The Bayfield Wolverines were young, lacked considerable experience and had a new coach. They lost elite players, but they never lost their winning tradition and find themselves back in the same position as a year ago.
Brackets were released Thursday morning for the Colorado High School Activities Association regional baseball tournaments. Bayfield entered the day ranked No. 13 in Class 3A in the RPI standings, but the Wolverines moved all the way up to No. 7 and won the right to host a regional tournament Saturday.
Bayfield, led by first-year head coach Danny Petrie, finished the regular season 14-5 overall and went 9-1 to claim another 3A Intermountain League championship. It was the school’s eighth consecutive league title in baseball.
The Wolverines enter postseason play on a four-game winning streak by a combined score of 45-11. Andrew Morgan pitched a no-hitter in the final game of the regular season, a 15-0 home win against Sargent last Saturday.
The first game of the 3A Region 6 Tournament will be between Bayfield and Denver Science & Tech-Stapleton (9-6, 7-2. 3A/2A Frontier League). First pitch is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday. That game will be immediately followed by Resurrection Christian (12-5, 7-2 3A Patriot League) against Salida (13-6, 6-3 3A Tri-Peaks West League). The winner of each game will square off in the regional championship Saturday afternoon in Bayfield. Each regional champion will advance to the double-elimination state tournament the following week. There are eight regional tournaments this Saturday.
Tickets to Saturday’s games cost $7 for adults and $5 for students and seniors.
Michael Gettman has paced the Wolverines at the plate this year with a .521 batting average. He has two home runs, four doubles, 12 runs batted in and has scored 21 times. Speedy Max McGhehey boasts a .462 batting average and has 16 runs scored and six runs batted in with four extra-base hits. Senior catcher Austin Bushnell leads the Wolverines with 24 RBIs and five doubles to go with a .373 batting average. Jake Brandon has drove in 23 runs and has six extra-base hits to go with a .413 average at the plate. Base running has been key to BHS success, as the Wolverines have swiped 92 bases, led by Hayden Farmer’s 19 steals, 15 from Brandon and another 13 from McGhehey.
Farmer boasts a 4-1 record on the mound in eight appearances for the Wolverines. The sophomore pitcher has an earned-run average of 1.52 and has struck out 48 batters in 41 1/3 innings. That goes with only 15 walks.
Morgan is 2-1 on the mound this year with a 3.00 ERA. He has struck out 20 batters and walked six in 21 innings of work. Fred Edwards and Gettman also have had success on the mound, and BHS will rely on those arms during the playoff push.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
