MHS baseball split pair on road; softball suffers home loss

The varsity baseball team has spent a lot of time away from the home field of Maricopa High School and is faring quite well as the visiting team. The Rams (5-4) are 4-2 in true away games and 1-1 at neutral sites.

Coach Andrew Pollak’s squad traveled to Mesa High School to take on the Jackrabbits (4-6) and walked away with a 3-2 win for a second straight victory. Senior pitcher Tristan Hartley (2-1) hurled five shutout innings fanning six batters and allowing one hit.

Hartley was relieved by fellow senior Michael Gunter who was solid in the sixth inning but allowed Mesa to mount a comeback scoring twice on two hits and a walk. Hartley would earn the win and Gunter notched the save, his first of the season.

Hartley and Gunter also provided two of the Rams five hits on offense with Gunter delivering the Rams’ only extra base hit. Gunter also stole a base, his third of the season and scored a run, bringing his season total to five runs.

The Rams put their two-game win streak on the line when they traveled to Tempe to take on the Marcos de Niza Padres Monday night. Senior left-handed pitcher Dallas Speer (3-1) took the mound against Marcos and delivered eight strikeouts in 4.2 innings. However, his five walks, three hits and two runs surrendered earned him his first loss of the season.

Hartley relieved Speer and gave up four hits and three runs, all earned, in the final 1.1 innings as the Padres’ starting pitcher Craig Knoche went the distance with the complete game shutout.

The Rams hit Knoche well but were not able to transform those hits into runs. Senior Dillon Moran rebounded from a 0-for-3 performance against Mesa with perfect 3-for-3 batting. Five other players recorded hits in the game.

The varsity team will play at home Thursday for only its second game this season when it takes on Flowing Wells High School from Tucson. The Caballeros are winless in its first eight games this season.

***ADVERTISEMENT***Fresh off a six-game win streak, the varsity softball team was riding high. The Lady Rams had a nine-day break after winning the Krystin Diehl Tournament and hosted the Marcos de Niza Padres Monday night.

Rest vs. rust came into play and the Rams (7-4) gave up five runs in the fourth inning and fell to the Padres (7-7) by the count of 8-2.

The softball team travels to Tucson this week to take on Flowing Wells High School Wednesday and Catalina Foothills High Thursday. The FWHS Caballeros (6-6) are 1-2 at home and the CFHS Falcons (5-8) are 3-4 at home.

Through 10 games this season, senior Madison Byrd leads the Rams with 19 hits including seven doubles and two triples. Byrd also leads with 19 runs and 14 RBIs.