DOLORES – The Dolores baseball team is carving its own path to success.
When a once‑proud Dolores High School baseball tradition was discontinued seven years ago, the current roster’s players were still in elementary school. With the departure of the program also went the role models for future Bears baseball players.
When the program hit the reset button two years ago, an incoming group of underclassmen took on the task of rebuilding the black‑and‑red tradition from the ground up. Two years later, that group has grown into its role, learning lessons through an inaugural junior varsity season in 2024 and its first year back at the varsity level last spring.
First‑year head coach Brandon Range and his staff have the Bears humming, winners of five of their last six games and squarely in the mix for one of the 2A classification’s 32 playoff spots.
The Bears (5‑6) lean on a deep junior class whose confidence continues to grow with each game. Gus Vaughn serves as captain from shortstop and hits in the three‑hole in Range’s batting order. He leads a lineup batting .360 as a team, a number that continues to climb as the Bears pile up runs.
With 15‑5 and 13‑10 wins over Nucla on Wednesday afternoon at Joe Rowell Park, Dolores extended its streak of scoring at least 10 runs to six straight games. After a rigorous start to the schedule, the Bears offense has taken off, and that momentum has spread throughout the lineup, according to Range.
“Our guys’ maturity has helped them to relax and remember how to play the game,” said Range. “And when it clicked for them, they did it as a group – it wasn’t just one person.”
Juniors Declan Warren and Levi Hampton have been anchors since stepping into starting roles as freshmen. Warren blasted the program’s first home run in seven years earlier this season, while Hampton joins Vaughn at the front end of the Bears’ pitching rotation.
Juniors Orin Samulski and Hayden Lancaster have also been staples in the starting nine, with both showing versatility on the mound.
“Each of our leaders has a different personality, and those balance each other out – and that’s what we need to play competitive baseball,” Range said.
The sophomore and freshman classes have followed the upperclassmen’s lead. Branson Lee and Waylon Kiddoo from the Class of ’28, along with first‑year players Isaac Samulski and Kooper Thomas, rank among the team leaders in on‑base percentage.
“Our guys have learned to have high expectations for themselves and for each other, and they’ve been able to keep positive energy,” Range said, attributing the team’s mentality to its success on the field.
Aggressive early‑count approaches have the Bears ready to attack quality pitches, and their contact and power numbers have risen accordingly. After pulling away with a seven‑run sixth inning to secure a mercy‑rule win in the opener against the Mustangs, the Bears’ offense continued to shine in the second game. Vaughn and Warren each drove in a run in the first inning to build a 2‑0 lead, and Hampton and Lee followed with back‑to‑back RBI hits in the second to extend the margin to 5‑1.
Lancaster added an RBI sacrifice fly in the third, then Vaughn’s single and Kiddoo’s double drove in runs in the fourth to make it 10‑2. Hampton’s strong five‑inning outing kept Nucla in check before the Mustangs rallied for seven runs in the later innings to cut the deficit to one. Dolores responded with three runs in the sixth to secure the victory.
Isaac Samulski went 8‑for‑8 at the plate across the two games, while Thomas and Kiddoo each posted 6‑for‑8 days in the doubleheader. The Bears finished with 32 hits in the sweep. Vaughn earned the complete‑game win in the opener, and Lancaster recorded the final six outs of game two to support Hampton’s victory.
The surge has propelled Dolores up the 2A standings in the CHSAA Seeding and Selection Index. The Bears enter Friday’s April 17 doubleheader against Ignacio ranked No. 33 in the state. An 11‑10 extra‑inning walk‑off win over the Bobcats on April 11 gave Dolores the season‑series edge and a major boost in its bid to win the San Juan Basin.
“We’ve been through so much as a team,” Range said. “And that win just showed how much growth we’ve made as a program.”
Dolores returns home Monday, April 20, for a rubber match with Dove Creek at 2 p.m. after the teams split a doubleheader April 7. The Bears also face Center on April 23 and fellow playoff contender Del Norte on April 25 in a stretch that could push them into the postseason field.
