Monticello tames Wolves in doubleheader domination

by Jackson Keyes
Contributing Writer
The Monticello High School baseball team hosted the North Sevier Wolves on Friday, April 11 with a double dose of contests on the docket.
The Buckaroos ignited offensively, scoring 30 runs in the two games, securing both victories and boosting their win total to seven on the season. The two wins were also the first in region play for Monticello.
The first of two games between Monticello and North Sevier was not a dogfight in the least, but rather a blowout for the Buckaroos. In just four innings, the Bucks trounced the Wolves 18-3, engaging the “15 run after 4” mercy rule newly implemented in high school baseball.
Monticello scored in every inning – two in the first, four in the second, five in the third, and seven in the fourth. The 18 runs came off 14 hits, five of them as extra-base hits.
Jaeden Camacho led the Bucks offensively, swinging the bat with ferocity. He found his way into the stat book with a 4-for-4 outing that included two triples. He drove in three and scored three runs.
Cache Young attempted to take the cover off the ball with his swing, hitting a grand slam in the bottom of the third inning over the center field fence. Young led the team with six RBIs.
Other honorable Buckaroos who also recorded hits were Arturo Guiterrez, Triston Felix, and Kord Young who scattered a couple hits, and Jackson Keyes and Peyton Hatathley who added singles.
On the defensive side of the ball Monticello needed only one arm in the first game to secure the win. Triston Felix started and went all four innings, striking out seven and giving up only one hit.
Felix threw 74 pitches and 44 of them found the strike zone. All three of North Sevier’s runs were unearned.
The second half of the double dip was quite different from the first scoop. The Bucks’ offensive attack continued as they scored 12 runs on 11 hits.
The North Sevier Wolves, however, also found their offensive mojo, scoring ten runs on just six hits to make the back end of the doubleheader a tad more exciting for the home fans.
The game went the distance, a full seven innings, finishing just in time before the sun disappeared behind the Blue Mountains.
Triston Felix led Monticello offensively, going 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBIs. Arturo Guiterrez had just two official at-bats but made the most of them with one hit and three RBIs, one of which came off a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning.
Keyes recorded two more hits along with an RBI and a walk. Cache “Money” Young recorded five at-bats and added two more hits to keep up his career day.
Kord Young, Kooper Nielson, and Peyton Hatathley each recorded hits as well to add on to the Buckaroos’ second offensive explosion.
Jackson Keyes made his third start of the year and second at home, but it was his first actually in Monticello. He went four innings, giving up five hits and striking out five.
Keyes earned the win; though he allowed seven runs to cross, only four were earned. Cache Young worked two innings in relief, striking out three.
In a rare move, Triston Felix, who started game one, was asked to come in and save game two in the bottom half of the seventh.
Felix had 36 pitches to work with by rule and used 13 of them to strike out the side, penciling in the victory for the Buckaroos.
With just over two weeks remaining in the regular season Monticello sports a 7-4 overall record. They’re ranked seventh in the 2A RPI standings.
They got right back on the diamond early in the week with another 2A East region doubleheader in Gunnison on Tuesday, April 15 after the San Juan Record print deadline.
On Friday, April 18, the Buckaroos will host Dolores to close out their season series with the Bears. Then, on Tuesday, April 22 the team welcomes Grand County to Monticello for a rivalry showdown with the Red Devils.