BAYFIELD – Bayfield’s pitchers threw a dozen doughnuts up against Alamosa on Saturday in Bayfield.
Matthew Knickerbocker and Taed Heydinger combined for 12 shutout innings in a doubleheader sweep.
Behind Knickerbocker’s second career no-hitter, the Wolverines won the first game 15-0 in five innings before going the full seven innings in a 9-0 win in the second game.
“That pitching staff was tough (Saturday). They surprised me,” Alamosa head coach Jason Romero said. “I knew Knickerbocker had that, but Heydinger really surprised us.”
Knickerbocker only allowing two baserunners on a walk and an error. He struck out six.
“My spots were on. My fastball was looking good. My arm didn’t hurt at all, so that was nice,” said Knickerbocker, son of Kirk and Marie Knickerbocker. “I just found my spots and located everything, which made it really hard for them to hit.”
Impossible, in fact.
BHS (11-2, 4-0 Intermountain League), on the other hand, had no problem hitting the ball.
Noah Loutherback, Kelton McCoy and Zane Phelps all left the yard in support of Knickerbocker.
“I trust all of those other guys to hit for me. I didn’t hit too well, so I was like ‘I’ll just go and pitch and put up a zero,’” Knickerbocker said.
He left Heydinger a lot to live up to in Game 2. But Heydinger held his own, striking out 11 in a complete-game shutout.
“We were struggling a little bit early, and he helped us out a lot – throwing a goose egg up there,” said McCoy, son of Derek and Loreca McCoy. “I thought he pitched a heck of a game.”
The rest of the lineup returned the favor starting in the fourth inning.
Anthony Chamblee bunted for a single then took second and third on throwing errors by Alamosa (6-9, 4-2 IML). He gave the Wolverines a 1-0 lead on a passed ball shortly after.
The Mean Moose then unraveled in the fifth.
McCoy hit his second home run of the day and eighth of the season to lead off the bottom of the inning.
BHS scored five more times on a litany of Alamosa errors in the inning before McCoy batted again, but he struck looking to take the game to the sixth.
McCoy has hit five home runs in his last four games.
“Sometimes you hit highs and lows. I guess I’m in a high right now,” he said. “I put in a lot of offseason work, and it’s paying off.”
Alamosa pitcher Dalton Carleo didn’t allow a baserunner until Chamblee’s bunt single. He looked decidedly more mortal after that.
“He gets rattled, he lets his emotions get to him a little too much,” Romero said. “He’s come a long way since his freshman year, but he still needs to work on the mental toughness on the mound.”
BHS showed its own mental fortitude at the plate. Other than McCoy’s home run, the Wolverines only had one other extra base hit – a triple by Heydinger to start the sixth.
“Carlito was throwing a good game. When he’s on, he’s on, and pretty tough to hit,” BHS head coach Jonathon Qualls said. “They were able to show the other side of the game and lay down some bunts and manufacture runs.”
The Wolverines now have won nine games in a row and can stretch the streak to double digits at 3 p.m. Tuesday against Montezuma-Cortez in Bayfield.
kgrabowski@durangoherald.com