MHS drops two to Bulldogs

MEEKER I The planned home baseball game in Meeker was moved to the middle ground between Meeker and Hotchkiss and played in Grand Junction on April 20.
The starting lineup for the Meeker Cowboys was Alex Smith at center field, Tanner Matrisciano at third base, Jeremy Musgrave pitching, Scott Smith as catcher, Ben Fitzgibbons at first base, Dylan Mobley at shortstop, Nate Walsh in right field, Matt Frantz in left field and Kenny Kohls at second base.
The first game started out with one run by the Hotchkiss Bulldogs in the first inning, and then another four in the second. The Cowboys came back within one run with four runs in the third inning, scored by Alex Smith, Tanner Matrisciano, Nate Walsh and Matt Frantz; three of those runs brought in by RBIs.
The fourth inning brought five more runs for the Bulldogs and one more for the Cowboys, scored by Frantz. After 110 pitches made by Musgrave, he was relieved by Mobley in the top of the fifth, when Hotchkiss added another five runs.
The game was called, leaving the final score at 15-5 Hotchkiss.
The second game kicked off with three runs by the Bulldogs and two by Meeker, brought in by Alex Smith and Matrisciano because of a RBI by Mobley. The second inning passed with no score, and the third brought two more runs to Hotchkiss.
The fourth also had no score, but Hotchkiss scored another two runs in the fifth inning and one each in the sixth and seventh.
Both games brought several great plays by Meeker’s outfield, and the bases were loaded for a large amount of the time.
Alex Smith also struck out five batters in the second game.
The final score of game two was 9-2 in favor of the Bulldogs, bringing Meeker’s overall record to 1-7.
On Saturday, the Cowboys anticipate a home game for the last game of the regular season against the Paonia Eagles.
There will also be the district pigtail game between Meeker and Rangely on Tuesday in Rangely.