After thumping Cotopaxi and Nucla in the Class 1A District 1 Tournament last weekend, the Dove Creek Bulldogs are heading back to the state tournament.

A home run off the bat of senior Jordan Ernst got the Bulldogs (8-13, 3-6 San Juan Basin League) going in the first inning against Cotopaxi (12-3, 5-1 San Luis Valley).

And from there, the offense found a groove and the Bulldogs finished with 17 hits and 18 runs in an 18-3 thrashing.

Heading into the district championship game, Dove Creek was 0-3 against Nucla (10-11, 5-1 San Juan Basin League) on the season.

But the Bulldogs came through when it counted.

Scott Gatlin and Ernst each homered in the contest, Colin Hobbs finished 3-for-4 with three runs and four RBIs and Dove Creek jumped out to a 5-0 advantage after the first inning and cruised to 14-4 victory.

“I think we were a little more familiar with the pitchers,” head coach Curtis Garver said about facing Nucla for the fourth time this season.

“We just kept our mentality throughout that first game to keep attacking,” he continued. “And in that first inning we got out to a 5-0 lead and it just seemed like Nucla’s heads were dropped and they couldn’t come back.”

Making it even more difficult for the Mustangs to get any sort of an offensive spark was Ernst, who pitched 5 2/3 and finished with 15 strikeouts and just one walk.

“A couple of them were able to get a hold of him,” Garver said of Ernst’s outing. “But he had really good control and his ball was moving so much that they just had trouble with it.”

Now, the Bulldogs find themselves back in the state tournament. And they’ll start things off against the familiar Granada Bobcats (10-2, 5-0 Arkansas Valley).

The Bulldogs took down the Bobcats in last year’s championship game, 8-5.

But this year, the two will meet in the opening round of the state tournament, this Saturday, at All-City Field in Denver at 10 a.m.