Jon Qualls' reward to his victorious Wolverines for an 11-0, 12-2 Senior Day sweep?

Fifteen or 20 extra minutes of b.p.

Not 'batting' practice, per se. Twenty-seven total hits against Monte Vista-including six doubles, two triples, a three-run Zane Phelps homer in Game 1 and a two-run Kelton McCoy dinger in Game 2-was fairly convincing to all that the boys' stickwork is coming along just fine.

Instead, the skipper insisted upon bonus "bunting practice," focusing on ideal placement of the ball whether bunting for a hit or sacrificing a runner from base to base. These were about the only offensive tactics Bayfield didn't really have to employ last Saturday against the senior-less Pirates.

"We're really working on trying to manufacture runs, being a run 'machine,'" said senior first baseman Noah Loutherback. "Because we know that teams in the playoffs and at the higher state level are going to be tougher; we can't just come out and hit home runs and all that."

"It's going to be tough, not going to be easy," said McCoy. The senior saw action at third base, pitcher and catcher during the 3A Intermountain League doubleheader. "You know, we don't have quite the team we did last year, but I think that by the end of this season-if we get hot at the right time-we'll be better. I think we're going to bring the football mentality: We don't care who you are; we're going to beat you."

MVHS had to believe they were already bringing it. Phelps' shot to right in Game 1 put BHS up 3-0 after one inning and set the tone for the second inning. BHS made seven one-out runs, including two via a Phelps double and two via a single by senior Austin Baughman. Ultimately denied a shot at hitting for the cycle by the 10-run mercy rule, Phelps led off the bottom of the third with a triple and promptly scored the Wolverines' 11th and clinching run on a McCoy sacrifice fly to center.

"The goal is not to get a zero on the board, anytime in the game!" said senior reserve outfielder Cam Seivert. "Get on base, put together big innings!" Seivert's two-out RBI single in Game 2 was the highlight-other than McCoy's tater-of a speedy first-inning response to the visitors' unexpected two-run opening.

"We knew we had to get them back.that's basically it," Loutherback (a combined 4-for-5, with a walk, three runs and two RBI) said. "We've got to come to the plate with the right approach; that's what we did today."

After seniors Taed Heydinger and Brody McGhehey (2-8, 3 R, 2 RBI) rapped a single and double, respectively, Phelps indeed got his single, and McCoy followed with his blast to left to regain a 4-2 lead. Loutherback then walked, and after junior Austin Bushnell walked with two away, scored on Seivert's knock to left.

"It felt good just to hit the ball, bat someone in, get on base," he said, after going 1-3. "Just did my job!"

"When a kid like Cameron can come out and have a hit like that on Senior Day.. You know, that just shows what an amazing game baseball is," said McCoy. "He hadn't played for seven years or whatever, we told him to come out, and for that to happen.that's why we play the game. It's awesome."

The Wolverines would leave the bases loaded, but after McCoy-the Game 2 winner (3 IP, H, 2 R, 0 ER, 0 BB)-retired Vicente Jaramillo, Dante Martinez and Santi Martinez in the top of the second, they went right back to work, scoring four runs on five consecutive one-out hits including back-to-back doubles by Baughman and Bushnell.

McCoy struck out the Pirates' 9-1-2 hitters in order in the third, and scored in the bottom of the frame on a Loutherback RBI-single after doubling with two outs.

Heydinger (4-7, 4 R, RBI) then tagged Ortiz for a two-out RBI-triple in the fourth, plating Bushnell's courtesy runner Max McGhehey, and then scored himself on a double by Brody McGhehey-the Game 1 winner (3 IP, 2 H, BB, 7 K)-for Bayfield's 12th run in the closing contest.

Freshman Hayden Farmer then polished off the rout with a 1-2-3 fifth against MVHS' 7-8-9 hitters, getting Eloy Martinez swinging to officially sew up the twinbill and bump BHS up to 11-4 overall (4-0 IML).

In Tuesday action, Zane Phelps pitched a perfect game against Alamosa for a 10-0 win, then McCoy threw 11 strikeouts in Game 2 for a 12-2 win. BHS travels to Pagosa Saturday to play at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. to finish the regular season.

WHY CAN'T WE DO THAT: MVHS quickly bounced back Monday from their visit to Wolverine Field, crushing 2A Center by a BHS-like 18-3 margin, and improved to 5-13 overall with a completed 2-6 IML mark. The Pirates' regular season ends Saturday versus 2A Walsenburg John Mall.

WHATEVER YOU CAN DO.... The fact that both Phelps and McCoy, batting third and fourth in Qualls' order, each went 4-for-6 with four runs scored (Phelps won the RBI race, six to four), and even missed a cycle in one of the games by one hit (McCoy needed a triple in Game 2) wasn't a coincidence.

"When we're competing against each other, that's when we're at our best! So when Zane does something good.that drives me. And if I don't do well that pisses me off, to be honest," quipped the future University of New Mexico Lobo. "So I think it really makes us better week by week; it's awesome to have that."

"That's when it's the best, you know?"

Phelps also had four strikeouts in two innings of relief in Game 1, while McCoy totaled six in Game 2.

SANDBAGGIN' IT: Clutching a weighty sandbag in each hand and walking quickly to aid in post-game field maintenance, Loutherback jokingly neither confirmed nor denied such lifting as being part of a new regimen, results of which showed in his first-to-third sprint after a Fred Edwards single in Game 1, and again in a first-to-third dash during Game 2 when MVHS leftfielder Marcus Chavez committed an error on Loutherback's single.

"I've been doing some speed training lately and it's paying off," he said. "I know what I've got now!"

CHSAANOW.COM CLASS 3A POLL, 5/2: 1.Eaton, 2.Greeley University, 3.Arvada Faith Christian, 4.Colorado Springs St. Mary's, 5.BAYFIELD, 6.La Junta, 7.Westminster The Academy, 8.Lamar, 9.Gunnison, 10.Brush. (Others receiving votes-Denver Sheridan, Gilcrest Valley, Sterling, Denver Colorado Academy, Lafayette Peak to Peak, Englewood Kent Denver.)