At last with the chance to channel his inner Dusty Baker at the high school varsity level, Duke Baker seemed to know his debut as Ignacio baseball’s newest head coach wouldn’t be easy, considering who the Bobcats hosted Tuesday afternoon.
“That’s a great team in Bayfield. They’ve got some studs, and they’ll make a state run,” he said. “I’d put money on it.”
Already up 5-1 through three innings, the Wolverines – the top “Others Receiving Votes” team in the season’s first two CHSAANow.com Class 3A polls – showed in the top of the fourth why Baker and BHS counterpart Bert Miller share such a belief.
Beginning with a single by 9-hole hitter Andy Monger, Bayfield doubled their run total and chased Ignacio starter Eppie Quintana. Leadoff stick Nic Twedt singled Monger over to third, and Monger scored on a wild pitch to Austin Twedt. Austin Twedt then doubled to center, plating Nic Twedt, and scored via a similar Lance Mazur double.
Baker made the decision to pull Quintana (L; 3 IP, 7 H, 9 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 4 K) in favor of center fielder Devante Montoya. Montoya (3 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 4 BB, 4 K) managed to get Noah Chamblee to hit a check-swing roller back to the mound for the first out, but Isaac Ross brought Mazur home via a fly ball muffed in center.
BHS pitcher Devin Avery then struck out, but catcher Caden Wood ripped a double to left, scoring Ross from second and effectively giving BHS all the run support Avery (W; 4 IP, 3 H, ER, 0 BB, 5 K), Ethan Candelaria (1 IP, 2 R, 4 BB, 2 K) and Ross (2 IP, 4 H, ER, 0 BB, 3 K) would need in an eventual 12-4 nonleague victory.
“The boys were all awesome,” Miller said. “We started off very, very slow, but then we made the big hits there in the middle of the game. Our pitching was solid as always, and our defense for the most part played OK.”
“Devin last year … pulled our butts out of the fire … I don’t know how many times!” Miller added. “And he was pitching with an injury today – his hip’s not in that good of shape right now. But he’s just a solid, solid kid. He’s going to go out there and always throw strikes, give you 100% every time on the mound.”
“We’re definitely getting better as we get more field time; we haven’t had much field time at all,” said Austin Twedt (3-5, 2 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI), who started at third base. “We’ve got a good team this year, definitely got potential – I feel like we’re hanging with the big dogs, for sure, this year.”
“I think it’s a sign that we’re going to come out strong, beat the teams we know we can beat – and we think we can beat everyone – if we keep playing like the team we are,” said Wood (3-4, BB, 2 2B, 3 RBI). “We know we can.”
Ross finished 1-for-3 with three runs scored and a double, a walk plus a hit-by-pitch courtesy Montoya. Nic Twedt ended up 1-for-2 with two walks and as many runs, helping Bayfield improve to 2-1 overall. Bayfield started its season by beating Durango 12-1 on Saturday, but fell 7-0 against Montrose.
For the 2A ’Cats (0-1 overall), Quintana went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Catcher Phillip Quintana was a solid 3-for-3 with a walk, a triple, two runs and one driven in. Shortstop/pitcher Jacob Gallegos went 1-for-4 with a seventh-inning double, and scored when Phillip Quintana beat out an infield single to third.
“You know, we’re kind of young; it’s hit or miss with these kids,” Baker said. “The thing about it is … errors really killed us. But that’s something that can be fixed really easily. Our hitting was there, our pitching was there – the errors just killed us.”
“I’ve got all the confidence in these boys,” he said. “They’ll be ready to play the next game for sure.”
