A Poudre High School pitcher and quarterback with potential for a brilliant sports career was in the peak of health when he was killed by a rare strain of plague the day after he turned 16.

Taylor Thomas Gaes died June 8 of septicemic plague, a fast-moving form of the bacterial infection, according Larimer County Health Department spokeswoman Katie O’Donnell.

“We often talk about Taylor’s potential as an athlete, but he was much more than that. He was a good friend to all of our players. He was a special young man,” Poudre varsity baseball coach Russell Haigh said.

Although only a sophomore, Taylor’s talent and 6-foot-4, 210-pound-frame made him an excellent college baseball prospect. He became the varsity team’s No. 2 pitcher and starting first baseman at age 15, Haigh said.

He was also an excellent hitter, Haigh said, with potential for a “brilliant sports career.”

“For me, he could be a little quiet. Sometimes, you wonder if you are getting through to him. He would take what you would tell him and work and work and work on it,” Haigh said. “He was an outstanding young person.”

Many high school friends wrote online tributes to Taylor.

“I was Taylor’s first best friend and also the one who started calling him TayTay not knowing it would stick,” Sidney Hilsabeck wrote. “It still seems unreal that my TayTay is gone, but I know he is always with us. I love you TayTay!”

One week before his death, Taylor was in superb health, Haigh said. He showed flu-like symptoms on a Thursday and died four days later, O’Donnell said.

Only seven people contract plague in the U.S. each year, and the last time it was confirmed in Larimer County was in 1999. Septicemic plague, the most life-threatening form of the infection, “goes straight into the blood,” O’Donnell said.

Taylor likely came into contact with the plague through a flea bite or after having contact with a dead animal on the family’s property in the rural Cherokee Park area northwest of Fort Collins, O’Donnell said.

Taylor’s family wanted the boy’s name released so that the many people who attended a memorial service for him on their property would be cautious in the event they experience flu-like symptoms, such as fever, O’Donnell said Saturday.

Many people visited the family’s home after Taylor’s death — before the cause of death was identified — officials said the family is reaching out to those who visited their home or attended the scattering of his ashes on their ranch.

“They had this big ceremony that a few hundred people attended,” O’Donnell said. “They would hate to see people get sick from it. There’s a very slim chance that anyone would.”

Still, there is a small chance that others might have been bitten by infected fleas, so anyone who was on the family’sland in the past seven days should seek medical attention immediately if a fever occurs, she said. The last exposure to others was likely June 14.

Those who attended services in Fort Collins on June 10 or June 13 are not at risk, nor is there any risk related to past contact with the boy, his family

or friends, health department officials said.

Larimer County has logged only three cases of plague in the past 30 years, O’Donnell said. The health department is coordinating the investigation, working with the experts from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the State Health Department, and the Larimer County coroner’s office.

Taylor’s death hit his teammates hard, Haigh said. They wear patches on their uniforms in his memory. “They are doing well. That’s not to say they do not have pain. Young men are amazingly resilient,” Haigh said. “I think it helps that they continue to play baseball. I think that’s what Taylor would want them to do.”

Gaes’ family have asked people to donate to the Taylor Gaes Memorial Baseball Fund to pay youth baseball league entrance fees for kids. As of Saturday afternoon, more than $2,000 of their $20,000 goal had been raised.

“Taylor Gaes loved the game of baseball. It was a passion that lived in every part of his life and person,” a statement on fund’s crowdfunding site says.

“The belief that any kid should have the opportunity to play the game of baseball was a passion of his,” the statement says. “He never understood why money should play a factor in a young person’s ability to experience the joys of the game.”

Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206, denverpost.com/coldcases or twitter.com/kirkmitchell