The Douglas Bulldogs went 2-2 at the Bulldog Baseball Classic this past weekend at Copper King Stadium.

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The Bulldogs played against Buena, Cesar Chavez High School out of Phoenix and Hermosillo.

Buena and Cesar Chavez are both now coached by former Douglas Bulldogs Johnny Bess and Serge Acosta. Bess was unable to come down for the tournament however having previous obligations.

The Bulldogs opened up the tournament taking on the Colts and losing 9-6. On Saturday the Dogs battled back from a 5-0 first inning deficit to beat Cesar Chavez 12-11. Right after that game Douglas was shutout 6-0 by Hermosillo.

At the end of pool play Saturday a one game match up was played Sunday. The Bulldogs came back and pummeled Hermosillo 15-0 in a game that was stopped in the second inning by time limit.

Buena won the tournament beating Cesar Chavez 11-1.

Bulldog baseball coach Gilbert Rojas said he had only three players, Grant Watkins, Fernando Rojas, Blaze Rose and Kirt Cormier from last years varsity team; all the rest were JV or freshmen players.

The coach said this was a good opportunity for not only him to see how these kids play but also them to see how the level of play is faster at the varsity.

“At first I think a lot of these kids really didn’t know what to expect,” he said. “We made some errors early on which hurt. I’m hoping we won’t be making those same mistakes in March.”

Coach Rojas said a lot of his players were a little timid but he felt this was a good experience for them and he’s hoping they will learn from it.

“It was also a good opportunity for them to play in front of the home town crowd,” he said. “We’re going to be playing on the road most of the summer.”

Rojas has his kids playing in the Connie Mack League in Tucson. Between now and the end of July the Bulldogs should have an estimated 20 games under their belt.

“We have a lot of youth; a lot of inexperience but I also saw a lot of good things,” he said. “It’s a learning process.”