Baseball Game Preview: Monticello Buckaroo vs. Grand County Red Devils

By Team Reports Mar 21, 2025, 10:18pm

Baseball Preview: Monticello Buckaroo vs. Grand County Red Devils

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Monticello is 1-9 against Grand County since April of 2015 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. Monticello will venture away from home to square off against Grand County at 3:30 p.m. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Monticello has three straight victories, Grand County has six straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.

Monticello will bounce into Tuesday's match after beating Nucla, who they had gone 0-4 against in their four prior meetings. Monticello blew past Nucla 11-1 on Thursday. Fans of the Buckaroo have seen this all before: every one of the games they've played this season has ended in a blowout of 6+ runs.

Triston Felix

Batters Struck Out

03/20/25 @ Nucla15
03/10/25 vs Dolores13
03/06/25 @ Monument Valley9
05/04/24 vs Millard8
05/04/24 @ San Juan2
+ 3 more games

Triston Felix was a major factor no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run while striking out 15 over six innings pitched. That's the most strikeouts he has posted since back in April of 2024. He was also stellar in the batter's box, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 3-for-4. Felix is crushing it when it comes to hits: he's got at least three every time he's taken the field this season.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Jackson Keyes, who scored three runs and stole a base while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances. Keyes is crushing it when it comes to stolen bases: he's snagged at least one every time he's taken the field this season. Another player making a difference was Camren Carpenter, who went 1-for-3 with one home run and two runs.

Monticello lost a few balls and finished the game with two home runs. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now launched at least two home runs every time they've taken the field this season.

Meanwhile, Grand County fought the good fight in their extra-innings contest against Gunnison Valley on Friday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They might be feeling deja-vu: they lost 6-5 to the Bulldogs, which was the same score (and result) they got the week prior.

Caden Swasey was cooking despite his team's loss, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with one home run and two RBI. Breckin Shepherd also deserves some recognition as he hit his first double of the season.

Monticello's record now sits at 3-0. As for Grand County, their defeat dropped their record down to 3-9.

Grand County's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Monticello has hit smart this season, having averaged an OBP of .541. It's a different story for Grand County, though, as they've only averaged .351. Will they be able to contain Monticello's hitters?

Monticello might still be hurting after the 19-6 loss they got from Grand County in their previous meeting back in April of 2024. Can Monticello avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.

Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps