By Harold Smith
Mountain View Telegraph
The Estancia High baseball players are relaxed, even a bit laid-back as they await yet another shot at a state Class 2A title.
The two-time defending state champion Bears, who won their third straight District 5-2A crown this season, are in the midst of a 13-day respite from competition as they await the selection of a state quarterfinal opponent during today's New Mexico Activities Association seeding committee meeting. Estancia (14-3) earned a bye past the regionals — played Tuesday in Tucumcari and Eunice — due to their district-champion status and will play a state quarterfinal game either at La Cueva or Eldorado on Monday.
Though the Bears persevered for the school's first baseball title despite a two-week layoff before the state tournament in 2006, rustiness remains a concern for Estancia's first-year, rookie head coach, Mike Cabber.
“But this week off might have been good for us,” Cabber said. “We're getting some good, hard practices in. It might have been a blessing to not have any games scheduled.”
The Bears' final regular-season game was played at home on April 29. They defeated district-foe Santa Rosa 19-10.
Blustery, wet weather delayed Estancia's 4:30 p.m. practice on Monday and, for a while, forced the team to practice inside the gym. But the team eventually moved outside when the precipitation lessened.
“I do think the layoff could hurt us,” said the Bears' 5-foot-9, 160-pound pitcher and center fielder, Clayton Gardner. “But I still think we can get it done. It's just different in practice. You can't get the game mentality.”
The key to success, as it was in 2006 and 2007, probably resides with the teams' five seniors.
“They've got more of a role than the other players,” Cabber said. “They've been there. They've got the experience.”
Then, with a chuckle, the coach added: “They're the ones who will have to calm me down.”
Gardner is Estancia High's senior-class valedictorian with a 4.22 grade-point average.
“I see a lot of the same things with this team as with the team from the last two years,” Gardner said. “We have some senior leadership, we have some good underclassmen, and we hit the ball.”
Indeed, putting the bat on the baseball in Class 2A traditionally has been the most important thing.
“It's the same thing we've said all season,” Cabber said. “We've got to hit the ball and have fun while we're doing it. Hitting and keeping it fun is the key for us. If we hit good, we seem to field good, too.”
Winning much of the time might have a lot to do with it, but “having fun” as their unofficial motto does differentiate the Bears from a lot of other prep teams, which at times act as if they're literally on the verge of slitting their wrists after a loss.
“It's different here,” said Isaiah Ortiz, a 5-7, 155-pound senior pitcher/outfielder/shortstop from Chilili who played for Manzano High for three years before transferring. “It's more fun here. At Manzano, it was more serious. Everyone was serious. It's more about having fun here.”
Not that Estancia's players don't get disappointed with themselves on occasion.
“The main purpose, definitely, is to have fun,” said Steven Gregory, the team's 5-9, 165-pound senior first baseman. “It kind of defeats the purpose otherwise. It ruins the game. But we did get mad at ourselves after we lost to Tucumcari ( 10-4 on April 5, the Bears' last defeat), but our coach helped us through that.”
Estancia will enter the playoffs on a seven-game winning streak, including a 6-0 run through its district schedule.
“It's the same old team,” said Bears senior Robert Chavez, a 6-2, 230-pound third baseman, who also earned a District 8-2A javelin title with the EHS track and field squad on Saturday. “There's some different guys, but it's the same old team. We all get along.”
The other district champions in the mix this year are Mesa Vista, Pecos, Texico, Lordsburg and Loving.
“We just need to play as a team, not get down on ourselves, like if we mess up with an error,” said Bears senior Michael Hill, a 5-7, 125-pound right fielder. “And we've got to hit the ball.”
The Bears' roster also lists juniors Luis Almanza, Stefan Newsom, Peter Romero and John Torres; sophomores Jorge Quintana and Noah Sedillo; and freshmen Lawrence Chavez, Destry Oberg, Isaac Sanchez and Isaiah Sedillo. Newsom and Noah Sedillo earned all-state honors in 2007.
The 2A state championship game will be played Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. in Isotopes Park. The semifinals will be held Tuesday, 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., at Eldorado.
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