In their three wins, the Grizzlies have combined for 32 runs on 42 hits. In their two losses, both against the Fort Collins Foxes, Cheyenne has mustered out just four runs and four hits.
The Grizzlies (3-2) fell victim to the Foxes for the second time in less than a week Friday night, falling 8-3 at Pioneer Park.
“Again, we played well for the most part, it was just a couple big innings that we let them have that ended up hurting us,” head coach Aaron Holley said.
The Grizzlies recorded just two hits in the loss, one on a bunt, and both by second baseman Jose Jauregiu.
“They were throwing fastballs outside and coming back with breaking balls,” Jauregiu said. “They were keeping us guessing and off-balanced the whole game. Apart from that, we didn’t have good approaches at the plate, either. It’s hard to get base hits when you don’t have the right approach.
While individual statistics aren’t the goal, Jauregiu did have a solid night at the plate, providing the only two hits, in addition to reaching on a hit by pitch and bringing home the second run on a sacrifice fly.
“The first one I drag bunted because the guy (third baseman) was playing back and I was trying to get a rally going,” Jauregiu said. “The second one was a fastball inside. I just turned on it and drove it down the line. I was seeing the ball pretty good the whole game.”
The Grizzlies had their chance to blow the game wide open in the first inning when Foxes’ starter Gilberto Reyes couldn’t find the strike zone. Reyes’ first 12 pitches were out of the zone and threw just one for a strike before being pulled after walking the first four batters of the game.
Scott Cure came in to relieve Reyes and allowed a sacrifice fly by Jauregiu, allowing third baseman Ryan Javech to score the second run of the game. He would then work out of a jam, however, getting Bryce Arroyo to ground into an inning-ending double play.
“In the first inning, their starter threw one strike,” Holley said. “We only scored two runs in the first. We would have liked to get more but that’s the way it is. We had the chance to blow it open.”
Cure continued to shut down the Grizzlies, retiring the first nine batters he faced and finishing the night giving up just one earned run on two hits, two walks and four strikeouts over 5 2/3 of relief work.
Grizzlies’ starter Josh Boyer cruised early, allowing just two hits and a run through the first five frames. However, in the sixth, Boyer, who took the loss, got himself in trouble allowing back-to-back singles to start the inning, followed up by consecutive walks.
Right-hander Joe Luft came in to work out of the bases loaded jam. Luft retired the three batters he faced in the sixth, but two more runs came across on the outs giving the Foxes a 4-2 lead.
Cheyenne was able to get one run back in the bottom of the sixth when leadoff hitter Kevin Logan walked, stole second, reached third on a dropped third strike and scored on Mike Domenick’s fielder’s choice.
But in the eighth inning, the Foxes (5-1) brought nine batters to the plate, scoring four times to extend their lead to five, 8-3.
“Our pitching has let us down in the middle innings the last two games against them (Fort Collins),” Holley said. “It’s hard to play behind in late innings.”
The Grizzlies surrendered three walks in the eighth inning and a total of nine in the game.
“When we give up big innings, and don’t take advantage of them on offense, you can’t win a ballgame,” Holley said. “We’re learning and we’ll continue to improve.”
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