Consecutive late-inning collapses on Saturday in the San Luis Valley not only cost the Bayfield Wolverines their 10-game winning streak, but also the 3A Intermountain League baseball championship as well.
Leading perennial challengers Alamosa 8-3 in Game 1 of the teams’ doubleheader, BHS surrendered three runs in the bottom of the fifth plus five more in the home half of the sixth as the hosting Mean Moose nabbed an 11-8 win.
And after piecing together a 3-0 advantage through five innings in Game 2, BHS – which went into the battle ranked No. 8 in last week’s CHSAANow.com Class 3A poll – again broke down in the bottom of the fifth. AHS pounded out a go-ahead six runs en route to dealing the guests a more-frustrating 6-5 defeat.
Junior Noah Chamblee went 2-for-3 in Game 2 with a double, walk and two RBIs. Classmate Caden Wood was 1-4 with a double, run and an RBI. Junior Lance Mazur was 1-3 with a walk, run and one ribbie, as was junior Nic Twedt. Senior Isaac Ross was 0-1, but drew three walks and scored once.
Junior Kade Jones went 1-3 with a triple, run and two batted in to pace the Moose (10-6, 5-1 IML), while junior Michael Madril and sophomore Grady West each went 2-3.
Ross (5 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 1 ER, BB, 9 K) took the unlucky loss on the mound.
In the opener, Twedt went 2-3 with a double, two walks, two runs and as many batted in. Chamblee went 2-4 with a double and three RBIs. Ross ended up 2-3 with a walk, run and one batted in. Senior Devin Avery went 1-2, walked twice and scored once. Senior Austin Twedt went 1-3 with two runs and one RBI.
AHS senior Hayden Shawcroft went 3-4 with three runs and three batted in, and junior Kasey Jones went 2-2 with a triple, two walks, three runs scored and one batted in. Madril was 2-3 with a walk, run and an RBI. Senior Donovan Ramirez was 1-3 with a double, walk and one RBI. Junior Jayden Mizokami was 1-3 with a walk and two runs batted in.
Relieving Jackson Queen (ND; 5 IP, 5 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 7 K), Mazur (2 IP, 6 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 2 K) took the Game 1 loss.
Now 16-6 overall and 6-2 in the Intermountain, Bayfield had to wait and see if Montezuma-Cortez could beat Alamosa in a title-determining twin bill on Wednesday.
The Panthers beat the Moose once, 11-3, but Alamosa won the other game, 8-7, to secure the IML title. BHS and AHS both finished 6-2 in the IML, but Alamosa had the head-to-head tiebreaker.
