Layout, angles, symmetry, colors, hardware, materials, and craftsmanship are considered together to create one cohesive environment rather than a disconnected side piece.

Anthony takes the greatest pride in seeing a project move from a sketch on paper, to a computer rendering, to a completed space in real life. Every element has a purpose, from the largest structural decision to the smallest screw or piece of hardware. The true measure of success, however, is the client's reaction: knowing their vision has been brought to life, feeling confident in the investment they made, and having peace of mind rather than chaos throughout the process. Homerun does not simply design outdoor living spaces; it designs memories - durable places for family and friends that are built to be enjoyed for a lifetime.

Looking Forward

Anthony's vision for Homerun is not simply to grow a larger construction company. He wants to build a company people trust: one recognized for character, integrity, truthfulness, and delivering what it promises without excuses or unnecessary salesmanship. He wants clients to feel confident from the first conversation through the finished project, and proud to recommend Homerun when someone asks who created their space.

As the company grows, Anthony intends to bring in people who share that same passion for the trade, respect for clients, and commitment to doing things the right way. The future of Homerun is grounded in continuous improvement - learning, adapting to new materials and techniques, strengthening systems, and raising the standard with every project.

The story of Homerun is ultimately the story of how Anthony rebuilt his life. Baseball taught him discipline, preparation, precision, and competitive drive. Design gave him a way to imagine what could be possible. Construction gave him a way to create, recover, and build a future with his own hands. Homerun Construction & Design LLC is where those parts of his life came together: a company built to create lasting spaces, earn trust, and leave every client with something they are proud to call their own.

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