Cole Altherr picked up the win (Andy Morales/AZPreps365.com)

 

It’s a long and brutal season but Catalina Foothills took the first step necessary to survive the vaunted 4A Kino Region with an 8-5 win at Canyon del Oro Tuesday night.

Catalina Foothills (5-0 overall, 1-0 in region play), Canyon del Oro (5-1, 0-1), Salpointe (6-2, 0-0), Nogales (7-2, 0-0) and Walden Grove (5-2, 0-0) are the pieces that make the region one of the most difficult in the 4A Conference.

How difficult?

Nogales won the 2017 4A state championship over Salpointe while Canyon del Oro finished in the semifinal round. The Dorados took fourth place in the old Division II configuration in 2016 and won it all in 2015. Salpointe made it to the D-II semifinal round in 2015, the same year Walden Grove celebrated a D-III runner up finish. Nogales was the D-II runner-up in 2014…. Brutal.

The Falcons took a 2-0 lead on the Dorados in the top of the first on a couple of unearned runs fueled by a leadoff single by Chris Kowalcek and a misplayed sacrificed bunt from Noah Cullen that allowed Kowalcek to score from first. Cullen advanced to third on the play and Alec Larson sacrificed him home one out later.

The Falcons added another run in the top of the second thanks to a leadoff walk from Matthew Cullen, a bunt from Christian Rodriguez and a shot to right field from Will Saul. Saul’s shot was fielded by Kiki Romero in right and he threw Cullen out at home on the play, but Rodriguez crossed the plate on a wild pitch later in the inning to make it 3-0.

Cole Altherr started to falter in the bottom of the second and Andrew Stucky took advantage with a two-out RBI double to the fence and Elias Stancer followed with another RBI to cut the lead down to 3-2.  The Falcons got one back in the top of the third to go up 4-2.

Altherr continued to struggle in the bottom of the third and he loaded the bases on singles to Alex Bustamante and Angel Ochoa and a walk to Tyler Porter. A quick visit to the mound by head coach Jim Baldwin appeared to calm his nerves and Altherr turned the Dorados away on three straight strikeouts. Then, Falcon outfielder Chet Dwyer made a diving catch in the fourth inning to prevent two runs from scoring.

The Falcons added three runs in the top of the third and another in the top of the sixth to take an 8-2 lead, but the Dorados scored three in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI double from Ochoa and a 2-run shot from Porter to make it 8-5. The game was called due to darkness after the sixth.

Altherr threw five innings for the win, giving up two earned runs and collecting six strikeouts. He was relieved by Rodriguez in the sixth and Dante DeNiro finished the game out. Ben Cordova took the ball for the Dorados and Porter and Chad Aykroyd also saw time on the mound.

Canyon del Oro is set to host Ironwood Ridge (4-5) on Friday before heading out to the Horizon National Invitational Tournament next week while Catalina Foothills will visit Tucson on Thursday. The Falcons are taking part in the Boras Classic next week.