Bulldogs beat down second-ranked Caliche

All nine Peetz hitters reached base safely at least once, Bradey Holtz put in a 152-pitch performance, and the Bulldogs (1-1) were able to turn back the No. 2 ranked Class 1A team in the state 11-9 on the Caliche Buffaloes (0-1) own ground Tuesday afternoon.

Holtz, who went the distance to earn the win, had his pitch count inflated by 13 strikeouts and 8 walks. Additionaly, some defensive miscues in the final innings helped prolong the junior hurler's outing as Caliche plated four runs.

"I feel fine now, it's not the worst I've felt after a game," said Holtz. "I'll probably feel it tomorrow though."

The Buffaloes, who finished fourth at state last season and did not lose any starters, threw four pitchers at Peetz in response. None of them were able to tame the Bulldogs offense.

Jordan Nelson, Tre Lewis and Austin Wilson each helped fuel the Peetz attack by reaching base four times in five plate appearances. Nelson went 2-3 with two run scoring singles, a walk and was hit by a pitch while Lewis collected a pair of singles with two walks.

"We came here thinking we could win if we could just get on base and back up Bradey," said Nelson. "This gives us a big boost. We're going to play with our hearts the rest of the season. We know we can beat anybody in the state."

Wilson, meanwhile took ball four twice and was hit in the helmet in his third plate appearance. He simply trotted down to first where he was issued a quick examination and new helmet. In the sixth he singled and later scored his second run of the game.

Despite the successful afternoon for the Bulldogs, it was the Buffaloes that struck first with 2 runs in the home half of the opening frame.

Holtz issued walks to the first two batters, who were sent home on a ground-rule double and a wild pitch. Holtz then settled in with a pair of strikeouts.

The inning ended on a harmless grounder to Brian Roelle at third.

The Bulldogs took their revenge in the top of the second when Nelson opened by getting hit with a fastball. Corbin Heller then replaced Nelson on the basepaths on a force play while Lewis and Wilson followed with walks. Cody Wilson struck a bloop single to right, scoring Heller and Lewis.

In the third the Bulldogs took the lead for good after parlaying four walks into a 3-2 lead. Nelson eventually scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch.

The Peetz left fielder had a hand in the Bulldogs fourth run, as well, when he smacked an RBI single to left in the fourth to plate Logan Vach, the Peetz advantage reached 4-2.

The fifth inning turned out to be the game breaker as the visitors sent nine hitters to the plate and tallied four times to take an 8-2 lead. Vach and Nelson picked up an RBI each in the inning. Two runs actually scored on Vach's infield hit as an additional runner crossed on an error.

Lewis, who singled to open the stanza, scored on a wild pitch to account for the first run of the inning.

Meanwhile, Holtz was keeping the Buffaloes off balance. His best inning was the third in which he struck out the side--two looking and one swinging.

Early in the contest he mixed in some knuckle balls before going exclusively with a two-seam fastball.

"We called the knuckle ball early in the game but it wasn't working out very well. It was really dipping down out of the zone," said catcher Vach. "His two seamer was working really well though. It had some nice movement on it and they had trouble getting the bat on it."

After Holtz kept Caliche off the scoreboard for three innings, the Buffaloes picked up a pair in the fifth. The Peetz hurler struggled some in the inning with his control and yielded three passes.

The Buffs plated an additional unearned run in the sixth on a Peetz error. Of the four Caliche runs in the final inning one scored on a throwing error and another on a well executed 3-1 put out from Garrett Roelle to Holtz covering.

Garrett Roelle drove home the runs that put Peetz into double digits with a two-out rocket to center. Lewis opened the sixth with a walk and Austin Wilson followed with a single.

The pair scored on Roelle's belt.

Brian Rolle scored the 'Dogs final run in the seventh. After Lewis legged out an infield single, an alert Roelle scored from second on a wild throw to first.

"This was a big win for us. It puts us in a good position in our district," said Vach. "Hopefully we can build on this and return to state."

The Bulldogs take the rest of the month off before engaging Pawnee on the road in a double header on Apr. 3.