The Ignacio High School baseball team used a complete game from senior ace Tucker Ward and put up seven runs in the first two innings to beat the Cedaredge Bruins 7-3 to move onto the semifinals of the Class 2A District 2 baseball tournament.
Ward went the distance and struck out seven Bruins on 82 pitches while allowing only one earned run. He gave up one walk.
“Tucker pitched well, and we played good defense,” said Ignacio head coach Robert Miller.
Ward went 1-for-3 with a double at the plate, and Anthony Manzanares went 2-for-4 with a run and a run batted in. Austin McCaw went 2-for-3 with a stolen base, and Joe Herrera went 1-for-3.
“Their pitcher was throwing really well, but we were getting key hits,” Miller said.
Kruz Pardo went 1-for-2 with a sacrifice fly and an RBI. Both Chance Hine and Zach Weinrich went 1-for-3 with a double and a run scored.
As Ward and company put the first game in the bag, Ignacio (14-4) will focus its attention on a team that has given Ignacio problems in the past, the Hotchkiss Bulldogs (16-1). In their first meeting, the Bulldogs won 12-2 in only the second game of the season for Ignacio.
“They have a super pitching staff, they have three legit aces,” Miller said. “We’ll just go out and put the ball in play.”
Hotchkiss’ pitching staff has players who regularly hit mid-80s on the radar gun, but Ignacio is ready for the challenge.
“That was early in the year, we hadn’t seen that type of pitching before,” Miller said.
The first pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday in Cortez. The winner will likely face top-seed Paonia in the championship at 3:30 p.m..
jmentzer@durangoherald.com
