Rifle, Steamboat split doubleheader

Unearned runs, walks highlight day of uneven pitching

Luke Graham
Steamboat Pilot
Glenwood Springs, CO Colorado
April 13, 2008

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RIFLE, Colorado — As ugly as it got at times during Saturday’s baseball doubleheader with Steamboat Springs and Rifle, both teams were able to come away with a win.

While that’s certainly fine, both managers — Steamboat’s Dave Roy and Rifle’s Troy Phillips — couldn’t help leaving the diamond Saturday wondering what could have been.

Phillips stewed over the three unearned runs and seven walks his pitching gave up in a 10-7 loss in game one. Roy was none too happy about the six unearned or 13 walks his pitchers game up in Steamboat’s 18-10 loss in game two.

“All day long, both games, we played horrible defense,” Phillips said. “We certainly didn’t play like we’re capable of.”

Said Roy: “All in all it was an excellent first game … But I would have been much happier with a W in the second game.”

The Bears got the split with the Sailors despite being out two pitchers in Kyle Bond, who was out with the flu, and Zach Whitmore, whose shoulder was hurting after surgery in the offseason and had to return to shortstop.

At times in both games, it looked like a cruel comedy. Neither team was particularly sharp in the field, and at times pitchers on both sides struggled with a varying strike zone.

Steamboat got the best pitching performance on the day from junior Alex Wood.
Wood pitched six strong innings, scattered six hits, gave up four earned runs and struck out eight in game one.

“That was excellent pitching,” Roy said. “Woody came through in the clutch and got guys when he needed to.”

Staked to an 8-1 lead in the top half of the fifth, Rifle started to figure out Wood the second time through. Keyed by base hits by Kory Kassak and Raleigh Roberts, the Bears put together a five run fifth inning to close within three at 8-6.

“They started extending the amount of pitches I threw per batter,” said Wood, who threw only seven first pitch strikes to the last 19 batters he faced. “I was getting up in my pitch count.”

But Wood — who threw 117 pitches on the day, including 71 for strikes — got through the sixth and gave way to freshman Alan Capistron in the seventh as Capistron got the save.

Whitmore, Asa Fix and Alex Haynes all had two RBIs in game one for Rifle.

In the second game, it looked like Steamboat’s momentum would continue over. The Sailors jumped out to a 3-0 lead thanks to a two-run double from Wood and a RBI single from Colin Boyle.

But in the bottom of the fourth, the Rifle bats finally awoke.

Seven straight Bears reached base, with most the damage coming on two-run doubles from Whitmore and Fix.

“We started to hit it the second game a little,” Phillips said. “But we have to hit it better.”

Steamboat answered in the top of the fifth. Down 5-3, Steamboat sent nine batters to the plate and regained the lead 8-5 thanks to three Rifle errors.

Instantly, however, Rifle retook the lead. In the bottom of the fifth, the Bears scored five runs and got a go-ahead three-run home run from Daniel Maldonado to take the lead for good.

Michael Lyon had three hits for Steamboat in the second game, while Boyle chipped in two.

Whitmore went 3-for-6 in the second game, while Fix, Ernesto Mendoza, and Roberts each had two hits for Rifle.