The Pagosa Springs High School Pirate baseball team capped off a busy weekend last Saturday, playing four games in two days.
The Pirates played doubleheaders in back-to-back days, the first against Cedaredge on Friday, March 13, and the second against North Fork on Saturday, March 14.
The Pirates split both doubleheaders, losing the first and winning the second against Cedaredge and winning the first and losing the second against North Fork.
The boys were up and on the bus by 7:30 a.m. on Friday to drive five hours to Cedaredge for the first two games. The Pirates lost the first game 8-3.
Coach Jon Wells explained he felt that, due to the long bus ride, the boys came out a bit flat in the first of the two games.
Through the game’s first two innings there was no score, with the Pirates then opening the third with three runs.
Heading into the bottom of the fourth the Pirates held a 3-0 lead, but Bruins scored five in the frame and took the lead.
The Bruins scored three more runs across the next two innings and held the Pirates scoreless for the rest of the game for the 8-3 win.
Despite their “flat” performance, Wells indicated he was pleased with the way that Braylon Landry threw the ball as the starter. It was his first start of the season after coming over from the basketball team.
Landry threw three and two-thirds innings, giving up two hits and five runs, zero of which were earned. He also struck out four and walked four batters.
The Pirates logged five hits across seven innings.
Aaron Sowle had the only multihit game for Pagosa Springs, finishing 2-for-3. Taylor Wells finished 1-for-2 with an RBI and a walk, Noah Bellina finished 1-for-2 with a walk, and Zach Pouyer finished 1-for-3 with a run and an RBI double.
After the loss, the boys had the opportunity to split the doubleheader with a win in the next game. The Pirates did just that, flipping the script and winning the second game 8-4.
“What I told them after the game was that was a complete game for them all around,” Jon Wells said.
The Pirates scored in the first four innings to take an 8-1 lead heading into the fifth. The Bruins put up a three-spot in the fifth to make it an 8-4 game, but never got closer than that as the Pirates were able to shut them out the rest of the game.
Taylor Wells started on the mound and gave up seven hits and four earned runs in six innings of work. He walked three batters and struck out 10. Pouyer came in to close the game, pitching a scoreless seventh with two strikeouts.
On offense the team finished the game with 14 hits. Five Pirates had a multihit game.
Sebastian Gonzalez went 3-for-5 with a double, two RBIs and a run. Bellina went 2-for-5 with a double, two RBIs and two runs. Angelo Medina went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a double. Dylan Dempster went 2-for-4 with one RBI and a run. Pouyer went 2-for-5 with a double and a run.
Kaeden Iguchi went 1-for-1 with a run, Sowle went 1-for-4 with an RBI, and Taylor Wells went 1-for-4 with a run and a walk. Jonathan Moncada earned two walks.
“Our main focus was defense and executing on the plays that we need to make outs on, and I was really proud of the boys that they did that game,” the coach said. “We didn’t allow free runners, free bases [and] free runs defensively.”
Jon Wells indicated he told the team that the way they played in their second game against Cedaredge should set the standard for how they play the rest of the season.
The Pirates were back in action on Saturday against North Fork.
The boys came out and won the first game 18-15 despite the arms on the team wearing thin, noted the coach.
The Pirates found themselves down 5-1 after the first, but worked themselves back into the game. After shutting the Miners out in the third and fourth innings the score was 6-5 and the Pirates went into the fifth with a one-run deficit.
Both teams put up four-spots in the fifth inning and then the Miners extended their lead to two with a one-run sixth inning.
The Pirates exploded for nine runs in the top of the seventh to take an 18-11 advantage.
The Miners scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh, but their comeback bid was cut short when Pouyer came into the game with two gone and got the game’s final out.
Despite running out of pitching, Jon Wells stated he was pleased with the resiliency the boys showed, particularly in the top of the seventh inning.
“Having to enter that last inning down and putting up nine runs on a team was fantastic,” he said. “It once again points to just their no-quit attitude, and their positivity and their knowledge that they’re never out of the game. And so I was really proud of the boys.”
The four arms that threw for the Pirates combined to give up 15 hits and 13 earned runs in the game. They walked a combined nine batters and struck out seven.
Offense was a different story, with the Pirates tallying 13 hits in the game. Five boys finished the game with two hits each.
Taylor Wells finished 2-for-4 with an RBI, a run and a double. Gonzalez finished 2-for-5 with an RBI, two runs and a double. Moncada finished 2-for-4 with three runs and three RBIs. Dempster finished 2-for-4 with three runs and one RBI. Sowle finished the games 2-for-3 with one run, on RBI and a walk.
Bellina finished 1-for-4 with an RBI double and a walk. Pouyer finished 1-for-6 with an RBI double and two runs. Iguchi finished the game 1-for-3 with two runs and an RBI.
The Pirates closed out the weekend with one last game over North Fork.
The coach emphasized that going into the game the boys were tired and he was all but out of arms to throw. The result was an 18-16 loss at the hands of the Miners.
The Miners jumped out to an early 10-3 lead after two innings. The Pirates pulled to within one after putting up one run in the third and five in the fourth, but the Miners added five more in the bottom of the fourth.
The Pirates pulled back within two with four runs in the top of fifth and tied the game with three more runs in the top of the sixth, but the Miners put up two runs in the home half of the sixth and shut out the Pirates in the top of seventh for the 18-16 win.
The Pirates’ arms combined to give up 13 hits and 18 runs, 12 of which were earned. They walked nine batters and struck out two.
On offense, the Pirates notched nine hits.
Taylor Wells reached base and scored in all five of his plate appearances. He finished with two hits, two walks and a hit by pitch. Gonzalez went 2-for-4 with an RBI, four runs, two walks and a double. Dylan Dempster went 2-for-4 with three RBIs and a run.
Bellina went 1-for-5 with a run and a RBI, Moncada went 1-for-4 with a walk, and Sowle went 1-for-4 with an RBI double. Medina walked three times and was hit by a pitch, reaching base in four of his five plate appearances.
“Pitching was definitely a factor, but more than anything they were running on empty at that point and doing their best, but I think the weekend just kind of caught up to us a little bit as well,” said Jon Wells.
Regardless of the result of the final game, the coach explained was proud of the boys’ performance and for going 2-2.
Today, Thursday, March 19, the Pirates will host the 2A Dolores Bears for a doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m.
The Pirates beat the Bears in their first game of the season, and Jon Wells noted he expects the Pirates to beat them in both games this week.
The Pirates are 4-3 on the season, while the Bears are 0-3.
“I believe we’re the better team,” he said. “I believe we’re set up to win the games, and we have to take care of those games that we are expected to win.”
The expected starters for the two games will be Taylor Wells in the first game and Landry in the second game.
jsellner@orourkemediagroup.com
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