The Pagosa Springs High School Pirate baseball team clinched a spot in this year’s 3A state playoffs after closing the regular season out with three straight wins.
The Pirates played three double- headers over the last week of the regular season. They started with three straight losses, but finished with three straight wins and now sit at 13-10 as they await their playoff opponent.
The Pirates started their final week with a doubleheader in Durango on Wednesday, April 29.
Coach Jon Wells explained he knew that both games were going to be tough, with Durango being a top-five team in 4A.
The Demons showed their prowess, winning game one 18-3 and game two 10-0.
Still, Wells noted he’s proud of the way his team competed.
“Really proud of the boys,” he said. “I mean, they did put in some really hard effort, and there were stretches where we were competitive.”
In the first game, the Pirates finished with one hit and committed three errors.
The Demons scored nine in the first, three in the second and six in the third. The Pirates scored three in the second, and the game was over after they failed to score in the fourth.
Kasen Limebrook was the only Pirate to record a hit. Limebrook, Hudson Davis and Dylan Dempster scored the three runs.
Noah Bellina, Taylor Wells and Davis combined to give up 18 runs (15 earned) on 16 hits in three innings of work. They walked a combined five batters and struck out two.
In the second game, the Pirates finished with three hits and committed six errors.
The Demons scored eight in the first, one in the second, one in the third and held the Pirates scoreless. The game ended after the Pirates went scoreless in the fifth.
Zach Pouyer, Bellina and Jonathan Moncada each finished with a hit in the game.
Pirates Braylon Landry and Moncada combined to give up 10 runs (seven earned) on three hits, walking six and striking out one.
“We saw better pitching than we’ve seen, we saw better hitting than we’ve seen [and] we saw better defense than we’ve seen,” said Jon Wells. “When you face that kind of stuff, you get better. So, it was a good experience.”
The Pirates turned their attention to their rivals, Bayfield, after the Durango doubleheader. On Saturday, May 2, the team headed to Bayfield to square off in two straight games.
Game one saw some controversy as the umpires made a decision to take a run away from the Pirates, overturning an appeal made by Jon Wells.
The Pirates ended up losing 5-4 to the Wolverines.
The Pirates jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the game, but the Wolverines responded with two runs of their own. Neither team scored over the next three innings. Then the Pirates added another run, tying the game up, in the fifth. The Wolverines answered by scoring three in the bottom of the fifth to retake the lead.
A scoreless sixth for both teams forced the Pirates to try and come back down while down to their final three outs. They scored two, but it wasn’t enough and they lost 5-4.
Dempster and Aaron Sowle each had a multihit game. They each had two hits, and Sowle had three RBIs. Taylor Wells had a hit and three runs, Bellina had a hit, Pouyer had a hit and a run, and Limebrook and Moncada each had a hit.
Taylor Wells started on the mound for the Pirates. He gave up four runs (three earned) on three hits in four innings of work. He also walked seven and struck out seven. Pouyer came in in relief and gave up a run while walking five batters in two innings.
“It was frustrating because we lose by one run in part because of an umpire overruling to make a call incorrect, taking that one run away from us,” said Jon Wells. “It really honestly lit a fire in the boys. They got upset with it. They got really determined to take it to Bayfield in the second game, and that’s exactly what they did.”
The Pirates won the second game 16-4 to split the doubleheader.
The Pirates finished with 12 hits in the game and no errors.
The Pirates scored seven runs in the first inning, then put up back-to-back four spots in the third and fourth innings to take a 15-4 lead. They scored one more run in the fifth and won via the run rule.
Four Pirates had a multihit game. Pouyer had three hits, three runs and five RBIs. Davis went 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI. Limebrook had two hits, two runs and an RBI. Dempster had two hits, three runs and an RBI.
Taylor Wells had a hit, a run and an RBI. Sebastian Gonzalez had a hit, a run and an RBI. Moncada had a hit, two runs and two RBIs.
On the mound, Kaeden Iguchi threw a complete game, giving up four earned runs on six hits over five innings. He walked five batters and struck out two.
“We were just determined to really make it known that we were the better team there, and I think we did so,” said Jon Wells.
The Pirates ended their regular season with a doubleheader in Ignacio on Tuesday, May 5.
After the win over Bayfield, the team was in a good playoff position, but they wanted to solidify their spot in the postseason in their final two games, noted Jon Wells.
He told them to finish the season by putting an exclamation point on it. They did just that, winning both games by a combined score of 30-10.
The Pirates won the first game 15-4 in six innings, finishing with 15 hits and committing three errors.
The Pirates jumped out to an early 6-3 lead after the first inning and kept their foot on the gas pedal. They scored four in the fifth and three in the sixth while only allowing one more run after the first.
Five Pirates had a multihit game. Dempster had three hits, two runs and an RBI. Taylor Wells had two hits and two runs. Bellina had two hits, three runs and an RBI. Sowle had two hits, a run and an RBI. Moncada had two hits, two runs and two RBIs.
Pouyer added a hit, a run and an RBI. Gonzalez added a hit, a run and two RBIs. Limebrook had a hit, a run and two RBIs. Davis had a hit and a run.
Taylor Wells threw a complete game as well, giving up four runs (two earned) on two hits in six innings. He struck out seven and walked four.
The Pirates closed out the season with a 15-6 win in the second game. The boys finished with 20 hits and committed three errors.
The Pirates found themselves down three after the first, but scored 11 unanswered runs over the next four innings. They added three in the sixth and one more in the seventh while giving up two in the sixth and one in the seventh to win 15-6.
Seven Pirates had multiple hits in the game. Taylor Wells finished with four hits and two runs in the game. Davis had three hits, a run and two RBIs. Limebrook had three hits, two runs and two RBIs. Bellina had two hits, three runs and an RBI. Gonzalez had two hits and two runs. Dempster had two hits, two runs and two RBIs. Sowle had two hits and three RBIs.
Pouyer added a hit as well as an RBI. Landry scored a run, and Moncada had an RBI.
Iguchi gave up five runs (four earned) on eight hits in six innings. In relief, Bellina gave up a run on one hit in one inning.
“It was our best hitting doubleheader of the season,” said Jon Wells. “Again, we played defense well, we pitched well, so just really proud of the boys, and it finishes that season on a real high note, you know, heading into the playoffs.”
As of Wednesday, May 6, the Pirates are currently ranked No. 21 in 3A and comfortably in the playoffs. The regular season ends for all teams on May 12, so the Pirates now have a bit of a break before playoffs start.
“We did not make [the] playoffs last year, and so playoffs really were the goal,” said Jon Wells. “We’ve got about a week and a half to see where we play, but the boys are feeling really good and really proud of themselves for what they accomplished.”
jsellner@orourkemediagroup.com
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