Sports
Lady Pintos Turning Support Role Around

Young Pinto Wins Moriarty Practice Meet

Pintos Finish Opening Tournament in Fourth Place

Sports Shorts

Moriarty Kicks Off Against Pius

Manzano Starts With New Coach

Monarchs Ready for Season

Monarchs Want To Build on 6th-Place Finish at State

Freshman Gives Softball Ol' College Try

EMHS Excited About Gym

More
Sports

HOME	CLASSIFIEDS	OBITUARIES	SPORTS	OPINION

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Tough Week for East Mountains

By Harold Smith
Mountain View Telegraph
      That's all she wrote.
    All four East Mountain Little League all-star baseball teams were eliminated — prior to the championship round — from the District 5 tournament last week. EMLL's three oldest-age-group squads played at Zia Little League's fields at Manzano Mesa Park in southeast Albuquerque while its 9- and 10-year-old team competed on Mile High Little League's fields at Dale Bellamah Park on Juan Tabo near Lomas.
    "If nothing else, we beat Mile High," East Mountain juniors-division coach Ger Demarest told the EMLL parents after their children's loss to Atrisco Valley Little League on Friday. "That's sweeter than anything."
    Juniors vs. 'Thunder High'
    East Mountain's 13- and 14-year-old all-stars got their big 13-6 win over a joint Mile High/Thunderbird team in a losers' bracket first-round game on July 10.
    The score should have been 13-5 as recorded in both the EMLL and Telegraph score books. But the official book listed an erroneous MH/T run in the first inning.
    East Mountain enjoyed a 9-0 lead after 3 1/2 s innings. EMLL was aided by a smart, steady performance from starting pitcher Ray Demarest, who threw a heady mix of curveballs and fastballs.
    The 5-foot-9 East Mountain High School freshman-to-be, who pitched to 28 batters in 5 innings of work for the win, had five strikeouts and gave up 10 hits. He only had one walk.
    "I had some experience this year after playing on this field (in all-stars) last year," said Demarest, the son of Ger Demarest and EMLL President Karen Demarest. "It wasn't as hard. And we only lose two or three from the juniors team. I think we'll have a pretty good team next year."
    Mile High/Thunderbird's fans chanted "Thun-der High, Thun-der High", a reference to the combined nature of their team, as MH/T rallied with four runs in the fifth inning to close to 9-5.
    East Mountain catcher Brian Wade then extended his team's advantage to 10-5 on a grounder up the middle for a base hit that scored his twin brother, Stephen, in the sixth. EMLL got its final three runs in the seventh.
    Jessie Crawford, East Mountain's closer, retired the side to end it.
    Brian Wade also was his team's key player on defense.
    "I just wanted to help my pitchers, provide location, keep them happy, help them get some strikes, keep the ball up," said Wade, a Sandia Prep rising eighth-grader from Cedar Crest. "Then I tried to block the pitches, keep it in front of me as much as I could."
    EMLL's David Danielson, 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run, got the ball rolling as the second batter in the top of the first. His sharply struck fly ball to deep center field produced a double.
    Stephen Wade was 2-for-3 with four stolen bases, an RBI and three runs. Brian Wade was 2-for-4 with two stolen bases, an RBI and two runs.
    "Thunder High" pitchers gave up nine hits, struck out seven and allowed nine walks. Mile High/Thunderbird was hurt by errors and East Mountain's 10 stolen bases.
    Juniors vs. Atrisco
    East Mountain, which lost to Atrisco Valley by a 10-8 margin in its first game on July 7, tried to extend its season during the teams' rematch in a loser's bracket second-round game — one short of the championship round — on Friday. But with Demarest not available, the West Side contingent and its pair of home-run sluggers sent EMLL packing by a score of 17-7 in five innings.
    "If you noticed, (Atrisco) put (Dennis Chavez and Matthew Molina, the home-run hitters) together in the lineup this time so we couldn't pitch around them," East Mountain manager Brian Padilla said. "But as far as our guys, they played hard, played until the last out. That's the main thing at this level. It's Little League, not club ball or high school ball. The main thing is they didn't give up."
    Brian Wade was EMLL's leader at 3-for-3 with a double, three stolen bases, two RBI and a run. Crawford, an Edgewood Middle School eighth-grader-to-be, was 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a run.
    "We did pretty good," Crawford said. "It was fun."
    Majors
    East Mountain's 11- and 12-year-old all-stars trounced Thunderbird 10-0 in a losers' bracket first-round contest on July 9. Grant Storey, a Roosevelt Middle School rising eighth-grader, pitched all five innings.
    Storey struck out 11, gave up three hits and walked one. Meanwhile, his teammates had six hits, struck out five times and walked seven times.
    For EMLL, second baseman Anderson Hotz was 1-for-1 with two RBI.
    "It was a great game," said Hotz, a Prince of Peace Lutheran School seventh-grader-to-be. "We started out slow, but the pitching pulled us through."
    Joe Sava and Derrick Merkey were both 1-for-3, each with an RBI and two runs. Sava, East Mountain's catcher and a South Mountain Elementary rising sixth-grader, also played for the Moriarty Baseball League's champion 12-and-under Express before the all-stars tourney began.
    "We were a lot more stiff in the first game (a 4-1 loss to Atrisco on July 7)," EMLL manager Jeff Wemple said after the victory. "We have three really great pitchers, but we won't have Grant in the next game."
    Zia ousted East Mountain 10-0 on July 10.
    10- and 11-year-olds
    East Mountain's "tweener" age-group team also earned one district win. EMLL beat Atrisco Valley 14-6 in a losers' bracket first-round game on July 10.
    EMLL starting pitcher Craig Martin got the win. He and reliever Kienan Dorey had four strikeouts apiece.
    Batting, Dorey was 4-for-4 with a triple and a double. Duncan McLelland was 3-for-3 with two doubles.
    "They did great," East Mountain manager Eric Tolleson said. "I think after they lost that first game (13-0 to Mile High on July 7), they came around very well and played fantastic."
    Mile High eliminated EMLL 15-8 on Friday.
    "It was a good stepping stone for our players," Tolleson said. "For most of them, it was their first time in all-stars."
    Minors
    East Mountain lost both of its two district games. Atrisco's No. 2 squad dismissed EMLL 14-6 on July 9.
    "We came out strong; it was just the errors," East Mountain manager Isaac Padilla said. "They're young, 9- and 10-year-olds. They did good. Now, I get a week off, and then I start coaching YAFL."
   

---