The Rye High School baseball team traveled to the Salida Invitational Baseball Tournament and came away with three victories against stiff competition.
Pagosa fell prey to the Thunderbolts first as Rye scored in every inning but the first inning and downed Pagosa 16-1.
“Against Pagosa we started a little slow,” shared Head Coach Clay Klipfel. “After we went through the lineup once we found our groove and put up 16 and run ruled them. Ben Compton got the win with a complete game giving up only one run on one hit two walks and four strikeouts.” Brandon Benz scored three times and five batters had a pair of hits each. Codah Graber drove in three runs, including a triple. Brock Benz had a pair of hits which included a triple. Three Thunderbolts had two stolen bases each.
In the field Taye McCauley went a perfect seven for seven.
On April 2nd Rye defeated Buena Vista 9-3.
“Buena vista was a great game,” shared Klipfel. “Buena is a solid, well coached team and we came out with the right approach and handled them pretty well. We started a little rough giving up two un-earned runs in the first but we were solid defensively after that. Brock Benz on the mound threw six innings, no earned runs, 15 strike outs and only one walk. Camden Steele came in and slammed the door getting the save. We grinded out a small lead until the 6th inning where we exploded for five runs putting the game away.”
Will Hamler handled 19 balls in the field. He had 15 put outs and a pair of assists along with two errors.
Klipfel continued. “The Calhan game was rough. We didn’t do the small things that we stress. We didn’t play our kind of baseball. But even though everything was not going our way, we ground out a win. It was a good reminder game and a humble check. Taye McCauley went 3-3 at the plate with a home run and the game winning run when he stole home on a botched squeeze play.”
Hamler also had another solid day in the field going seven for seven in the field.
Rye travels to Limon on Thursday. Rye is ranked #2 in the state and Limon is ranked #1.