Pride goeth before the fall.
And after hyper-inflating their collective ego with a ridiculous 33-0 obliteration of 3A Florence to start the season, then following up with another 33 runs-against only seven allowed-combined in routs of 4A Broomfield Holy Family and 3A Trinidad, Pueblo County's stinging start to 2015 was summarily erased Tuesday morning at the facility where it began.
The Hornets simply couldn't keep pace with Bayfield on Hobbs Field at the Runyon Complex, and after trailing 4-3 through an inning, ultimately fell 11-5 in seven.
Junior Zane Phelps went 4-for-4 to lead a 16-hit Wolverine assault, scored twice and knocked in three. Senior Anthony Chamblee went 3-4, junior Kelton McCoy 2-4 with two RBI, and junior Taed Heydinger 2-3 with a pair of RBIs.
Junior Brody McGhehey also went 2-4, drove in one and scored twice to help boost BHS to 3-2 overall (0-0 3A Intermountain). Outscored 7-2 from the second through fifth frames, PCHS dipped to 3-3 and remained 0-0 in the 4A South Central.
County did touch Bayfield senior Matthew Knickerbocker for four runs in his three innings of pitching, but after the third the Wolverines still held an 8-4 lead-more than enough for McCoy (4 IP, 3 H, R, 3 BB, 5 K) to then enter and preserve the victory on Day 4 of the 10-team, 18-game SCL Bash on Tuesday.
BHS' other action at the tournament came in the form of a two-field doubleheader on Day 3, with the side ripping Raton, N.M., 10-0 in five innings, then losing a 4-0 first-inning lead to 4A Pueblo South back over on Hobbs and falling 9-5 in seven.
The Wolverines had also put up a four-spot beginning against Raton, with Knickerbocker's 2-for-4 (a double and a triple), three-run, two-RBI line leading the way.
McGhehey's 3-for-4, two-run wasn't far off, and Phelps also scored two runs and plated two. McCoy also knocked in two as Heydinger (4.2 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 10 K) had all the backing for which a pitcher could ask-especially against the teething Tigers (2-8 overall as of Friday).
Knickerbocker and McCoy then each registered two RBI against the 'Receiving Votes' [CHSAANow.com poll, issued 3/23] Colts (now 6-2 overall), and were each 1-3 with a double. Phelps was 2-2 with a run, Chamblee 2-4 with two runs, and Colter McMenimen was 1-3.
McGhehey (4 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 BB, 2 K) and Phelps (3 IP, 5 H, 5 R, BB, 5 K) both saw time on the bump for BHS, with Phelps assessed the loss in statistics reported to maxpreps.com despite the line score (and innings-pitched numbers) indicating that McGhehey perhaps should have been tagged with the defeat.
Up next for Bayfield will be a neutral-site-meaning Adams State University in Alamosa-meeting with 3A Colorado Springs St. Mary's on April 1, with first pitch scheduled for 4 p.m.
