If there was a Bobcat who personified Ignacio's desire to notch at least one victory at the 2016 IHS Invitational, it probably was junior infielder and pitcher Timmy Plehinger.
Able to get a pinch-hit single in the bottom of the seventh inning on Day 1 of the event last Friday, Plehinger admitted he wanted badly to join the hit parade.
He had been retired on a grounder in an 8-0 loss to Salida, struck out four of his five at-bats in an IHS loss to HHotchkiss, and didn't get any hits in the first innings against Cedaredge.
"I know I needed it; I was down on myself," he said. "Figured I'd get back up and come at it again!"
Plehinger at last contributed to the onslaught by belting a one-out, ground-rule double to left-centerfield, batting in teammates Kruz Pardo and Tucker Ward and bumping Austin McCaw to third.
"It felt pretty good," he said of his swing. "I mean, we had a rough start beginning the first two games, but after that we finally started working together as a team, came together. The team performed pretty good."
Senior Andrew Martinez then followed with an RBI-groundout to second base, scoring McCaw, and Plehinger came across home when Madaleno fired a wild pitch past catcher Colton Hoerr with Nathan Herrera in the batter's box. Herrera would then double to left, and junior Zach Weinreich then drove him in with a double to right (after being walked and plunked his first two appearances since replacing Joe Herrera in the 8-hole).
Trailing 19-5 going into the top of the fifth, CHS gamely managed to strike back-they'd previously lost 10-9 to Buena Vista and defeated Dolores 19-14 on Day 1-for four runs off Pardo, as they'd done off Plehinger in the fourth before Plehinger requested removal due to an ailing arm without recording an out.
But when Bruin leadoff stick Chris Lindley was thrown out trying to reach third after doubling in Jacob Ostrom, the comeback was halted and Ignacio had its first win of a second spring under head coach Bert Miller.
"We were a little disappointed with the outcome, because we wanted to get a couple more wins than we did," said Ward. "But it's a stepping stone because we can see what we can do, where we are good.and we can improve to get better."
"It felt good.the first time I got to pitch off the new field," he added, having earned the win by dealing three innings of two-hit, one-run ball, with an 8:0 K-to-BB ratio. "So I just wanted to make the most of it!"
Cedaredge actually struck first in the top of the first. Ward beaned Lindley with his very first offering, and Lindley scored three batters later on a one-out single by junior pitcher Tre' LaBossiere (L; 2.1 IP, 7 H, 11 R, 6 ER, 3 BB, 2 HB, 5 K). Ward, however, stopped the early charge by fanning Hoerr and 6-man Brayden Blair, then Madaleno, Ostrom and Peter Carlson in order to end the visitors' second before anything got started.
Taking the lead for good in short order, IHS answered CHS' initial scratch with three in the bottom of the first. Manzanares, like Lindley, was tagged by LaBossiere leading off, and came around two batters later on a Ward single. McCaw then followed with a single to left, bringing in Ward after 2-man Pardo, who'd walked after Manzanares, scored on a wild pitch earlier in McCaw's AB.
The 'Cats (1-2, 0-0 2A/1A San Juan Basin League) then struck for three in the bottom of the second, with Manzanares, Pardo and Ward all reaching-via a single, error by Blair and double, respectively-and scoring for a 6-1 advantage on the Western Slope Leaguers.
"We got the nerves out after yesterday's games and we came in today looking for a win," said Pardo (2-3, BB, 4 R, 3 RBI; 2 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 2 HB). "We were a little fired up."
"And the pitchers weren't throwing as hard as yesterday," he continued, "but we just jumped out on them and kind of made a statement from yesterday's losses. We just wanted to get on top of the ball and put the ball into play, since yesterday we didn't get to as much."
"It's cool, because we're going to see a lot of them in districts," Ward said of not only the win, but the tournament's big-picture importance. "We could see how we compare to them and what we need to do to grow and improve to compete with those kind of teams."
The only Bobcat to get a hit in all three contests, Ward went 1-3 against SHS, 1-3 against HHS and 3-3 with a walk, three runs and two RBI against CHS (now 5-2, 1-0 WSL).
"We're improving and they'll improve, and when we meet we'll be at our best," said Pardo, "and we'll look to get a win next time!"
Manzanares went 3-3 with a double, four runs and three RBI against Cedaredge. McCaw went 2-3 with a walk, scored once and knocked in three, and Nathan Herrera went 2-3 with a sacrifice fly and scored twice.
Madaleno went 2-3 in defeat with an RBI (his courtesy runner, Cole Stumpf, scored twice), and Ostrom was 2-3 with a run and two batted in. Replacing Blair at second base in the fourth, Jacob Lewis went 1-1 with a fourth-inning walk and fifth-inning double, scored twice and brought one around.
Against Salida, Weinreich took the season-opening loss after lasting 2.1 innings, allowing three earned runs and walking as many Spartans (5) as he struck out. Desmond Lau earned the win for SHS (now 2-2, 0-0 Tri-Peaks) by slinging six scoreless frames, allowing just one hit and striking out seven while scattering five walks.
Senior Rain Rosa took the 'L' for Ignacio against Hotchkiss, going three innings and allowing six hits and as many runs without K'ing a single Bulldog. Sophomore counterpart Jonathan Gonzales, meanwhile, needed just 78 pitches to throw a six-inning complete game, and allowed just three hits while whiffing 11 and walking none.
HHS (now 5-0, 0-0 WSL) won the Invitational by finishing a 3-0 tourney run with a 5-0 defeat of BVHS (2-1, 0-0 T-PL) on Day 2. Hammered by Hotchkiss 11-1 after blanking Ignacio on Day 1, Salida elected not to return for the Saturday session, which somewhat fouled up the original schedule but did allow IHS to face Cedaredge rather than struggling SJBL nemesis Dolores. Their reward for losses to BV and CHS was an impromptu Day 2 date with Ignacio's JV squad.
Up next, Ignacio's varsity will face off against the 4A Durango JV tomorrow beginning at 10 a.m.
