Delta coaches Luis Meza, center, and Clayton Curtis congratulate 152-pound senior Hunter Brasfield after an upset win sent him into the 4A Region 4 semifinals.
Hotchkiss senior Joe Boyle controls Ruben Chagoya of Basalt to win a 3A Region 1 title. He is one of 7 Hotchkiss state qualifiers.
Hotchkiss and Paonia boys will square off this week on the basketball courts. Both are 6-4 in league play.
Delta senior Brooke Taylor scores two of her 12 points against Summit after grabbing an offensive rebound.
Paonia 195-pounder Tyler “TK” Kendall sets Rangely’s Drew Collins up for a pin.
Paonia freshman Bo Pipher sets TJ Richard of North Park up for a pin in Saturday’s regional semifinal round. He is one of 13 Paonia wrestlers headed to state!
Surrounded by coaches and his dad, Conner Beard signs Letter of Intent to play football for the University of Nebraska Kearney.
Hotchkiss' Jacobe Galley signed a Letter of Intent to play football and study engineering at Colorado Mesa University.
Hotchkiss senior Cody Bartlett signed his National Letter of Intent to run cross-country for Hawaii Pacific University.
Eagles begin new streak with big win over Cedaredge
While they remain undefeated in 2A play, the Paonia Eagles saw their eight-game winning streak come to a close Saturday when they lost two against the 4A Steamboat Springs Sailors.
Paonia threatened a comeback in game one after being down by seven in the bottom of the fourth.
Photo by Tamie Meck
Eagle Tyler Kendall looks confidently to the dugout before stepping up to hit a homerun against Steamboat Springs. Kendall has a lot to smile about. He’s currently the highest homerun hitter on the Western Slope. The next batter up against the Sailors, Dustin Braslin, hit a 350-foot homer of his own, directly over centerfield.
They held the Sailors in the top of the fifth. In the bottom of the inning, Taylor Katzer hit a sacrifice RBI to score Kyler Bear, and Tyler Kendall followed with a one-run double. Kendall came home on a fly ball by Derek Heiniger to end the inning at 9-5. A single RBI by Kendall in the sixth brought Paonia to within three.
The Sailors scored three in the top of the seventh to lead by six, including a two-run homer by Thomas Kelly.
Paonia was able to score three in the bottom of the seventh, and threatened to tie the game with two runners on base and Kendall up to bat. The game ended at 12-9.
Paonia lost 12-5 in game two, which was highlighted by back-to-back homeruns by Kendall and Braslin in the third inning. With two outs, Kendall slammed the ball over right field for a 330-foot home run. Braslin followed up with a 350-foot homer over center field. With the Sailors holding a narrow 4-3 lead and Landon Long up to bat, Sailors brought in a new pitcher.
In a game Monday that left both sides shaking their heads, the underdog Eagles routed Cedaredge, 1-11, at Paonia. The April 25 issue of the DCI will have the complete story. The Bruins are now 9-2 and in first place in 3A WSL standings.
Paonia travels to Meeker this Saturday for a doubleheader. The Eagles were 2-0 against the Cowboys on April 7. "We'll be good if we just don't overlook them," said Kendall, who drove in the winning run against Cedaredge in the bottom of the fifth.
