After beating Cimarron-Memorial 9-5 in the first round of the state playoffs Thursday night, the Douglas baseball team was looking a little like world-beaters.
Less than 24 hours later, Douglas' season was over.
The Tigers, who finish the season at as the winningest baseball team in school history at 31-9-1, ran into a buzz saw against Bishop Gorman Friday afternoon, losing 8-0, and then fell 10-1 to Cimarron-Memorial Friday evening in a rematch of the tournament opener.
Gorman, ranked 10th in the country by USA Today, collected eight hits and capitalized on a number of defensive miscues early to push ahead for the win.
"The kids did a great job this whole week, we just ran into a wall today," Douglas coach John Glover said. "They had the same kid out there on the mound that we faced earlier this year and he did a really good job."
Gorman's Stephen Manthei (10-1) carried a no-hitter through three innings struck out eight through five innings. Douglas struck out 12 times total in the game.
"They're a great team, they're nationally ranked for a reason," Glover said. "Just a phenomenal baseball team with some talented players.
"We just couldn't get anything going offensively. They got three runs in the first, two in the second and it just went from there. It's tough to come back when you don't have anyone on base."
Douglas' Beau Battista hit a double late in the game and Troy Torres and Beau Davis each had a single.
Tyler May started the game on the mound for the Tigers, but left after getting out of a bases-loaded jam in third. Reliever Tim Rudnick finished the game on the mound.
Cimarron-Memorial beat Green Valley 4-0 earlier in the day and carried that momentum into the nightcap, exploding for eight runs in the fifth inning on their way to the win.
"I don't think they played very well last night, they certainly looked better tonight," Glover said. "They bounced back and beat Green Valley. We had a good game going with them until they hung those eight runs on us. Again, we just couldn't get things going offensively."
Douglas got its lone run of the day late in the game when Brett Anderson singled home Danny King. King was pinch running for Troy Torres, who had doubled earlier in the inning.
"It's a tough group to say goodbye to," Glover said. "You really just try to not let this overshadow the season we had. Obviously the kids are disappointed. It's not the way we were hoping it would end, but they did a lot of fantastic things this year and they should be proud of that."
