<\/p>\n
The winless Dolores Bears (0-8) found themselves in another hole on Saturday against the Dove Creek Bulldogs (4-7).<\/p>\n
Playing at the neutral McAndrews Field in Cortez due to field conditions in Dolores, the visitors on the scoreboard \u2013 Dove Creek \u2013 led 5-0 after four innings.<\/p>\n
And then the Bulldogs tacked on six additional runs in the top of the fifth to jump ahead 11-0.<\/p>\n
Had Dolores gone quietly in the bottom half of the fifth, the game would have been over due to run-rule.<\/p>\n
But the Bears rallied.<\/p>\n
After loading the bases, Tel Hamilton grounded out to first, but he drove in Eric Eastman who reached on an error to begin the inning.<\/p>\n
Then, senior Josh McCoy singled to score Zach Hartle to trim the Bulldogs\u2019 lead to nine and extend the game.<\/p>\n
Both teams were scoreless in the sixth, and then Dove Creek outscored Dolores 3-1 in the seventh to take the game, 14-3.<\/p>\n
The Bulldogs slapped 14 hits in the contest, and the offensive storm was led by sophomore Derek Kibel.<\/p>\n
Kibel finished 3-for-5 at the dish with two doubles, three runs scored and four RBIs.<\/p>\n
Spencer Gatlin, Ryan Delano-Martinez and Jordan Ernst also doubled for the Bulldogs, and Gatlin and Ernst each drove in two runs.<\/p>\n
Then on the bump for Dove Creek, senior Kyle Schultz was focused and steady.<\/p>\n
While he had just two strikeouts on the day, he went the full seven innings and held the Bears to two earned runs by throwing strikes and trusting his defense to make plays.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe didn\u2019t even have a very high pitch count,\u201d said Dove Creek head coach Curtis Garver. \u201cHe did really good and threw a lot of strikes. I think he only had one or two walks, and that\u2019s what we need, especially when he has a strong defense behind him.\u201d<\/p>\n
McCoy went five innings on the mound for Dolores, and he helped himself by driving in two of the Bears\u2019 three runs.<\/p>\n
Justin Purkat closed out the final two innings for Dolores, striking out two and allowing two runs.<\/p>\n
Following the loss, Dolores head coach Rusty Hamilton spoke about his team\u2019s fight in the fifth inning to score and prolong the game, rather than laying down and accepting a 10-run-rule loss after five.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what we want,\u201d he said. \u201cWe want the kids to keep working no matter what the score is, even though the score doesn\u2019t reflect how we played.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we played, all-in-all, a pretty good game,\u201d he continued. \u201cAnd a lot of things came around for us there towards the end of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still winless at the midway point of the season, it would be easy to lose hope.<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s what Hamilton and his staff are trying to instill in the Bears, by way of positive attitude.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been preaching all week that we can\u2019t let our attitudes get in the way,\u201d he explained. \u201cI think we\u2019re showing up to the field beat. So I\u2019m trying to coach them out of showing up that way and to come out ready to play ball and play ball the whole game.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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