BAYFIELD

Bayfield High School waited three years for a chance at revenge against Durango, and the Wolverines didn’t waste their opportunity.

The Bayfield baseball team, ranked No. 3 in Class 3A by the Associated Press, scored five runs with two outs against them en route to a 7-4 victory against the Class 4A Durango High School Demons.

It was the first time the two teams had played since 2012, when Joe Brennan out-dueled Clay Miller on the mound to give Durango a 2-1 win.

“Beating a local, bigger school, it’s awesome,” BHS head coach Jonathon Qualls said. “A lot of these guys play together in the summer, so there is a lot of rivalry between some of those guys. It’s a big game for both teams, I think.”

It was the 13th consecutive win for the Wolverines (15-2, 6-0 Intermountain League), who already wrapped up a league championship last weekend.

“It feels great. We expected to come in and win again,” said Bayfield junior Zane Phelps, who earned a save Tuesday. “Big win, played a big school, but we expect to get these games, and it was cool to do it at home.”

Bayfield led 7-2 going to the seventh inning after play was delayed because of lightning for a little more than 5 minutes in the bottom of the sixth.

Bayfield starting pitcher Matthew Knickerbocker, who was near-flawless going into the final inning, allowed a leadoff single to Zach Szura to start the top of the seventh inning. After recording two quick outs on fly balls, Knickerbocker couldn’t get out of the inning when the Demons (6-11, 2-6 Southwestern League) stayed alive on a ball hit in the infield by Lawrence Mayberry.

Hayden Sill then drew a walk, bringing Durango senior power hitter Casey Dunlap to the plate with the bases loaded in a 7-2 game.

Qualls asked the umpire for time and made sure Knickerbocker didn’t give Dunlap anything too good to hit, especially after Dunlap already had homered in the first inning for his seventh of the season.

“We weren’t intentionally walking him but trying to make good pitches,” Qualls said. “One run was better than four at that point.”

Dunlap’s walk scored Szura, and Knickerbocker couldn’t find enough control against Kyle Duran a batter later, as he walked him on a full-count curveball. That would be the day for Knickerbocker, who gave way to Phelps to close out the game.

“Thanks for Zane, he saved me at the end there,” Knickerbocker said.

Phelps struck out Chris Jaworsky on three consecutive fastballs to end the game, leaving the tying run standing on first base for the Demons.

“It was awesome. I knew I had to come in and throw strikes,” said Phelps, son of Dion and Koel Phelps. “He didn’t want to swing at them, obviously, so it was cool to be able to throw three strikes in a row.”

Knickerbocker finished with four strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings. He walked four and hit one batter with a pitch. The Demons tallied six hits.

“I had all the trust in (my teammates) hitting the ball for me, so I just go out there and throw it and put up a zero, hopefully,” said Knickerbocker, son of Kirk and Marie Knickerbocker.

Knickerbocker worked around any trouble as it came for much of the game, outside of Dunlap’s solo homer in the first inning. He said he was trying to throw everything low and away to Dunlap but got caught leaving a curveball up in the strike zone.

“I didn’t let it get to my head, so I just kept battling and kept throwing strikes,” Knickerbocker said.

Knickerbocker’s catcher, Kelton McCoy, hit a big home run of his own in the bottom of the first to answer Dunlap’s blast. All three played together last summer for Strike Zone Baseball in the Connie Mack summer league, along with Mayberry.

“I actually told (Dunlap) I was glad to match him,” McCoy said of his 10th home run of the season. “I was trying to do something short with it, but it came out good.”

McCoy’s two-run homer was part of a three-run first inning for the Wolverines, who also benefitted from a Phelps RBI-single.

McCoy, who improved his batting average to .629 on Tuesday, was back at it in the third inning, when he delivered a two-run single on a flare to right field. He finished the game 3-for-4 with four RBIs.

“These guys get on base, and it’s been easy to get them in because of different things,” said McCoy, son of Derek and Loreca McCoy. “Advancing on passed balls and little things like that.”

The Wolverines added two more runs in the fourth inning on a Knickerbocker RBI-single and a Durango error on a ball hit by Taed Heydinger, who was 3-for-4 with a double.

For the Demons, the day boiled down to not generating enough hits and allowing the Wolverines extra outs, helping lead to those five runs with two outs.

“We had too many innings with no runs against a good team,” DHS head coach Eric Baker said. “We also have to put the hammer down with two outs and get out of innings. We had chances but couldn’t quite do it. Against a good team, you can’t give them extra outs.

“Congrats to Bayfield, they came out swinging. I’m impressed, they’re pretty good.”

The Wolverines will close the regular season at home at 11 a.m. Saturday with a doubleheader against Pagosa Springs. Durango will go on the road desperate for two wins at Grand Junction and Montrose on Friday and Saturday, respectively.

“I’m confident we’ll come out and fight and see what we can do. We can steal something, and I think we can play right with the two teams,” Baker said.

jlivingston@durangoherald.com