It was a rough weekend for area high school baseball teams, as Montezuma-Cortez, Dolores and Dove Creek were all swept in double-headers.
Montezuma-CortezThe M-CHS Panthers (3-10, 1-4 5A/4A Southwestern League) traveled to Grand Junction over the weekend to take on the Grand Junction Tigers (8-5, 3-1 5A/4A Southwestern League) at Canyon View Park, where they were shut out in consecutive games.
The Panthers hung around and stretched both of Saturday’s games the full seven innings. However, the Tigers were able to pile on late runs to pull away to win game one, 8-0 and game two, 9-0.
In the opener, the Panthers trailed just 4-0 after five innings before the Tigers plated four runs in the bottom of the sixth to finish with an 8-0 victory.
And then, in the second game, Grand Junction led just 2-0 before another big sixth-inning rally pushed them on to the 9-0 win.
The biggest problem for M-CHS was getting any kind of offense clicking. The Panthers finished with just three hits the first game (Cutter Mathews: 2, Coby Baer: 1) and two hits in the second (Baer: 1, Andrew Laymon: 1)
The Panthers next host Fruita Monument (7-4, 2-1 5A/4A Southwestern League) in back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday.
DoloresThe Dolores Bears (0-11, 0-3 2A District 2 League) also dropped two games on Saturday, in action against San Juan Basin League foe, Nucla (5-8, 1-1 1A District 1 League).
The Mustangs took control early in the opener by jumping out to a 5-0 lead after just two innings. The home team then added three more in the third and two in the fourth to win by run-rule, 10-0, after five.
The Bears were able to force seven innings of play in the second contest – and even scored three runs – but Nucla still came out on top, 7-3.
Trailing 4-0 to start the fourth, the Bears plated two runs to cut the lead in half. But the Mustangs tacked on another three runs in the bottom half of the inning and went on to win 7-3.
The Bears next host the San Juan Broncos (11-4, 3-2 2A East League) in a non-league game on Saturday.
Dove CreekThe Dove Creek Bulldogs (4-10, 1-3 1A District 1 League) were also swept in their double-header over the weekend, but they at least went down swinging.
Saturday’s opener against the Ignacio Bobcats (8-3, 5-0 2A District 2 League) was a back-and-forth affair, with the Bobcats leading 8-7 after four innings.
The visitors would add another run in the sixth to lead 9-7, and although the Bulldogs would score again in the final inning, they stranded Scott Gatlin on third as they fell, 9-8.
The Bulldogs still had highlights in the loss, as Colin Hobbs and Spencer Gatlin each homered in the contest and Jordan Ernst pitched 5 2/3 innings, striking out 11 batters and allowing just three hits.
Hobbs came up big for the Bulldogs again in the second game of the double-header.
Although Ignacio would win the final game by a more comfortable margin, 12-6, Hobbs homered twice more to finish with three dingers on the day. Senior Beau Hemphill also found success at the plate in game two, finishing 3-for-4 with a run scored.
The Bulldogs continue league play on Tuesday in an away game against Nucla (5-8, 1-1 1A District 1 League).