Yuma High School’s baseball team opened its season with a split at Merino, Monday afternoon.
The Outlaws won the opener 7-4, which counts in the Lower Platte standings, before dropping the nightcap 13-3. Many of their key players had just joined the team after the boys basketball season ended last Thursday in the 3A quarterfinals.
The season opener was originally scheduled for Tuesday of this week, but was moved to Monday in anticipation of worse weather on Tuesday.
Yuma now has plenty of practice time all together as the Outlaws next play Tuesday at Caliche in a Varsity/JV double dip. Their home opener is Thursday, March 27, when Akron visits for a Varsity/JV twin bill.
Yuma struck first in the opener. The season’s first runs came in the bottom of the third when Silas Baucke’s single scored Chris Wario and Marvin Duarte. Lennox Huwa advanced to third on the hit, then stole home for a 3-0 lead.
Merino got one run back in the home half with a sacrifice fly.
The Outlaws kept it going in the top of the fourth as Alex Pensado raced home, followed by Wario’s double driving in Brodie Kallweit. Another run came in the fifth when Jesus Rodriguez scored on Pensado’s fielder’s choice for a 6-1 Yuma lead.
Merino scored two in the home half of the fifth, but Wario scored on Baucke’s fielder’s choice in the top of the sixth. Merino pushed across one run in the Rams’ last at-bat in the seventh, but Yuma held on for the win.
Baucke went the first four innings on the hill to get the pitching win. He allowed one earned run on two hits, striking out eight and walking four. Kallweit went the final three innings, allowing three runs, one earned, on five hits, striking out five and walking three.
Wario had two hits, including a double, with one RBI and two runs scored. Baucke had two hits with three RBI, Rodriguez one hit and one run, Lennox Huwa one run, Pensado one run and one RBI, Kallweit one run, and Duarte one run. Yuma batters drew 10 walks to help offset 11 strikeouts.
The nightcap started out well for the Outlaws, then but then devolved into a 10-run loss in five innings.
Yuma jumped out to a 3-0 run in the first inning. Rodriguez scored Huwa on a double to left. Jesus Mario Ross scored on Reyli Trejo’s groundout, and Christian Thomson smashed a solo homer to left.
However, that was it for the Yuma offense. Merino led 4-3 by the end of the second, and just kept rolling from there.
Rodriguez went the first three innings on the bump to take the loss. Wario and Trejo threw the last two innings.
Rodriguez had a one-run double, Thomson the one-run dinger, Pensado one hit, Duarte one hit, Huwa one run, and Trejo one RBI.