Playing in the Class 2A District 2 Tournament in Delta on May 8, the Dolores High School baseball defeated Rangely High School 7-3 before losing to Paonia High School 10-0 to end the season.
"We played OK, but we were one step away from making Regionals, and that's where I hoped to be," Dolores manager Rusty Hamilton said. "We had some good games and we had some bad games, but as a whole, I think that we had a good year."
Bears down Rangely
Keying the Bears 7-3 victory over Rangely was a solid pitching performance by senior Stetson Hamilton, who pitched all seven innings and struck out 15 batters. Rusty Hamilton said that overall, he was pleased with his son's performance.
"Stetson had a good day on the mound," said the Dolores manager. "He started a little slow and gave up some walks, but I expected that since we got up so early to get there."
Key hits were delivered by Stetson Hamilton, Kellen Gatzke and Dalton Madden, which allowed the Bears break the game open in the later innings.
"We were dead even for the first two or three innings," Rusty Hamilton said. "In the fourth and fifth innings, we finally broke through."
Bears fall to Paonia
Throughout each of the five innings of the Bears 10-0 loss to Paonia, Dolores hitters struggled to make contact and Bears starting pitcher Kellen Gatzke was unable to avoid Paonia's potent bats.
"Paonia was the better team that day," Rusty Hamilton said. "The pitching that we see out of Paonia is just a step above what we see all year long. Our hitters had trouble getting to the ball and they made some outstanding defensive plays."
Dolores finished its season with an 8-9 record and will graduate six seniors off of this year's team.
"It's hard for me to see this year's seniors go," Rusty Hamilton said. "Most of these kids have been with me since t-ball. This year's class was really a special group."