GRAND JUNCTION - A tough early season schedule has produced benefits for Palisade’s baseball team and starting pitcher Hank Stewart.

Battling through a slate of Class 5A opponents left the Bulldogs with a sub-.500 win-loss record prior to starting Western Slope League play.

That mark changed quickly when Palisade knocked off the league campaign.
Heading into Saturday’s home WSL doubleheader with Steamboat Springs at Suplizio Field, the Bulldogs have won six of their last seven games.

More importantly, Palisade is unbeaten in league with a 4-0 record (5-3 overall) and is currently tied for first place.

Stewart has also turned around his season from a poor beginning.

In his most recent pitching appearance against Battle Mountain, the Bulldogs’ sophomore came within two walks of fashioning a perfect game in a 20-0, mercy rule-shortened win over the Huskies.

In five innings, Stewart tossed a no-hitter with 10 strikeouts. At the plate, Stewart had five hits in two games.

The performance earned him the weekly Gene Taylor’s Sporting Goods Athlete of the Week award. Honorees are chosen by the staff of KTTM (AM 1340) Radio.

Awardees are spotlighted in Friday’s edition of the Free Press, are interviewed by the radio station as part of Thursday’s “Time Out” program and have their photo placed on Gene Taylor’s “Wall of Fame” throughout the current school year’s sports seasons.