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Thursday, May 01, 2008

Del Norte Stung by Moriarty

By Harold Smith /
Mountain View Telegraph
      The Moriarty High baseball team bade its seniors farewell with an 11-2 shellacking of Del Norte in a District 5-4A game on the Pintos' home field at the Thomas J. Schnell Complex on Tuesday.
       Each of the six soon-to-be-graduated 12th-graders presented a bouquet of flowers to their respective parents in a post-game ceremony. The seniors included J Stablein, Josh Weaver, Nick Chavez, James Gambling, Ben Gonzales and Jason Watrin.
       Watrin, before the game, also was handed a plaque in recognition of his selection as the State Farm Metro Area player of the week ending April 19.
       Alas, for Moriarty, the victory over the Knights came on the heels of a doubleheader split with district foe Belen. The Eagles, on the Pintos' diamond, edged Moriarty 7-6 in the first game, while the Pintos took the second game, 6-4.
       “Of course, it's disappointing, especially right now,” said Watrin, a 5-11, 195-pound catcher. “We don't like finishing second or third, and we haven't won a district championship since I've been here. But we've still got to play baseball like it's been played here for a long time.”
       Moriarty (16-7, 9-4) will travel to St. Pius for a district twinbill and its final regular-season matchups on Saturday with the games scheduled for 10 a.m. and noon.
       In the past four seasons, 2004-07, the Pintos have always rebounded from a non-title district performance to advance deep into the state playoffs. But that late charge has yet to be realized this season.
       “It's hard to read (this season),” Moriarty coach Michael Chavez said. “I've seen it, too. But I've yet to see it this year. I'm waiting to see that boost at the end. Hopefully, it will happen.”
       Maybe the initial burst was the win over Del Norte, a team that shocked the Pintos 2-1 in the first game of a doubleheader at the Knights' place on April 12. New Mexico's leading home run hitter, Del Norte's Wade Hinkle, did Moriarty in during that game with a two-run homer in the sixth inning.
       But the Pintos weren't about to be burned twice. They intentionally walked Hinkle, who was 0-for-1 at the plate, two times on Tuesday.
       However, what ultimately caused the Knights (9-15, 2-11) to succumb was Moriarty's six-run performance in the bottom of the sixth inning for an 11-2 advantage. The Pintos had seven straight hits with a walk pasted on the end of that streak.
       Watrin's two-RBI double on a fly ball to left field that rolled to the fence, for the game's only extra-base hit, scored Nick Gonzales and Stablein for a 9-2 lead. Max Ruben subsequently zipped a grounder down the first-base line to score two runs for the final tally.
       Watrin is considering playing college ball, possibly at Northern Colorado.
       “I've talked to a couple of schools,” he said. “I've just got to wait and see. The backup plan is I'll go to Northern Colorado just to go to school.”
       The sizzling fastball of Moriarty's Robbie Bell helped quell Del Norte's offensive production in the fourth through seventh innings. Bell had seven strikeouts, allowed no hits and walked one.
       Nick Gonzales was the winning pitcher as Moriarty had a 3-2 lead after three innings. Gonzales had three K's, walked one and hit a batsman. He gave up four hits, all singles.
       Del Norte's staff collectively gave up 14 hits, walked two and struck out one. The Knights, according to the Telegraph's scorebook, were hurt by three errors compared to the Pintos' one.
       Before the Pintos' prolific sixth inning, Ben Gonzales' speedy baserunning kept Del Norte at bay. In the third, the center fielder sprinted to first on a grounder that careened off the glove of Knights pitcher Ben Gallo.
       Gonzales then stole second base and, in the same play, advanced to third when the pickoff throw went awry. He subsequently scored on a Gallo balk to give his team the 3-2 lead.
       Moriarty didn't score in the fourth, stranding three runners. But Gonzales, as the leadoff batter in the bottom of the fifth, took first when he was hit by a pitch, and then stole second before racing home on a base hit via a blooper over the first-base bag by Stablein for a 4-2 lead.
       Stablein followed Gonzales' example. He stole second and went to third on a wild pitch before he scored on a Watrin groundout to third. The Pintos led 5-2.
       Stablein was 3-for-4 at the plate with two RBI, a stolen base and three runs. Ben Gonzales was 2-for-3 with an RBI, two stolen bases and three runs, and Watrin was 1-for-4 with a double and four RBI.
       The Knights were paced by Tim Salazar, 1-for-3 with an RBI and a stolen base.
       The loss to Belen was one of several close games that has befallen Moriarty.
       “That's the fourth one-run game we've lost,” Michael Chavez said. “We'll have a good inning, then two not-so-good innings.”
       The Pintos also beat Class 5A Sandia High 10-9 at the Matadors' field April 24.
   

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