Bulldog baseball takes District runner-up title; set for Regionals

The Bulldog baseball team is headed to Regionals following a runner-up finish in the District Tournament last week. Haxtun enters Regional action as the sixth seed in a 16 team bracket set by the Colorado High School Activities Association.

Haxtun held home field advantage in round one of Districts as they took the field against Briggsdale. The Bulldogs cruised to a 14-0 win that sent them to the next round slated for Friday in Fort Morgan. That action started with a match-up between Merino and Akron. Akron topped Merino to advance to the District Championship. The following game, Haxtun secured a spot in the championship with a 10-4 victory over Otis.

The championship contest, featuring the Bulldogs and the Akron Rams, started with the first pitch thrown by Haxtun Athletic Director Rich Gerk. Gerk, who plans to retire at the end of this year, threw a strike to his youngest son Michael, the Bulldog's catcher as organizers honored him for his 30 years of service to the Haxtun School District.

Haxtun ended up falling the Rams, 6-1, to finish in second place at Districts.

The loss to the Rams dropped the Haxtun team from the number one spot in State rankings to the sixth, pitting them in a match up with 11th seeded Wiley in the first round of Regionals on Saturday in Simla. That game is set for 12:30 p.m.

The winner of the Haxtun versus Wiley game will go on to face the winner of number three seeded Simla and 14th ranked Dove Creek. The Regional Championship contest is set for 3 p.m.

The winner in Saturday's action will advance to the final four on May 18.