Revenge tasted sweet for the Dolores Bears baseball team Saturday at the 2A-Region 1 Tournament in Delta.
A week after losing the 2A-District 2 championship 9-6 to Paonia in Grand Junction, Dolores (17-4, No. 4 Colorado Class 2A) got another shot at the Pirates. After a thorough 25-8 dismantling of Sargent in the Bears first game at regionals, Dolores let the bats fly for 21 hits and never trailed in an 18-11 victory over Paonia, clinching the region title and a spot in the Colorado High School Activities Association, Final Four 2A State Championships. It is the Bears first state tournament appearance since 1981 and they ended some longtime frustration against Paonia.
My freshman year, my season got ended by Paonia. My junior year, it was Paonia, and I really didnt want it to happen a third time, Dolores senior starting pitcher Austin McCracken said. We played them in districts, we had the game won, but then we had too many errors and so they scored and beat us. This game, we just jumped on top the very first inning. I pitched a pretty good game, we didnt have very many errors, and we just stayed on top of it.
Dolores scored nine runs in the top of the first-inning to take a huge 9-0 lead. But the Pirates came back to get within two at 10-8 going into the fourth inning.
The Bears responded with a five-run fourth inning to take a 15-8 lead, and Paonia never got within four runs the rest of the way.
Paonia has always gave us good competition, McCracken said. They were No. 2 in the state, so that boosted our confidence a lot.
McCracken hit 3-for-4 with three doubles and an RBI. He pitched a complete seven innings, striking out eight. Senior left fielder Ryan Greene went 3-for-4 with four RBIs and a home run, and freshman first baseman Tyler Weir was also 3-for-4, with two RBIs. Tanner Cumpton (two RBIs), Cody Carroll and Tyler Underwood (five RBIs) all hit 3-for-5.
I was happy as I could be, Dolores High School athletic director Dane Gallaher said about the Bears win.
Now Dolores gets the ultimate test on Friday at Englewood High School against the 21-0, No. 1-seed Rye Thunderbolts. Despite having a better record than two-seeded Burlington (12-6) and three-seed Byers (13-8), the Bears got the lowest seed at No. 4.
Unfortunately, the seeding went against us, even though we got the second-best record in the tournament, Gallaher said. We really struggle with that on the Western Slope. We only have one loss to a 2A team (Paonia).
The other losses for Dolores came to 4A Montezuma-Cortez (twice) and San Juan, which is a 2A Utah school but has a much larger enrollment than Dolores. Even though the Bears drew the short end of the stick, they are going to Englewood with a major chip on their shoulders.
I dont agree were a No. 4-seed and have to take on a No. 1-seed, because we have the higher stats than almost anybody in the state (in 2A). We have a better record than the other two teams, so I say we should be seeded No. 2, McCracken said. I can guarantee you, we wont do anything different. We just do the same thing every day. Repetition makes perfect. We just got to keep doing what were doing, and well be fine.
Dolores will face Rye at 2:30 p.m. at Englewood High School on Friday in the single-elimination tournament. If the Bears win, they will await the winner of Burlington and Byers on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. for the 2A state championship.
Reach Bobby Abplanalp at bobbya@cortezjournal.com.