In series against No. Sevier,

Gunnison wins one game, but

also suffers first loss of season

By James Tilson
Staff writer

Apr. 19, 2018

GUNNISON—In two “emotional” rivalry games, Gunnison and North Sevier split their season series, with North Sevier giving Gunnison its first region loss of the year.

The series started last Tuesday at Gunnison, with the Bulldogs hosting the Wolves. The Wolves struck first, getting a run across in the first inning, and holding onto its slim lead through the first three innings. But the Bulldogs struck back in the bottom of the fourth and took a 2-1 lead. That lead held until the top of the sixth, when the Wolves jumped on some Bulldog mistakes to score six runs for the eventual final score of 2-7.

Bulldog Coach Jared Anderson agreed the series with North Sevier was “very tight and very emotional.” “We held a slim 2-1 lead in that game going into the top of the sixth, but we ended up making a couple of costly mistakes and they capitalized on them and took game one,” he said.

On Friday, the teams met up again in Salina for the rematch. Coach Anderson was determined to not let his team get down: “We really emphasized after the loss of staying energized but focused.”

The team’s approach led to a fast start for the Bulldogs, as they jumped out to a 5-1 lead by the third inning. Once again, the Wolves tried to make a come-back attempt, but came up short this time, losing 5-4.

In the second game, Ty Hill had a double, and Janzen Kiesel picked up the win.

The loss to North Sevier put the Bulldogs in second place in Region 2A North to Rowland Hall. However, Rowland Hall has only played three region games, and four games overall, and has a lot of region games to play still. Gunnison sits at 6-1 with five region games left.

Coach Anderson feels his team is on the right track for post-season play. “Our team is doing really well. We still have some fine adjustments to make so that we can be executing well as we enter the post-season.”