No need for a can-you-top-this type of moment; Bayfield baseball simply took care of business Monday afternoon at 4A Montezuma-Cortez, 15 to 4.
This was four days after senior Taed Heydinger struck out an impressive 15, walked none and surrendered just one hit in a 7-0 shutout of 3A Olathe, and two after senior Noah Loutherback nailed down a 13-1 mercy-rule rout of 5A Farmington Piedra Vista's JV with a clinching home run,
"I think it's coming around," Heydinger had said after blanking OHS, two days after BHS' bizarre 13-12 loss at 5A Aztec. "We're back in our groove now and hopefully we can keep this going! I mean, it's good we only used one pitcher today; we've got Zane still and a couple other pitchers-Kelton and Brody, I think they'll be good to throw Saturday and Monday when we go to Cortez-so we'll be fine I think!"
More like 'I know,' as things turned out.
Granting the Panthers a glimmer of hope, the second-ranked (CHSAANow.com Class 3A poll, 4/11) Wolverines tied the game at 3-3 with a run in the top of the second inning before blowing it open with six in the third and chasing M-CHS senior starter Andrew Laymon (L; 2.2 IP, 6 H, 9 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 2 K) off the bump.
Senior Zane Phelps, meanwhile, started on the mound for head coach Jon Qualls and earned the win by firing three innings, allowing three runs on five hits, walking one and fanning six. Classmate Kelton McCoy pitched the last two innings, allowing a run on two hits and as many walks while striking out four.
Offensively, Phelps helped his own cause quite nicely with a triple and a homer as part of a 3-for-4, three-run, two-RBI outing. McCoy went 2-4 with a run and one batted in, senior Brody McGhehey was 1-3 with a walk, run and three knocked three in according to reported information.
Ironically, Loutherback went 0-4 and was the only Wolverine utilized who went hitless. Heydinger (who'd gone 2-4 with a triple, two runs and two RBI while pitching his aforementioned gem), meanwhile, was 2-3 with a sacrifice-fly, one run and three RBI. Senior Logan Sabinski was 2-3 with a walk and scored four times, freshman Hayden Farmer was 2-4 (2 R, RBI), senior Austin Baughman was 1-1 (BB, R, RBI), and juniors Fred Edwards and Austin Bushnell each went 1-2 (Edwards had two RBI, Bushnell one) with a run.
Bayfield polished off the non-league romp with a four-run fourth and a two-run fifth, to improve to 7-3 overall before finally beginning Intermountain League work tomorrow at home against Centauri. The Falcons will come from La Jara already 2-0 in league after doubly dominating Monte Vista last Saturday.
Centauri faced 2A Sargent on Tuesday and dropped to 3-6 overall after losing 7-5 to the Farmers.
"Got to have good practices.stay fundamentally sound," said McGhehey, "and I've no doubt we'll win!"
Laymon and fellow senior Aron Engel each went 2-for-3 in defeat for Montezuma-Cortez (3-8, 0-2 4A/5A Southwestern), while sophomore Cutter Matthews (0.2 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 0 K) went 1-3 with two RBI and junior Coby Baer 0-1 with two walks and as many runs scored.
PAINTING A MASTERPIECE: Needing only 94 pitches to get through the regulation seven innings against the non-league Pirates, Heydinger was perfect from Innings 2-6 and allowed only opposing starter Jacob Mazza-via a first-inning Phelps throwing error at shortstop-to reach base before Trent Rose scraped a pitch out of the dirt and lifted it into shallow center leading off the guests' seventh.
Heydinger then got Mazza to fly out to right, then fanned SS/P Rafael Nieto and centerfielder Mike Vaughn-the 3-4-5 spots in Darren Sofka's order-to lock up the win.
"My focus the whole game was mixing it up around those guys. I knew they were good, but my arm.wasn't hurting," Heydinger said, "and I knew I was only at, like, 80 pitches going in. I wasn't worried."
"Taed pretty much threw where I placed my mitt, and it worked most of the time," said Bushnell, the catcher. "All I know is it's one hell of a game!"
"I felt it right away," Heydinger said. "I mean, three K's in the first inning-that's good feelings right there! And.we know they're a good team, but today my stuff was on and it was working!"
NOT SURPRISING: Enacting the 10-run rule against PVHS with a three-run tater, Loutherback went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and five RBI. Joining him in the long-ball category, fittingly, was Heydinger (2-4, 3 R, 2 RBI), as McGhehey (W; 6 IP, 2 H, 9 K) had plenty of support with which to work during his start on the hill.
CHSAANOW.COM CLASS 3A RANKINGS, 4/11: 1.Eaton, 2.BAYFIELD, 3.Lamar, 4.Greeley University, 5.Arvada Faith Christian, 6.Brush, 7.Gunnison, 8.La Junta, 9.Gilcrest Valley, 10.Westminster The Academy. (Others receiving votes-Sterling, Englewood Kent Denver, Denver Sheridan, Colorado Springs St. Mary's, Fort Collins Liberty Common, Colorado Springs Christian, Salida.)
