Bulldogs baseball ranked 15th at 14-11, but loss to Flagstaff Eagles may hurt playoff chances

WINSLOW, Ariz. — The Winslow Bulldogs were ranked 15th going into their game in Flagstaff April 21, but their 13-1 loss to the Eagles may have hurt their seeding in the conference playoffs.

The young Bulldogs are 14-11 with one game left in the regular season.

The Bulldogs found trouble with a 6-4 loss to the Payson Longhorns in Winslow April 18. The Bulldogs defeated the Holbrook Roadrunners 9-6 in Holbrook April 20 and improved their record to 14-10.

In the 7-6 win over Page, the Bulldogs took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning but the Sand Devils came back with two runs in the second inning and one in the third. Winslow went ahead 5-3 in the top of the fifth inning only to have Page score three times in the bottom of that frame for a 6-5 lead. The Bulldogs tied the game in the top of the seventh inning. The eighth inning was scoreless, but the Bulldogs scored in the top of the ninth and held the Sand Devils for the win after two extra innings.

Winslow used three young pitchers, two sophomores and a freshman. Dylan Vargas went four innings and gave up three runs on three hits and three walks. Solomon Setalla worked an inning and two thirds and gave up three runs and three hits and two walks. Sonny Wilbanks worked three and a third innings and gave up only two hits. The Bulldogs only had five hits.

In the slugfest with Blue Ridge, the Bulldogs actually led most of the game until the Yellowjackets scored seven runs in the bottom of the fifth and six in the sixth inning to walk off with the victory. Winslow scored three runs in each of the first three innings and led 9-7 while Blue Ridge only scored four in the first inning, two in the second and one in the third.

The Bulldogs scored two in the fourth inning and one in the top of the fifth before the Yellowjackets scored seven in the bottom of the fifth for a 13-12 advantage. The Yellowjackets scored six in the bottom of the sixth and the Bulldogs did not score in the last two innings. The Bulldogs were hurt by seven errors that led to eight of Blue Ridge’s 20 runs being unearned. Winslow had 16 hits led by Jalen Lyons who was four for five.

In the 6-4 loss to Payson, the Longhorns took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning that the Bulldogs cut to 2-1 in the second inning. The Bulldogs took a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning but Payson cut it to 4-3 in the top of the fifth. The Longhorns scored three runs in the top of the sixth and held the Bulldogs scoreless to take the victory.

In the 9-6 win over Holbrook, scoring information was not available at press time.

In the 13-1 loss to the Flagstaff Eagles, the Bulldogs scored four runs in the first inning, two in the second, six in the third and one in the fourth. Winslow’s only score came in the top of the fifth but it was not enough to keep the game from ending because of the 10-run mercy rule.

The last game of the regular season is April 23 in Winslow against Show Low.

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