DURANGO-Lightly knocking the ball from bat to bat in a circle of teammates-including fellow seniors Brody McGhehey, Taed Heydinger, Zane Phelps and Noah Loutherback-just before the afternoon's festivities officially began, it indeed seemed just hearing that "crack" as many times as possible would be enough to prevent a hated word from hitting Kelton McCoy's ears.
Truth be told, every purple-and-gold jersey treated it like a four-lettered curse.
"Don't like the S-word," McCoy quipped. "Man, they've been throwing that around a lot already today!"
Strikeout Childhood Cancer was Tuesday's theme at Walden Memorial Field, and despite monetary pledges and donations for pitchers' K's going to a worthy cause-Children's Hospital of Colorado-neither hosting Durango (donning golden jerseys for the occasion) nor visiting Bayfield really wanted to hear announcer John Bernazzani update the total at their own expense.
But with the Wolverines up for upsetting the Demons, and DHS never wanting to give BHS-ranked #4 in the 4/25 CHSAANow.com 3A poll-the satisfaction, there would be more than a few while hits were very few.
And when McCoy, ironically, grounded out to shortstop-and summertime Connie Mack Baseball teammate-Lawrence Mayberry ending the top of the seventh, finalizing all totals, Bayfield dropped the intra-county showdown 6-4.
Having just seen McGhehey narrowly miss pulverizing a prime pitch and fly out to deep center for the second out of the Wolverines' last at-bat, Phelps (2-4, 2 R, 2 RBI) pulled a two-out Dylan Carlson delivery down the much shorter left-field line and over the fence with Heydinger (1-2, R, RBI) aboard to halve Durango's four-run lead, but it wasn't enough to complete what became a game-long climb out of a 3-0 first-inning hole.
After BHS went scoreless starting the contest against junior Tyler Ruetschle (W; 3 IP, 3 H, 2 R, ER, 2 BB), Demon Gavin Mestas led off singling to right off Heydinger (L; 5 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, HB), reached second on Mark Lamoreaux's grounder to Phelps at short and took third on a Phelps error. With Lamoreaux having moved up to second on the bizarre play, Mayberry (1-2, R, BB, HBP) then capitalized with a two-RBI single to right.
Heydinger then fanned Peyton Woolverton (0-2, 2 BB, R, RBI) and got Zach Szura to pop foul to Loutherback at first, but a passed-ball charged to catcher Austin Bushnell during designated hitter Drew Selser's AB granted Mayberry passage to the plate. Selser (1-3, R) went down swinging, but the Demons had their desired start.
Loutherback led off the second reaching base on a Mestas error at third, and would eventually score on a bases-loaded walk to Heydinger, but DHS again escaped disaster when Ruetschle got McGhehey to fly to center. Sensing vulnerability after Heydinger retired Jake Bourdon, Ruetschle and Max Hyson in order, Phelps began the third inning with a single to left and came all the way around on a subsequent McCoy (1-4, RBI) double.
But Ruetschle then struck out Loutherback (0-3, R), got Logan Sabinski to bounce to Lamoreaux at second, and Fred Edwards to fly to Bourdon in right-the first three outs of a crucial stretch in which he and Carlson (3 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, HB) would retire 13 of 14 Wolverines-Heydinger was plunked in the fourth-they'd face.
Heydinger gamely did his best to keep Bayfield close, but Durango (8-6, 4-1 4A/5A Southwestern League) managed to touch him for two more runs in the bottom of the fourth via Ruetschle's sizzler of an RBI-single (scoring Woolverton) off Sabinski at second, and a bases-loaded walk to Mestas (scoring Selser).
Getting Lamoreaux to bounce back to the mound for the third out, leaving the sacks packed, Heydinger then stranded Demons at the corners in the fifth with no further damage showing on the scoreboard, but DHS may have actually won the battle with their gloves in the guests' sixth.
Shifted to sixth in Jon Qualls' order, Sabinski led off with a looping liner down the right-field line. But Woolverton somehow backpedaled away from first base and flagged it down for Out #1.
Edwards (1-3) then splattered a Carlson pitch viciously to center, but senior Kyle Duran read the ball well, charged a few steps to his right and made the squeeze for Out #2. Bushnell then sent a grounder Mayberry's way and Mayberry side-armed a running throw across the diamond to Woolverton to coldly retire the side.
Unable to follow up last Saturday's 13-0, 14-3 axing of Alamosa opening Intermountain League play, Bayfield dipped to 9-4 overall and will host Monte Vista tomorrow for an IML doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m.
AND NOW.THE COUNT: All told, the Wolverines' and Demons' hurlers combined for 13 strikeouts-against 11 hits allowed-to benefit pediatric research at Children's. Heydinger and Ruetschle each K'd three, McCoy (IP, H, R, ER, BB, HB) got two in his one relief inning, and Carlson whiffed a game-best five.
