Buckaroos look to stay alive in baseball title fight after first-round loss to Grand

by Rhett Sifford
Sports Editor
The Monticello Buckaroos suffered a tough 18-1 loss to local rival Grand County in the opening game of the 2A Utah State Baseball Tournament on Saturday, May 3 in Blanding.
The loss came as part of a three-team pod hosted by San Juan High School that featured all three of the southeastern Utah baseball teams.
The game looked promising early with both teams scoring one run in the first inning. Jackson Keyes hit his fifth home run of the season to tie the game in the bottom of the inning.
But from that point the Red Devils poured on the offense, scoring six in the second inning, four in the third, and seven in the fourth to down the Buckaroos. The Grand County offense was helped out by eight errors in the game by the Monticello defense.
Grand pitcher Breckin Shepherd put on an excellent four-inning showing. After allowing the Keyes home run he only allowed one hit to Triston Felix and fanned six Buckaroo batters on the way to the victory.
Felix suffered the loss for Monticello, allowing five earned runs on six hits and striking out four in 2.1 innings of work. Keyes relieved him in the third inning and allowed two earned runs and six hits while striking out one.
The Buckaroos’ state championship hopes are still alive, but they have a long, hard road ahead. They need seven straight wins to snag the title.
The #8-seeded Bucks took on #7 Milford in Milford on Tuesday, May 6 in a game that was played after the San Juan Record print deadline.
A win in that game would keep the season alive as the tournament moves to BYU on Thursday, May 8. Monticello would face either #6 Gunnison Valley or #13 Millard at 1:30 p.m.