Palisade’s Caleb Blanck, left, collides with teammate Danyel Ishida-Farmer while the pair try to catch a foul ball during a game against Grand Junction at Hamilton Ballpark on April 29.
Larry Robinson / The Daily Sentinel
Eight runs in the second half of Friday’s game were more than enough to lift Palisade past Grand Junction 11-3.
After defeating the Bulldogs 10-5 in a matchup that was much closer than the final score suggests earlier in the season, Grand Junction jumped out to an early lead at Palisade High School thanks to an RBI double in the top of the first inning by Andrew Henderson. The Tigers tacked on two more runs in the top of the third to take a momentary 3-2 lead, but it would be all that the Tigers’ offense could muster as the Bulldogs’ bullpen silenced Grand Junction’s bats down the stretch.
In relief of Garrett Draper, left-hander Christian Hererra tossed four scoreless innings to set the table for a Bulldogs’ comeback. Palisade tied the game with one run in the bottom of the third, broke it open in with five runs in the bottom of the fourth, and drove the nail into the Tigers’ coffin with three runs in the bottom of the fifth to cruise to the victory.
Nine different Bulldogs (12-8, 5-3 Southwestern League) collected hits and seven scored runs in Friday’s offensive outburst; chief among them was Kian Kinslow, who drove in a team-high three runs in a two-hit performance. Will Seriani started Palisade’s offensive output, hitting his first home run of the season to lead off the bottom of the fourth.
Tyler Johnson was 3 for 4 with an RBI and Henderson, Will Applegate and Zyler Fazzi all had two hits for Grand Junction (15-6, 6-2 SWL).
Fruita Monument overcame an early four-run deficit to defeat Central 5-4 and avoid an upset.
The Warriors (3-16, 0-8 SWL) built their four-run cushion in the game’s first two innings thanks to five base hits, all singles, and an untimely Wildcat error. Octavio Gallegos held Fruita Monument at bay for four strong innings, but late in the contest, the Wildcats (12-8, 8-0 SWL) scored three runs in the fifth and two in the sixth to pull out the win.
Shortstop Josh Weaver drove in two of the Wildcats’ five runs and Noah Brackett and Blake Elsberry each had two-hit games.
Dayton Timbreza had two hits and Parker Shahan had two RBI to pace Central’s offense.