The Pagosa Springs High School Pirate baseball team opened the season with a bang, outscoring the Dolores Bears 41-10 during a doubleheader Saturday, March 8.
The games were postponed from Thursday, March 6, due to inclement weather.
It was cool, but the conditions were decent in Dolores and the field was dry on Saturday, coach Ben Garcia reported.
“It was a good day no matter what just to be able to get out and play,” he said.
The Pirates won the first game 17-1.
Despite the Pirate win, the Bears struck first in the matchup, scoring the game’s first run in the bottom of the second.
“We got a slow start,” Garcia said, explaining the first three Pirate hitters hit hard shots right to Dolores players.
He added it took a little bit for the Pirates to get going, but then they were able to take advantage of early-season mistakes by Dolores.
The Pirates countered with two in the top of the third, 10 in the fourth, four in the fifth and one in the sixth.
Garcia noted the Pirates did a good job of finding ways to score runs late in the game.
“We really put ... a good package together and put it out of reach,” he said.
The Pirates had 11 hits in the game, led by three from Charles Washburn. Washburn also had an RBI and scored three runs.
Sebastian Gonzalez picked up two hits, including a double, and two RBIs. He scored three times.
Garcia noted Sebastian also played well at second base and made plays that were above and beyond routine.
“He made them look fairly easy,” he said, adding Gonzalez helped the team be where it needed to be defensively and added offensively, including picking up RBIs in key situations with two outs. “He was a bright spot in that first game.”
Six Pirates had one hit each: Kaeden Iguchi, Taylor Wells, Kyler Henderson, Chris Young-Martinez, Cooper Ralston and Dylan Dempster.
Iguchi, who also walked twice, also had two RBIs and a run scored. Wells, who hit a double, also scored a run. Henderson, who also hit a double, tallied three RBIs. Young-Martinez also walked twice, scored a run and had three RBIs. Ralston, who also walked twice, notched one RBI and a run scored. Dempster, who hit a double, had two RBIs and two runs scored.
Garcia also highlighted Henderson’s defensive play as catcher in the matchup.
Noah Bellina scored one run, and Chance Ramirez scored two.
Zach Pouyer, who walked and was hit by a pitch, logged one RBI and scored two runs.
The Pirates reached by walk eight times in the game, with two reaching after being hit by pitches and three reaching on errors. The team struck out once in the game and left 14 on base.
The Pirates were 6-for-7 in stolen base attempts in the game, with Gonzalez stealing twice and one steal each from Iguchi, Pouyer, Washburn and Ralston.
“That’s one of our biggest assets. We have some really good speed,” Garcia said, noting the steals helped put the Pirates in scoring position.
Ralston took the mound for the Pirates, throwing an 86-pitch complete game. He gave up four hits and one run in five innings while walking three and striking out eight.
“Cooper Ralston just really threw a very good game,” Garcia said, adding the four hits he allowed were scattered over the five innings and the run scored on a throwing error. “He had really good command. He didn’t walk a lot of people. ... He was pumping the zone with strikes and doing the things he needed to, so it was really good.”
The Pirates won the second half of the doubleheader 24-9, scoring in every inning of the five-inning game.
“Offensively we came out and, you know, did a great job, hit the ball really well, and did what we needed to,” Garcia said.
Pagosa brought around two runs in the top of the first before giving up three in the bottom of the inning.
Garcia noted Young-Martinez struggled on the mound early, which is unlike him, but indicated the Bears’ early runs gave him a chance to see what the team would do in adversity.
The Pirates retook the lead with a three-run second, but Dolores fought back to tie the game 5-5 in the bottom of the inning.
The Pirates took the lead back for the final time in the third after scoring five, though the Bears brought two around in the bottom of the inning to make it a 10-7 game.
The Pirates widened the gap with an eight-run fourth, and the Bears added two in the bottom of the inning.
Pagosa picked up another six runs in the top of the fifth to take the 24-9 lead they would finish with.
“That was the positive, is we continued to score runs and just hit the ball really hard,” Garcia said of how the team responded to its battery struggling.
Garcia highlighted the play of Young-Martinez and Ralston offensively in the game, noting Ralston had a clutch hit to give the Pirates two runs with two outs early in the game.
“We could have easily panicked, and we didn’t, so I’m really, really happy with the results of how we responded when we were down and how we responded when we had people on base,” Garcia said, adding while there is room for improvement, the team was able to create separation.
Pagosa notched 14 hits in the game.
Wells and Young-Martinez had three-hit games, with Wells walking once and scoring three runs, and Young-Martinez (who had two doubles) walking twice, having one RBI and scoring five times.
Pouyer had two hits, two RBIs and two runs scored as well as drawing a walk. Ralston also had two hits, picked up four RBIs and scored twice.
Iguchi’s hit in the game came in the form of a home run, and he had two RBIs and two runs scored.
Gonzales had a hit, logged three RBIs and scored a run. He also reached on an error twice and was hit by a pitch.
Bellina walked twice and notched a double, an RBI and scored three times. Ramirez had a hit, and RBI and a run scored.
Henderson picked up and RBI and scored two runs after walking once and being hit by a pitch twice.
Aaron Sowle notched an RBI and scored a run. Dempster and Isaac Hanto each scored a run.
The Pirates walked nine times, struck out five times and had 25 left on base.
The team had five stolen bases, with two each from Young-Martinez and Ralston and one by Pouyer.
Wells and Young-Martinez pitched in the matchup, combining to allow nine runs (two earned) on two hits and five walks while striking out four.
Wells did a great job getting the Pirates out of a bases-loaded situation when he came in the game in relief, the coach said, highlighting the freshman’s play.
The Pirates committed three errors in the game, compared to nine by the Bears.
The Pirates have three games on the schedule over the next week — if the weather permits.
“I’m just hoping we get a chance to play,” Garcia said.
The Pirates are scheduled to take on Cedaredge Friday, March 14, at 3 p.m. in Cedaredge.
The Bruins are 0-1 on the season after losing to Gunnison 7-5 on March 11.
Then, on Saturday, the Pirates are set to play a doubleheader again North Fork in Hotchkiss beginning at 11 a.m.
Garcia noted that North Fork is a good team.
The Miners opened the season Wednesday afternoon against Basalt, with the result of that game not available by presstime Wednesday.
Garcia noted the Pirates will be continuing to build on pitching, especially with three games in two days, and will be looking to build more momentum with the bottom of the lineup.
He added the team is also working on a lot of situational play this week in anticipating of the games.
“I hope we play,” he said, adding if the games happen, he’s looking forward to them.
randi@pagosasun.com
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