Buckaroos upset Gunnison Valley

by Rhett Sifford
Sports Editor
The Monticello High School baseball team won three of the four games they played in the past week, including a very nice 7-5 upset win over 2A #3 Gunnison Valley in Gunnison on Friday, April 10.
The Buckaroos swept a doubleheader in Dove Creek, CO during spring break on Friday, April 3, then suffered a 16-3 loss at home to Gunnison Valley before bouncing back to topple the Bulldogs.
Monticello is 8-6 on the season, ranked eighth in the 2A standings as of April 14. Junior pitcher Triston Felix continues to lead the team from the mound, producing dominant outings every time he appears.
In the first game of the Dove Creek doubleheader Felix struck out 20 of the 24 batters he faced, which is one strikeout short of the most in a game in Utah history.
He accounted for 20 of the 21 outs in the game with his complete seven-inning game, allowing just one hit.
Not only did he dominate on the mound, but Felix helped out his own cause at the plate as well, driving in three of the Buckaroos’ seven runs. He was 2-for-4 with a home run and a double on the day.
Cache Young also hit a dinger in the first game of the doubleheader and was 3-for-4. Monticello collected seven hits and stole seven bases in the 7-1 win.
Jackson Keyes got the win in game two in a hard-fought 10-7 final. He threw 4.2 innings, allowing six runs on three hits while striking out seven.
Felix completed an amazing day at the plate with another home run and a double. He was 2-for-3 with five RBIs. Young drove in two runs and was 2-for-3 in the game.
The Buckaroos had a good thing going when Gunnison Valley came to town on Tuesday, April 7. They scored a run in the bottom of the first and added another in the bottom of the third to lead 2-0.
But the Bulldogs exploded for four runs in each of the next four innings, leaving Monticello in the dust in a 16-3 final. Felix pitched three innings of shutout baseball until Gunnison touched him for six hits and eight runs in the fourth and fifth.
Monticello got five hits in the loss. Felix was 1-for-2 with a double and two RBIs. Young drove in a run and was 1-for-4. Jaeden Camacho, Jaxson Breedlove, and Jackson Keyes also had hits.
The Buckaroos returned the favor and pulled off one of the upsets of the season when they traveled to Gunnison on Friday, April 10 to rematch the Bulldogs in a key 2A East battle.
Coming into the game Gunnison Valley had lost just three times on the season, but they were coming off a tough 7-6 loss at Delta the day before. They were 13-3, ranked third in the 2A classification.
Just like in their first meeting earlier in the week Monticello got off to a good start and led 2-0 in the third inning. But the Bulldogs tied the game with a two-run bottom of the third, then two more in the fifth to take a 4-2 lead.
That’s when the Buckaroos went to work, plating three runs in the top of the fourth to regain the lead 5-4. Gunnison Valley scored a run in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game 5-5.
Monticello got two runs in the top of the seventh to seize a 7-5 lead, then Jackson Keyes shut down the Bulldog bats in the bottom of the inning to close out the impressive win.
Keyes pitched two innings in relief of Felix, allowing just one run on two hits in an impressive effort. Felix pitched the first five innings, allowing four runs on five hits with ten strikeouts.
Keyes was 3-for-5 at the plate with a double. Felix, Kord Young, and Cache Young all had one hit and one RBI apiece. Jaeden Camacho drove in two Monticello runs and was 2-for-4.