Dolores baseball rebuild gains momentum, Bears push toward postseason berth

Dolores baseball is no longer just trying to survive. The real question at the halfway point is whether Brandon Range’s rebuilt Bears can keep this surge alive long enough to turn a hard-earned rebound into a postseason berth.

That question matters in a county of 2,326 people, where the return of varsity baseball has become a marker of community identity as much as a win-loss story. The program had been gone for seven years before Dolores brought it back two years ago, and the youth game was reintroduced in 2020 to help seed the high school revival. Now the Bears are forcing their way into the Class 2A conversation, where 32 teams make the field through the CHSAA Selection and Seeding Index and the eight highest seeds host regionals.

Dolores strengthened its case with a Wednesday sweep of Nucla at Joe Rowell Park, winning 15-5 and 13-10 at the town’s largest park along the Dolores River. The Bears have now scored at least 10 runs in six straight games, and their lineup batting average had climbed to .360, numbers that point to a team that is producing across the order rather than leaning on a single hot bat.

Range, in his first year as head coach, has seen the change show up in how his players carry themselves. The group that once had to rebuild from the bottom up is now playing with the kind of composure that comes from experience together, not just talent. Juniors Declan Warren and Levi Hampton have been central to that rise since stepping into starting roles as freshmen. Warren delivered the program’s first home run in seven years earlier this season, while Hampton has helped anchor the pitching rotation.

Junior Gus Vaughn has become the captain from shortstop and bats in the three-hole, giving Dolores a steady presence in the middle of the lineup. Orin Samulski and Hayden Lancaster have added flexibility on the mound, and younger contributors Branson Lee, Waylon Kiddoo, Isaac Samulski and Kooper Thomas have also helped lift the offense, ranking among the team leaders in on-base percentage.

For a program that disappeared and had to be rebuilt piece by piece, the Bears’ recent run means more than a brief burst of scoring. It has put Dolores back in the playoff race and given a small town reason to believe its baseball future can last.