Douglas baseball bows out of playoffs

The Tigers’ push for the state tournament came to an end Thursday afternoon after Douglas High baseball fell to Spanish Springs, 9-5, in a Class 5A North regional consolation elimination game.

Douglas led 5-1, but surrendered crooked numbers in the fifth and the seventh innings.

Douglas ends the year with a 19-10 record under first year coach Jim Tucker.

“These seniors came in with a polarizing reputation, but they were willing to accept coaching,” said Tucker. “I think it was a great first season for us to set the foundation for our expectations going into the future. … This year was the foundation and I hope these seniors get the credit they deserve for being willing to accept a new coaching staff in their last year.”

TRYING TO TAKE ADVANTAGE

Spanish Springs took an early 1-0 lead, but Douglas posted four runs in the third to jump in front.

The Tigers loaded the bases for senior Owen Evans, who promptly doubled into right field, plating a pair of runs.

Fellow senior Thomas Young slid across home plate in the next at-bat on a wild pitch.

Jeffrey Peters made it 4-1 on a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Evans.

In the fourth, it was Evans again recording a timely hit, pushing a single into right field to score Luke Main.

However, the Cougars responded quickly with three runs in the fifth to make it, 5-4 Douglas.

Duncan DeLange came on in relief and got out of a tough spot with runners on second and third in the sixth inning with back-to-back punch outs.

In the seventh, the Cougars were able to break through again.

A Tiger fielding error with two outs gave Spanish Springs an extra opportunity.

The Cougars used a single, triple and then a single to plate four runs and reach the 9-5 final.

“They brought their bats. The clutch hitting, the timely performance, some things can go either way, but you have to tip your hat to their performance,” said Tucker. “We were sputtering offensively, but the attitude and emotion was right top to bottom.”

On the other end, the orange and black's offense was limited to three hits while drawing five walks. 

Tiger fans may feel like they have a gripe with how some of the calls played out down the stretch, but the Douglas head coach said it wasn’t the reason his squad came up short.

“At the end of the day, the umpires are doing their best. We get fired up and we get rowdy, but he saw what he saw. That was not the reason in itself we lost the game,” said Tucker. “We need officials more than anything. Although we get heated and we want every call to go our way, they just didn’t today.”

Douglas will lose a big class of seniors to graduation in the spring – Aaron Moss, Jake Davis, Owen Evans, Carter Bleeker, Thomas Young, Keegan Freeman, Robert Williams, Aaron Tekansik and Axel Oliver.