Success can ebb and flow through any sport at any level, and Merino baseball is feeling the particular sting of a downturn as of late.
Following a tight, 6-5 win over Haxtun in the first of two on April 13, the Fightin’ Bulldogs clapped back with a 9-6 victory of their own. Haxtun got up first with four runs in the top of the second inning, then allowed Merino to jump right back into contention with three runs in the bottom of the third. The two teams followed the same pattern — four runs for Haxtun, then three for Merino — but achieved both feats in the fifth inning the second time around.
The Fightin’ Bulldogs dotted the exclamation point with one last run in the top of the seventh, all while keeping the Rams scoreless through the last two innings. Junior Caleb Deines led the Rams at the plate with two RBIs off of a single hit as junior Coen Schmidt and senior Jaxson Samber added one more RBI apiece.
Four days later, Akron proved much less forgiving. When Merino hosted the enemy sheep, it couldn’t quite get its footing under it despite a strong start in the first game.
Merino’s Rams began the doubleheader with two runs during their first stint at the plate, but Akron responded quickly with two of its own in the top of the second. Akron supplemented that score with three more in the top of the third and, little by little, buried the Rams 7-3.
Schmidt, senior Kaden Piel and junior Josiah Mackintosh accounted for all of Merino’s RBIs, as Mackintosh doubled up on the mound with five strikeouts. Akron’s hot bats, however, didn’t stop there.
The Rams suffered their third straight setback thanks to a strong final push from Akron, which scored six runs in the last three innings of the day to pick up a 7-1 victory over Merino. Now, the 10-6 Rams will look to get back on the winning track with a Saturday morning contest against Limon.
