TUCSON - The Douglas Bulldogs bounced back from Friday’s 6-2 loss to Amphi, the No. 1 team in the state, to beat the Catalina Trojans 8-1 Monday in a key Gila Regional game.

The two teams had been tied for second place in the Gila Region going into the game.

Jesus Lopez was the winning pitcher for Douglas going six and two-thirds innings, giving up one run off three hits while fanning nine, walking two and hitting two. Lopez lost the shutout with two out in the bottom of the seventh.

Adrian Romo threw one–third of an inning in relief.

The Bulldogs struck first with a run in the top of the second when Hector Grijalva scored on an error giving Douglas a 1-0 lead.

The Bulldogs tacked on two more runs in the third when Zaul Tapia and Fabian Ochoa each scored on Catalina errors.

Going into the top of the sixth the Bulldogs had scored three runs off three hits but that inning saw Douglas rally for four runs off five hits.

AJ Acosta started things off with a solo home run to left center field increasing the Dogs leads to 4-0. Three more runs that inning increased Douglas’ lead to 7-0.

Acosta scored again in the top of the seventh increasing the Dogs lead to 8-0.

Lopez left the game with two-outs in the bottom of the seventh, a runner on third and the top of Catalina’s line-up just ahead.

Romo came in and balked to start his stint on the hill giving Catalina it’s only run of the game.

The Bulldogs finished the game with 10 hits. Ochoa and Acosta each were 3 for 4 with Ochoa having a double and an RBI and Acosta a home run and two RBI’s. Kyle Cormier was 2 for 4 with a double and two RBI’s and Jesus Salazar and George Hurtado each were 1 for 4.

Douglas’ baseball coach Gilbert Rojas said this was a game his team had to have if they hoped to have any chance of catching Amphi who had beaten Catalina earlier now putting the Trojans two games back of Amphi and one game back of Douglas as they drop to third place in the Gila Region a game .

“We couldn’t afford to fall behind Catalina,” the coach said. “I thought Jesus did an excellent job for us today on the hill.”

This was the third straight game where the Bulldog defense played well and the pitchers stepped up giving the bullpen some much needed rest.

“We’re starting to take care of the ball better,” the coach said. “This was a good win for us.”

The Bulldogs, 5-1 in league play, 12-9 overall, are off until Friday when they head to Rio Rico to begin the second half of league play.

Junior varsity

Douglas' JV's beat Catalina's JV's 4-2 Monday at Copper King Stadium.

Victor Machado was the winning pitcher going five innings and giving up two runs off six hits while fanning four and walking six.

Chris Mariscal threw two innings in relief giving up no runs off one hit while fanning three.

Catalina led 2-0 after scoring twice in the top half of the first.

The Bulldogs came back with a run in the bottom half of the inning and then took the lead in the fourth with a two-run rally. Another run in the fifth increased Douglas' lead to 4-2.

JR Granados hit 2 for 2 with a double and an RBI for Douglas. Mauro Dominquez was 2 for 3 and Morgan Ramirez, Estevan Daniels and Jesus Cuevas each were 1 for 3 with Ramirez having an RBI and Daniels a triple.

"We were able to put together an overall good game," Douglas' coach Levi Salazar said. "The defense played well. We had some key hits and Chris shutdown Catalina at the end."