Bulldogs win first baseball game

Bulldogs win first baseball game

Mar. 13, 2001

STAFF REPORT

MOAB, UTAH — Dolores County High School picked up right where it left off last spring.

Despite no practices outdoors, the Bulldogs defeated Grand County varsity 6-5 Saturday, March 10, in the first baseball game of the season.

The Bulldogs scored two runs in the top of the fifth inning and then held on when the Red Devils had the tieing and winning runs on in the bottom of the seventh. In that key fifth inning, Dallas Coker led off with a single. Kieth Pierce, fresh off of playing basketball, doubled him home. Pierce went to third on a throwing error and then zipped home on a wild pitch.

"I was real proud of them for not letting them score when they had the tieing and winning runs on," longtime DCHS head baseball coach Ken Soper said. "The kids did better than I expected considering we have not practiced outside."

Dove Creek took a 2-0 lead after the first inning of play. Grand County made it a game by scoring a run in the bottom of the second. Dove Creek scored twice more in the top of the third to grab a 4-1 lead. But the Red Devils rallied for two runs in the bottom of the fourth. After the Bulldogs scored their two runs in the fifth, Grand County rallied in the bottom of the seventh. They scored two but could not get those other two runs across home plate.

Offensively, the Bulldogs hit the ball well. They collected seven hits on the day. Pierce went two-for-two, including slapping two doubles and picking up a run batted in. Terence Gardner helped himself at the plate by going two-for-three including knocking in a run. Kyle Krafka went two-for-three and picked up two RBI.

"I thought we hit the ball well. We have not seen any live pitching off a mound. I thought Keith looked good both at the plate and in the outfield. He made a real nice catch in center field which could have hurt if he’d missed," Soper noted.

Gardner, who skipped playing basketball this past winter in order to concentrate on baseball, went the whole distance on the mound and picked up the win. He fanned five batters and yielded on four hits. He did give up seven walks but Soper reported the umpire had an awefully small strike zone. He did give up five runs, but only two of those were earned.

"I thought Terence looked pretty good at this point in the season. He threw the ball real well. I was not happy with all those walks, but some of those could have been strike outs.

The Bulldogs, 1-0, were scheduled to meet Piedra Vista (Farmington) JVs in Farmington but that game was moved to Dove Creek. However, Soper said that game will now be played at Parque de Vida in Cortez at 3 p.m. today, March 12. The Bulldogs will also compete in the Cortez JV Tournament this Saturday and Sunday, March 16-17, at Englehart Field.