Delta sweeps through Rifle

Losses end Bears’ postseason hopes

Click to Enlarge Browse and Buy Post Independent Photos Rifle High School’s Kyle Bond delivers a pitch in the third inning of the Bears’ game against Delta High School in Rifle. Chad Spangler | Post Independent

By Jeff Caspersen
Glenwood Springs, CO Colorado
April 27, 2008

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RIFLE, Colorado — Surrounded by their younger teammates, Rifle’s seven seniors went through the postgame motions one last time.

First there was a quick sprint, then a lengthy talk from coach Troy Phillips, which was followed by a team huddle and chant.

And then came one last stroll from the Bears’ gathering place in shallow left field back to the dugout. Some had tears in their eyes as they prepared to collect their things and leave Rifle’s Cooper Field for the final time as a Bear.

Moments earlier, Rifle had a shot to extend their seniors’ season. But a spirited bid fell shy in the form of back-to-back losses to visiting Delta on Saturday.

After coming from behind to steal a 7-5 win in the opener, the visiting Panthers used a fast start to hold off Rifle 9-6 in the nightcap and polish off a twin-bill sweep.

The season-ending losses wiped away any hope of the Bears making the playoffs.

Two wins would have punched their postseason, and a split would have kept their hopes alive depending on what happened elsewhere in the 4A Western Slope League on Saturday.

“It didn’t turn out like we hoped,” said Phillips, who after the game thanked each of his seniors — Kyle Bond, Ernesto Mendoza, Zach Whitmore, Kory Kassak, Josh Runia, Daniel Maldonado and Asa Fix. “There are some pretty good players in that group. I just wanted to thank each of them for their time here and encourage some of the younger guys.”

With much of that group serving as the team’s core, Rifle finished the season 10-9 overall and 7-7 in the 4A WSL.

But on a sunny Saturday, it just wasn’t meant to be for the home team.

After going up 5-2 through two innings in the opener, the Bears lost their offensive touch.

A fourth-inning home run — a two-run shot and the team’s second of the game — by Joe Sutliff sparked life into Delta’s cause.

Suddenly down by just a run at 5-4, the Panthers had new life. Using three hits and two Bear errors to its advantage, Delta jumped ahead for good with two runs in the top of the sixth and another in the seventh to ice the win.

Luke Schmalz and Sutliff were the chief catalysts in the Panthers’ push, the former going 2-for-3 with a first-inning home run and three RBIs and the latter 2-for-5 with a homer and three RBIs.

Kassak paced Rifle with a 2-for-4 plate performance that included an RBI single in the first, and Mendoza had a key double to drive in a first-inning run.

Bond went the distance on the mound for the Bears, striking out nine while allowing 12 hits and six earned runs.

Delta starter David Henry settled down nicely after a shaky start, holding Rifle scoreless on just two hits over the final five innings.

Riding the momentum
A two-run home run by Sutliff, his second of the doubleheader, got Delta off to a quick start in the first inning of the second game.

In his team’s second at-bat, Sutliff blasted an Alex Haynes pitch over the left-center field fence as the Panthers parlayed four walks and that blast into three first-inning runs.

“It was just a fastball right down the middle,” Sutliff said of the pitch he cranked over the fence. “The home run got everybody started.”

Delta added three more in the second and two more in the bottom of the third — they were the home team on the scoreboard in the nightcap — to build an 8-0 lead.

“Joe’s home run was big,” said Panthers coach Casey Carlquist, whose postseason-bound team improved to 13-6 overall and to 9-5 in the 4A WSL. “It kept us going to capture that momentum early.”

Rifle made a game of it after struggling early against Delta starter Preston Boyd, tagging the right-hander for two fourth-inning run.

A Haynes triple preceded a Kassak two-run homer to get the offensive ball rolling for the Bears, who added another run in the second to chase Boyd from the game.

Down 9-3 heading into their final turn at the plate, Rifle scratched out three runs on two hits — a Mendoza RBI double and an RBI single by Haynes — and two Panther errors but just ran out of outs.

In the end, bouncing back from that heartbreaking first-game defeat proved too much for Rifle.

“We just weren’t ready,” Phillips said. “They came out and scored six runs the first two innings. That put us way behind. Delta hit the ball far better than we did today.”

Leading that Panther hit parade in the second game was Sutliff, who was 3-for-4 with four RBIs.

Mendoza finished up 3-for-4 at the plate in the nightcap for Rifle, while Haynes was 2-for-4.