It was a matter of close, but not close enough for senior Taed Heydinger, who came one batter shy of getting a no-hitter Thursday.
The Olathe high school baseball team (5-6, 5-1 Western Slope League) had no chance against the Bayfield Wolverines’ senior pitcher, as Bayfield claimed a 7-0 shutout win.
Heydinger struck out 15 batters and carried a no-hitter all the way to the seventh inning. The no-no was broken up in the top of the seventh when Olathe’s Trent Rose slapped a curveball that bounced off the dirt in front of home plate and turned it into a soft single to left-center field. Heydinger didn’t issue a walk and saw only one other base runner reach on a throwing error in the first inning. Heydinger did it all in 94 pitches.
He put his finishing touch on the game with a final strikeout of Olathe’s Mike Vaughn to end the game.
“His fastball was his big pitch, and he was throwing enough curves to let them know he could throw them,” Bayfield head coach Jonathon Qualls said in a phone interview with The Durango Herald. “You can’t ask any more from a pitcher. He was getting ahead of batters and making them chase his pitches. That’s what you’re looking to do as a pitcher, get ahead.”
Heydinger most certainly stayed ahead from the get-go. The senior pitcher struck out three batters to start the game in the first inning and struck out the side in the third inning. Heydinger also did it at the plate, where he went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two runs batted in, including an RBI-triple in the second inning to plate Kelton McCoy.
Bayfield (5-3) scored twice in the second inning, two in the fourth, once in the fifth and two more in the sixth.
“We played better defense, it helps when you’re getting strikeouts,” Qualls said. “We made pretty good plays on the ball and played better than the last few days on defense.”
On Tuesday, Bayfield blew a 10-run lead to Aztec in a 13-12 loss.
“They bounced back. We were putting the ball in play and make them work for it,” Qualls said. “We had some hard hits in key situations. It was much better than Tuesday. They didn’t seem to carry that loss and drag them down.”
Zane Phelps went 2-for-3 with a double and a RBI. Brody McGhehey went 1-for-2 with a run scored and another RBI, and Noah Loutherback went 2-for-4 with a run and one RBI.
McCoy was not behind the plate for the fifth game for the Wolverines, suiting up at third instead. Austin Bushnell got the call to catch once again.
“(Kelton) is helping more by playing in the infield,” Qualls said. “So far, it has worked. Now, we’re just trying to arrange the infield with him in it.”
Bayfield will be home once again for its next game, which will be at 11 a.m. Saturday against Piedra Vista’s junior varsity.
jmentzer@durangoherald.com
