Centauri goes down a class to blank Farmers

Centauri senior Zach Martin slides in safe behind Sargent’s Blaine Behil on a steal at third base during Tuesday’s 9-0 victory for the Falcons. (VC/Jiron)

MONTE VISTA — Tuesday was a little break in league play for both Centauri (7-8) and Sargent (7-4). The Falcons collected the non-league cross-class win by a score of 9-0.

The Falcons entered the mid-week victory after splitting their district meeting with Monte Vista over the weekend. And will likely use the win as a springboard into their weekend meeting with Bayfield (8-7). Centauri will need all the momentum they can muster as the Wolverines have been on a tear since having entered their league schedule with four straight wins over Pagosa Springs (5-11) and Montezuma-Cortez (6-6).

Sargent has for the most part coasting through their league schedule scoring sweeps on neighbors Del Norte (2-11) and Center (1-15) for a 5-1 league record good enough for second in the league behind Sanford’s 6-0.

Sargent’s Payton Brown got the start on the mound while the Falcons gave the nod to Zach Martin.

The Falcons got to work right away on Tuesday when Tristen Crowther batted one in to make it a 1-0 game in the first inning. That one run would stand until the third inning when Centauri piled on.

Zach Buhr and Robert Silva each singled to score a run a piece. A single to left field from Martin Garcia fell behind the outfield to score a third run. A loaded-bases walk of Crowther would mark the fourth run of the inning giving Centauri a 5-0 lead.

The Farmers were getting hits and had runners in the mix they just struggled to get them home safely. Preliminary stats had Sargent with seven stranded runners in 6 innings.

Centauri would add two more at the top of the sixth when Crowther batted Zach Martin home on a dropped flyball and Buhr took advantage of the ensuing mayhem to get home as well. According to preliminary stats Crowther finished first on the team with 3 RBI’s followed by teammates Zach Buhr and Robert Silva each with 2.

Centauri would add two more coffin nails at the top of the seventh on a single from Buhr and a double from Silva to finalize the score at 9-0.

The Falcons will resume league play with a doubleheader on Saturday against Bayfield, game one is scheduled for an 11 a.m. start.

Sargent will continue to test their mettle with a double header against the No. 6 team in 2A, Hotchkiss (12-1), next Friday. The Farmers will likely need to ration their pitches against the dangerous Bulldogs as the next day they will play an important league double header at Sanford starting at 11 a.m.