TUCSON – The Douglas Bulldogs came close to overcoming an eight run deficit falling 10-7 to the Tucson High Badgers Wednesday in a non-conference game.

The loss was the second straight for Douglas.

Bulldog starting pitcher Fabian Ochoa had difficulty finding the strike zone Wednesday giving up seven runs off one hit and eight walks to Tucson High as the Badgers jumped out to a 7-0 lead.

The Bulldogs finally scored a run in the third making the score 7-1.

Tucson High responded with two runs in the bottom half of the third increasing their lead to 9-1.

Down 10-2 the Bulldogs rallied for three runs in the fifth inning before tacking on two more in the seventh pulling within three.

Ochoa would get the loss for Douglas lasting just two-thirds of an inning before giving way to AJ Acosta who threw four and third innings giving up three runs off four hits. Nick Flores closed out the game throwing one inning and giving up no hits.

Douglas had nine hits in the game as Jesus Salazar hit 2 for 4 with a double and a home run. Hector Grijalva was also 2 for 3, Zaul Tapia 1 for 2, Acosta and Jerry Altamirano each were 1 for 3 and Ochoa and Ryan Valencia were both 1 for 4.

Douglas’ baseball coach Gilbert Rojas said his team almost pulled it out.

“We got off to a rough start and were unable to catch up,” he said

The coach said his pitchers continue to have some tired arms from the two tournaments the Bulldogs just competed in.

“AJ did a great job for us,” the coach said. “He gave us a chance to come back – we almost did.”

The coach said overall he was pleased with his kids battled back after the first inning debacle.

The Bulldogs, 7-5, will host Nogales Friday at 4 p.m. at Copper King Stadium.

Junior varsity

In junior varsity action Tuesday Douglas’ JV’s beat Cholla’s JV’s 10-7.

Mark Alday started the game for Douglas on the hill and went two and a third innings giving up five runs off one hit and six walks. Emmanuel Verdugo came on in relief and picked up the win throwing two and two-thirds innings giving up no runs off no hits. Victor Gomez relieved Verdugo on the hill.

Douglas used a three run first to take a 3-0 lead.

Cholla responded with four runs in the second taking a 4-3 lead.

Douglas pushed two runs across the plate in the second taking a 5-4 lead only to see Cholla tie the game with a run in the top of the third.

The Bulldogs regained the lead scoring once in the bottom of the third before tacking on two more runs in the fourth and fifth innings taking a 10-5 lead.

Morgan Ramirez hit 2 for 3 with a double and two RBI’s for Douglas. Joel Barredo was 1 for 2 with a double and two RBI’s, Armando Corrales and Francisco Peralta each were 1 for 3 with an RBI and Pedro Cruz was 1 for 4 with two RBI’s.

Douglas’ JV coach Levi Salazar said Emmanuel did a good job of coming in and shutting down Cholla’s hitters allowing the Bulldogs to regain the lead.

“We were able to get the hits when we needed them,” the coach said.

Freshmen

Douglas’ freshmen beat Nogales’ freshmen 13-7 Wednesday in Nogales.

Tony Young started the game for Douglas and went four plus innings giving up seven runs off five hits while fanning four and walking six.

Estevan Daniel threw three innings in relief and gave up no runs off three hits while fanning two and failing to allow a walk.

The Bulldogs led 8-0 going into the bottom of the third when Nogales scored two runs making the score 8-2.

The Bulldogs responded with three runs in the fourth increasing their lead to 11-2.

Young ran into a little bit of trouble in the fifth as Nogales rallied for five runs making the score 11-7.

Douglas closed out the game with two runs in the sixth.

The Bulldogs had 12 hits in the game. Young was 3 for 3, Hunter Long 3 for 4 and Juan Ruiz 2 for 3.

Douglas’ freshmen coach Bosco Selchow said his players had some really good solid hits Wednesday and did a good job of putting the ball in play.

“I was really pleased with how we hit the ball today,” the coach said.

The coach said his team did make four errors in the game and it seemed like every error resulted in at least one run for Nogales.

“It was a very good game on our part,” the coach said.

The Bulldogs, 3-1, are off for two weeks now returning to action March 26 when they host Tucson High in a 4 p.m. game at Copper King Stadium.