Damonte hangs on to beat Douglas baseball

MINDEN — After falling into a big hole on Tuesday afternoon, the Douglas High baseball team saw its comeback fall short in a 10-8 Northern Division I loss at home against Damonte Ranch.

Douglas (0-1 conference, 2-4 overall) trailed 8-1 going to the home half of the fourth inning, however, four pitchers came out of the bullpen and kept the Tigers within striking distance the rest of the way.

The Tigers scored four runs in the bottom of the fourth then added one more run in the sixth and two runs in the seventh to pull within 10-8. Douglas left the bases loaded in the seventh inning when Damonte Ranch reliever Daniel Page got a swinging strikeout to end the game.

Damonte Ranch (1-0, 5-1) scored five unearned runs in the second inning to take a 6-1 lead. The Mustangs extended their lead to 8-1 in the fourth before reliever Hunter Simpson retired the side with the bases loaded.

Haden Keller hit a two-run double, Tomas Leitenbauer singled another run home and Kaleb Foster followed with a sacrifice fly as Douglas cut the deficit to 8-5 in the fourth.

Foster drove another run home on a ground ball that was misplayed for an error in the sixth inning. The Tigers capitalized on five walks to score two runs in the seventh, as Leitenbauer and Foster drew free passes with the bases loaded.

Leitenbauer went 2-for-3 with 2 RBI and freshman Blake Murray 2-for-4 to lead the Tigers’ 8-hit attack. A run scored on Logan Fencl’s double in the first inning. Douglas left nine runners on base.

Jared Blake went 3-for-5, Jonny Damon 3-for-4 and Tommy Dolan 2-for-4 with 4 RBI to lead Damonte Ranch offensively. The Mustangs finished with 12 hits and left 12 runners stranded.

Tyler Oscarson allowed eight hits over six innings to pick up the win, while Page retired one of the two batters he faced to earn the save. The two teams meet again Thursday in another conference contest at Damonte Ranch.