Definitely looking to leave no doubt whether the Wolverines deserved to host class 3A districts, BHS senior Trey Lange was a man on a mauling mission last Saturday.
Lange and fellow seniors Adam Ridens and Ruben Renteria-Sanchez were honored at the start of the final home game of the regular season. Then Lange's first-inning grand slam set the tone not only for a 17-3 explosion in Game 1, but for a 13-3 win in Game 2 versus the descending Centauri Falcons.
Lange also knocked out a two-run homer in the bottom of the second off unfortunate Victor Valdez. He then bashed a three-run shot in the third inning of Game 2.
Finally, he amassed nine RBIs and six runs scored on 4-of-6 (with two walks) combined hitting.
AND he earned the win from the mound in Game 2 to boot, slinging a five-inning complete game, allowing seven hits but fanning six and walking just two.
Matthew Knickerbocker (W, 4 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 3 K; 3-3, BB, 4 R, 3 RBI in Game 1) and Zane Phelps (3-3, 3 R, 3 RBI) hit back-to-back against Centauri's Mitchell Wilson in a six-run third inning. Phelps' blast went beyond the high left-field netting.
Phelps finished 2-for-4 with an RBI-triple and a three-run homer in Game 2, giving the Wolverines a total of homers.
Lange fittingly ended the second game scoring from third in the bottom of the fifth.
Centerfielder Brody McGhehey went 5-for-7 for BHS' cause, and first baseman Noah Loutherback and second baseman Dillon Hoselton each went 2-for-6 in an efficient day for Coach Jon Qualls' batters. And batting fifth, catcher Kelton McCoy broke out of a mini-slump with a 3-for-7 showing, allowing courtesy runner Fred Edwards to score three times.
Eighth-ranked in the final CHSAANow.com poll and unbeaten in the IML with a final 8-0 mark, the sweep improved the Wolverines to 16-3 overall.
Bayfield will host the District 4 tournament tomorrow as the #5 seed out of 32 teams statewide moving into post-season play.
BHS will begin the event at 10 a.m. against #28 La Junta, which finished third in the Tri-Peaks League's East Division with a 6-4 mark, leaving them 9-10 overall. 21-seed Olathe (11-8, 10-6 Western Slope) will then test #12 Greeley University at about 12:30 p.m., and the games' winners will then clash at about 3 p.m. to crown a district champ.
