PREPS: Galena routs Tigers

The Douglas baseball team fell back early and never got back into it Thursday afternoon, losing 11-1 at Galena.

Douglas surrendered four runs in each of the first two innings to the power-hitting Grizzlies and managed only four hits of its own in the loss.

"You fall behind like that early on and you don't get the ball in play, you're not going to win many games," Douglas coach Bruce Jacobsen said. "It was a tough day, we got pretty beat up. We just have to move past this and focus on getting into the playoffs."

Douglas faces a crucial series against Damonte Ranch starting Saturday. The Tigers saved senior righty Matt Thomas for the Saturday game, throwing Scott Rudnick against Galena Thursday.

"Once Scott settled down and settled into a rhythm he did a great job against them," Jacobsen said. "He put up three scoreless innings after those first two, but we just didn't do anything to chip away at that lead from the plate."

Douglas' lone run came on a solo home run from Tanner Egan. Shane Fencl, Kameron Van Winkle and Thomas had Douglas' only other hits, all singles.

"This Damonte series is big," Jacobsen said. "Basically, the way it's shaping up, whoever wins those games gets the inside track toward those final playoff spots. We've got a lot of work to do and it starts this weekend."