Butte Central faced off against a pesky Belgrade team yesterday who had just earned a top seed in the state tournament after their win over Butte High days prior.
Rye Doherty had a strong showing for the Maroons on the mound, fanning 8 batters and holding the Panthers to just 2 runs early on but the sticks just didn’t come through to back him up and Belgrade’s bats started to catch fire.
It was 2-0 then 4-0 and then 6-0 when senior Cole Hassler relived Doherty. The 8-1 final score really didn’t do justice to just how well the Maroons competed against a really good Belgrade Panthers’ team.
After a move to 1st base, Doherty blasted a shot over the center fielder for an inning beginning double where he would eventually score thanks to a Gunnar O’Brien hit and some errors in the field.
Belgrade would strike out the next 3 Maroons batters to get the 8-1 victory.
The Maroons are young and hungry to get better, and high school baseball has brought back some players who haven’t played since their Babe Ruthe days at Mile High. The Maroons will play their final home game May 11th where their one win came from earlier this year, they will finish the regular season at Browning on Friday.
