Baseball's easy-come-easy-go nature showed itself Tuesday afternoon at IHS Field, and proved as shockingly beneficial for one team as it was detrimental for the other.
Having scalded Centauri for 39 total runs in last Saturday's 3A Intermountain League doubleheader out in Conejos County, Bayfield managed just two in a seven-run road loss at 2A Ignacio. The Bobcats also were incredibly resilient, after taking a 14-0 neutral-site shelling last Friday from non-league Meeker.
"It was probably the worst game the guys have played all season," BHS Head Coach Danny Petrie told the Durango Herald, the Times' parent paper, late Tuesday evening. "We were mentally not prepared, flat and didn't swing the bat. A ton of defensive and mental errors. It was pretty bad."
IHS Coach Bert Miller, undoubtedly elated by his crew's showing, was unavailable for comment.
Capitalizing on the guests' mental mistakes early, the Bobcats (5-7, 2-1 2A/1A San Juan Basin) put three runs across in the bottom of the first inning. Three more came in the second inning, two on a home run to right by junior first baseman Marcus Chapman, who'd singled to left his previous time up.
Senior Zach Weinreich's two-out triple to right in the third against Andrew Morgan (L; 3 IP, 8 R, 5 ER) plated two more, and IHS held a commanding 8-1 advantage going into the top of the fourth. The damage could have been much worse as well; Ignacio left runners on second and third in the first inning, left the bases loaded in the second, and left Weinreich at third and Kai Roubideaux at first in the third.
Meanwhile, the Wolverines (9-4, 6-0 IML) scratched out their first run in fortunate fashion. After Roubideaux struck out Rhett Hoover looking and got Tyler Conner to bounce back to the mound, leadoff hitter Jake Brandon struck out but reached base when the pitch carried through to the backstop.
Michael Gettman then singled, and a walk to Hayden Farmer packed the sacks for senior Austin Bushnell, who earned an RBI (Brandon) by wearing a Roubideaux delivery. But Roubideaux then got designated hitter Kaleb Heck to ground to shortstop Trace Lovelace, coldly stopping the potential rally.
All told, Bayfield managed just four hits in the varsities' renewed rivalry game, while Ignacio bashed out a reported 15. Their lead grew to 9-1 after five frames before BHS pieced together a harmless run in the seventh.
Gettman finished 2-for-3 in defeat, Hoover was 1-3 and Farmer 1-2 with two walks. He also pitched three innings, allowing one run on four hits. Brandon ended up 0-2 offensively but also walked twice.
In the first three innings, Chapman was 2-for-3 with two runs and as many batted in. Weinreich was 2-3 with three RBI, Rendon Mestas was 2-3 with an RBI and three runs scored, and Cole McCaw was 0-3 with two runs.
Senior Dalton Labarthe, who'd dropped Brandon's game-opening fly to left in Bobcats' only error, was 1-2 with a single, and was aboard when Chapman went yard over Conner.
Up next for Ignacio will be a 2 p.m. SJBL game Friday versus Nucla, then a trip Saturday to Dolores.
The Wolverines, meanwhile, will next host Alamosa for an IML doubleheader at 3 p.m. on April 24.
