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Thursday, July 17, 2008

Express Places 5th at State Tourney

By Harold Smith
Mountain View Telegraph
      The New Mexico Express, the Moriarty Baseball League champion, took a respectable fifth place at the 12-team state American Amateur Baseball Congress 12-and-under tournament in Las Cruces.
    "This season, they played the best ball they've ever played," Express coach Rhett Butler said of his boys.
    The Express defeated the Milan Angels 5-2 in a first-round game at the Pee Wee Reese division competition Friday. Justin Woodhouse was the winning pitcher.
    For Moriarty, Joe Sava, who rejoined the Express after his East Mountain Little League All-Star team was eliminated from the District 5 tournament, was 2-for-4 with a triple, and R.J. Butler, the coach's son, and Juan Martinez were 2-for-4 with a double apiece.
    The New Mexico Stars, who hail from Mesquite, then beat the Express 14-2 on Saturday. Elijah Diaz had a triple for the Moriarty squad.
    "We were only behind 4-1 after four innings," Rhett Butler said.
    The Express, with pitcher Andrew Lucero getting the victory and Woodhouse throwing five solid innings in relief, rallied to down the Santa Fe Storm 8-7 on Saturday. Lucero was 3-for-3 with a double, R.J. Butler and Sava were 2-for-2, and Woodhouse was 2-for-3.
    The El Paso Padres ousted the Express 20-3 on Sunday. Isiah Garcia was 2-for-2 with a double.
    "We just ran out of gas in the fourth inning," Rhett Butler said. "The game, going into the fourth, was tied at 3. We just had some wild play. And it was hot out there."
    The Stars ultimately won the state title.
    "Now, we're going to be the hosts for the (AABC South Plains) regional Pee Wee tournament starting (today)," Butler said.
    The South Plains area consists of Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.
    "The thing is none of the other states are sending a representative this year," said Butler, who is also the MBL president. "The Four Corners area (which is considered a state by itself) is sending a couple of teams, and then there will be teams from our state."
    The expected visitors include the Farmington Athletics, Aztec Lightning, Las Cruces' Lookouts and Bats, and Santa Fe's Xtreme and Sliders. The Express and the Estancia Bears will also participate.
    "The regional champ goes to Puerto Rico for the (AABC) World Series starting Aug. 7," Butler said.
    12U D'Backs
    The Estancia Diamondbacks, the MBL runners-up, went 1-2 at the state tournament in Las Cruces.
    "I think we finished in about eighth place," D'Backs coach Randy Archibeque said. "That's the season for us. A few of the boys are going out of town."
    At state, the Lookouts defeated Estancia 19-1 on Friday. The Diamondbacks rebounded to beat the Las Cruces Yankees 6-5 on Saturday..
    The El Paso Lobos subsequently eliminated Estancia 17-0 on Saturday.
    "We played good, but it was the same as always without hits, no bats," Archibeque said. "And we had silly errors."
    The D'Backs beat the Express 7-4 — prior to the title round — during the MBL tournament June 29.
    "When we played as a team, we could beat anyone," Archibeque said. "The first part of the season we went 11-0. But I don't think that was a good thing. We beat the Santa Fe Xtreme and a couple of Española teams. But I think it went to the kids' heads."
    12U Bears
    The Estancia Bears, third in the MBL, lost both of their games at the state competition.
    The Lookouts blanked Estancia 8-0 on Friday. The Storm edged the Bears 3-2 on Saturday.
    "They played some good ball at state," Estancia coach Leonard Lujan said. "Our bats weren't there, but they played some good defense."
    The Bears opted to compete at regionals.
    "We're going to try it one more time," Lujan said. "It's all for (the players). If they want to play, we're going to let them."
    9U Bears
    The Estancia Bears, the state AABC Jackie Robinson division state champions, arrived safely in Tulsa, Okla., in preparation for the 9U World Series, Bears coach Frank Cantu said via telephone Monday night.
    The bracket matchups were to be decided during a coach's meeting scheduled Tuesday night, and Estancia's first game was to be played sometime late Wednesday, Cantu said.
   

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