The Rifle Bears will head out to face off against the Montrose Red Hawks at 10:00 a.m. on Friday. Rifle will be strutting in after a victory while Montrose will be coming in after a loss.
Rifle took a loss when they played away from home on Wednesday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Monday. They walked away with a 12-7 win over Mountain View. The high-flying hitting performance was a huge turnaround for the Bears considering their two-run performance the game before.
Ryder Bjurstrom made a splash no matter where he played. On the mound, he struck out nine batters over six innings while giving up just one earned (and five unearned) runs off six hits. That's the most strikeouts he has posted since back in April of 2024. He was also big at the plate, scoring a run and stealing Two bases. while going 1-for-2.
Robbie Magnuson
| 03/17/25 vs Mountain View | 3 |
| 05/11/24 @ Battle Mountain | 2 |
| 03/08/25 vs Basalt | 1 |
| 05/01/24 @ Roaring Fork | 1 |
| 04/20/24 vs Eagle Valley | 1 |
In other batting news, Robbie Magnuson was incredible, scoring three runs and stealing Two bases. while going 2-for-3. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in RBI (three). Another player making a difference was Josh Wright, who scored a run while going 3-for-4.
Meanwhile, Montrose came up short against Summit on Friday, falling 14-7. The Red Hawks have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Montrose also got a good showing from Brekin Hutto, who tossed three innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off two hits.
On the hitting side, Montrose saw six different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Cade Saunders, who scored two runs and stole Three bases. while going 1-for-2. Aadin Gonzales also deserves some recognition as he snagged his first stolen base of the season.
Rifle's first victory this season bumped their record up to 1-2. As for Montrose, they now have a losing record of 2-3.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Rifle has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.7 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Montrose struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.4 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one. Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more baseball content.
