Buckaroos split games with Grand on baseball diamond

by Rhett Sifford
Sports Editor
The Monticello High School baseball team played a home-and-home series with the rival Grand County Red Devils this past week, losing 6-5 in Moab on March 24 and winning 12-2 in Monticello on March 27.
The Buckaroos own the series lead with their rivals this season since they also beat the Red Devils in the second game of the season at the Grand Invitational on March 6.
Monticello trailed for the entire game in the teams’ meeting this past Tuesday. Grand County scored in the first, third, and fifth innings to slowly build a 3-0 lead.
The Bucks thought they may have pulled off a comeback win when the offense finally woke up to score twice in the top of the sixth and three times in the seventh, taking a 5-3 lead.
But the home squad plated three runs to walk it off in the bottom of the seventh, spoiling Monticello’s nice rally. Kord Young, Arturo Gutierrez, and Triston Felix were all 2-for-4 in the loss.
Young drove in one run with a double. Gutierrez also hit a double in the game. Jaeden Camacho and Cache Young hit one double apiece, registering one RBI each. Jackson Keyes also got a hit in the game.
Felix pitched the first 4.1 innings of the game, allowing three runs on three hits while striking out ten Grand batters. The Red Devils touched Keyes for three runs on four hits in his 1.2 innings, as he suffered the loss on the mound.
Monticello got a little revenge on Friday when Grand paid a visit to the MHS baseball diamond. It was really never in question ultimately, as the Bucks scored twice in the first inning and added six runs in the second to make the score 8-0.
Grand got on the board with two runs in the top of the third, but Monticello answered with two of their own in the bottom of the inning to stay ahead by eight.
With the Buckaroos up after they scored another run in the bottom of the fifth, Jackson Keyes stepped to the plate.
Though his teammates wanted another at-bat, Keyes proceeded to stroke a line shot off the back of the MHS auditorium, giving MHS a walk-off mercy-rule win.
Gutierrez led the offense in the game with three hits in four at-bats. He hit two doubles and drove in two Buckaroo runs. Felix was a perfect 2-for-2 with two doubles and one RBI.
Grant Wigginton was also 2-for-2 on the day with one RBI. Camacho was 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI. Keyes was also 2-for-3 with the homer, a double, and two RBIs.
Cache Young drove in three Monticello runs in the win. He was 1-for-3 at the plate. Felix picked up his fourth win of the season on the mound. He allowed two runs on four hits and struck out eight in five innings.
Felix leads the state in all classifications with 65 strikeouts so far this season. He’s tied for second in the state with the four wins. Offensively, Felix is tenth in the state with a .567 batting average. And he’s 15th with a .900 slugging percentage.
The Buckaroos are 5-5 on the season and though it’s Spring Break this week, they’ll stay in the area to play a doubleheader with the rival Dove Creek Bulldogs. Those games are in Dove Creek on Friday, April 3 at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.