Palisade HS secures championship, Fruita comes up short in championship
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KREX) —The Palisade Bulldogs, with an impressive regular season home record of 13-2, now look to defend their home turf.
In the bottom of the third, the Bulldogs trailed by two. Titus Porter was at the plate and ripped the ball past the third baseman into the outfield for a leadoff single. After giving up a walk, it was now runners on first and second. Soran Ashcraft kept the momentum going for the Bulldogs, hitting one between the shortstop and second baseman to load the bases.
Dylon Larson then stepped up with an opportunity to tie the game at six or give Palisade the lead. A routine ground ball to the shortstop went right between his legs, resulting in two runs scored. Kayden Dowdy hustled from second to score, tying the ball game.
The Bulldogs were pumped up for this game and wanted to keep their foot on the gas. Kian Kinslow did his job with a sac fly, bringing in Ashcraft to score and putting the Bulldogs up by one. Once Palisade took the lead, they never looked back, scoring nine more runs and coming out victorious, 17-10.
In another matchup, the Fruita Wildcats took on the Fairview Knights. The Wildcats, who have been strong all season with a 19-8 regular season record, were not looking to go home. They came in swinging, with a total of ten hits and five runs in seven innings.
Carter Hines contributed, going one for three. Kolton Hicks was one of three Wildcats to succeed at the plate, going two for three with an RBI. The other two were Hunter Smolinski and Lucas Weaver. Weaver, not only going two for three at the plate, also pitched a gem. The senior right-hander pitched six innings, giving up one run on six hits and striking out ten Knight batters.
The Knights struggled to put runs on the board, contributing only one run on six hits as a team. There were moments when Fairview looked like they had a shot, but solid pitching from Weaver and good defense from the Wildcats silenced the Knights’ dugout. Fruita took the game, 5-1.
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