The Palisade High School baseball team extended its winning streak to four games with a 10-3 win over Montrose on Friday in Palisade.
The Bulldogs scored in bunches, collecting three runs in three separate innings to build their lead throughout the game. In the first, it was a three-run home run by senior Dylon Larson that started the scoring for Palisade. In the third, the Bulldogs added three more via a two-run error and a sacrifice bunt. In the fourth, they further cemented their advantage with three runs scored on successive plays on a single, an error, and another sacrifice bunt.
Larson finished the day 3 for 4 with two runs scored and four RBI. Also throwing out a multi-hit day for the Bulldogs was catcher Wyatt Fleming, who went 2 for 3 and scored three runs.
The Bulldogs improved to 15-3 on the season with the dominant showing. They will be back in action Tuesday taking on Grand Junction in a District 51 showdown; first pitch from Palisade is slated for 4 p.m.
Grand Junction, meanwhile, picked up a 12-3 win over Central at Suplizio Field.
The visiting Warriors struck first in the contest, opening a 3-0 lead in the first three innings. The Tigers then roared back with four runs in the fourth and seven in the fifth to completely overwhelm Central and cruise to the victory.
Senior Sean Witt hit a home run in the bottom of the sixth to put an exclamation point on the Tigers’ come-from-behind victory. Witt finished the day 2 for 3 with a walk, three runs scored and one RBI. Pitcher Gareth Keller had a nice day at the plate in his own right, going 3 for 3 with a triple, driving in three runs and scoring twice himself.
The Tigers improved to 16-3 on the season with the comeback effort; Central, meanwhile, fell to 7-10 with the loss.
SOFTBALL
Colorado Mesa split a doubleheader on the road at Chadron State on Friday.
In the morning contest, the Mavericks allowed five runs over the first four frames but rallied late, scoring nine runs in the contest’s final three innings to complete the 9-5 comeback victory.
Five different Mavericks hit home runs in the come-from-behind effort: TK Landes in the fifth, Molli Magana and Cailynn Parsons in the sixth; and Makayla Westmoreland and Allison Lindsay in the seventh. Parsons and Lindsay both hit two-run shots; Westmoreland’s meanwhile, was a three-run blast.
In the afternoon contest, the Eagles set the tone early with six runs in the bottom of the first and kept the foot on their gas, ultimately cruising to a 13-10 victory. The Mavericks mounted a rally late in the seventh, scoring three runs but fell short to split the doubleheader.
The Mavericks moved to 22-24 on the season with the doubleheader split. They will attempt to improve to .500 on the season Saturday with another two game set against the Eagles; first pitch for the contests are scheduled for 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.
GIRLS TENNIS
Grand Junction was eliminated from the 4A State Team Tennis Tournament with a 5-2 loss to Mullen on Friday at Pinehurst Country Club.
HOCKEY
The Grand Junction Riverhawks won their first game in Dineen Cup Championship series play in dramatic fashion: a game-ending goal in double overtime. The Riverhawks stunned the P.A.L Junior Islanders 2-1 to advance to the winners’ bracket of the championship series.
Defenseman Bradley Boniface had the hot stick in double overtime, netting the winning shot 1 minute, 50 seconds into the second extra frame. The Clover, South Carolina, native had previously scored only one goal across 25 games played for the Riverhawks on the year.
Forward Isaiah Yates was responsible for the Riverhawks’ other goal, lighting the lamp 3:50 into the first period on assists from Kasper Pohjala and William Cronberger to give Grand Junction a lead until the Islanders scored the equalizer midway through the third period, ultimately necessitating overtime.
With the win, the Riverhawks advance to face the winner of Friday’s contest between the host Idaho Falls Spud Kings and South Shore Kings; puck drop for the Riverhawks’ next contest is slated for 7 p.m. Saturday.