Steamboat Pilot & Today

Craig — Before Steamboat Springs' game against Moffat County in Craig there were fireworks to thank fans for coming. On the first pitch from Steamboat pitcher Sean Murphy, Moffat's Eric Bastow provided some fireworks of his own with a shot over the left-field fence.

"I was just looking to make contact," he said. "It was nice to set the tone early."

The Bulldogs scored three runs in their first at-bats and that was all they needed with Jerod Estey on the mound. The Bulldogs added two runs in the third inning and one in the fifth to win 6-1.

The Sailors had a runner reach base in all but the third inning, but their only run came off a Tyler Fosdick home run in the fourth.

"Estey is a tough pitcher, and we weren't very aggressive with the chances we got," Steamboat coach Sean Hicks said. "Right now they are a better team than us, and what little chances they gave us we didn't capitalize on."

For most of the game the Sailors were the team giving up the chances. Errors in the outfield allowed three of the Bulldogs' runs, and another throwing error in the field gave a free pass to home.

"We gave away three runs out there," Hicks said. "A 3-1 score is at least more respectable."

For the second time this season, Estey shut down the Sailors, allowing two runs in the first game and one in the second. While Hicks couldn't control what Estey did on the mound, he made sure he didn't hurt the Sailors at the plate after hitting two home runs in the first game.

"We were not going to let Estey beat us at the plate," Hicks said. "We were going to make the rest of the lineup beat us and they did."

The Bulldogs combined for eight hits with two apiece from Bastow, Jason Mosher and Nick Goodenow, who has moved into the clean-up spot because of his hot bat. Tuesday night Goodenow stayed hot, going 2-4 with a RBI and a run scored.

"Nick has been hitting the snot out of the ball," Bulldog coach Scott Parker said. "He has an 11- or 12-game hitting streak and has earned the clean-up spot."

For Bulldog senior Joe Padon, who played football, basketball and baseball, the win was a historic moment as he was part of a 5-0 final year against their rival.

"You probably want to look it up, but that could be a record," he said. "I think I might be the only senior in Moffat County history to be a part of something like that."

The win improved the Bulldogs to 11-4 and 7-2 in the Western Slope League, while the Sailors dropped to 4-12 and 2-6 in the conference.