Max McGhehey pitched five strong innings of relief on the mound and hit a home run at the plate to help send the Bayfield High School baseball team to its first win of the season.
The Wolverines (1-1) secured a 6-4 victory against New Mexico’s Grants High School (2-4) in the consolation bracket of the Farmington Scorpions Invitational on Friday at Ricketts Park.
McGhehey started in center field but was the winning pitcher in relief of Hayden Farmer. He went five innings and allowed four hits and one earned run. He struck out two and walked two and hit one batter.
At the plate, McGhehey was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer and a walk.
“The team did really good today; we improved a lot from yesterday,” McGhehey said, referencing the team’s 11-1 mercy-rule loss to Utah’s Uintah High School a day earlier. “Had a lot of better hits, and our fielding, for seeing a field for the second time, we did great. We were making great plays. Our defense is really stout right now.”
While McGhehey was confident on the mound, he was equally confident his two-run homer would leave the park as soon as the ball hit his bat.
“It came off the bat, and I knew for sure it was out,” he said. “Not to be cocky or anything, but I just started walking even before I got to first.”
Bayfield put up three runs in the bottom of the second and third innings. Grants had scored twice in the top of the first and tacked on one more in the top of the second to take a 3-0 lead before the Wolverines tied the game.
Jake Brandon was 2-for-3 with a triple and a run scored for BHS. His twin brother, Hub, was 1-for-3 with a walk, a double, two runs scored and a run batted in. Cade Carlson went 1-for-2 with a walk, a run and an RBI.
Bayfield will face Farmington (2-1) at 11:30 a.m. Saturday.
Durango stormed out to a 4-1 lead but couldn’t hang on Friday to beat the Farmington Scorpions at their tournament.
Farmington (2-1) rallied against the Durango pitching of Gage Mestas, and the Demons (0-2) couldn’t make a come back on a windy afternoon. DHS had two runners on base with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, but a hard-hit ball off the bat of Elias Fiddler was knocked down by the wind and settled into the glove of a Farmington outfielder to end the game.
“We played much better, but unfortunately we came out on the short side,” DHS head coach Eric Baker said. “It was a good game, certainly much cleaner than the day before. We were swinging the bats well and played pretty solid defense behind good pitching. I was pleased with the effort.”
Sten Joyner closed the game for the Demons in relief of Mestas, who took the loss.
Baker said the team’s offense got going behind a lengthy at-bat from Joyner, who fouled off nine pitches to energize the Durango dugout. Jordan Stanley, a freshman, had a two-run triple, and Baker said Cal Walsh continued to excel at the plate during the game.
DHS will close the Farmington tournament at 9 a.m. Saturday against Grants at the Farmington Sports Complex.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
