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Thursday, April 24, 2008

Battle To the End

By Harold Smith /
Mountain View Telegraph
      The Moriarty High baseball team was involved in a knockdown, drag-out battle on Saturday.
       The third-ranked Pintos upset No. 2 Albuquerque Academy 8-7 and 12-11 in a key District 5-4A doubleheader on the Chargers’ field. Moriarty improved to 13-6, 7-3, and Academy dropped to 10-8-2, 5-2-2.
       The Chargers’ two ties denote their games versus Grants and St. Pius which were postponed in the midst of those contests due to field conditions.
       “I’m getting too old for this,” said Pintos coach Michael Chavez of his cardiac kids’ performance. “But I enjoy it when they come together and play as a team.”
       Moriarty’s boys knew they had to rally if they had any chance of winning the district title after unexpectedly losing earlier to Belen and Del Norte. The Pintos also fell 6-5 to Academy on April 1.
       Moriarty scored six runs in the top of the seventh inning in the first of the twinbill’s games on Saturday for a miracle comeback that included Pinto Chris Fischer’s two-RBI base hit that scored Pat Corr and Max Ruben for an 8-7 lead.
       “It definitely felt good,” said Fischer, a 6-foot, 170-pound sophomore. “And I finally earned a spot on the (varsity) team.”
       Academy pitcher Max Walla was in the groove on the mound in the first six innings. He then was relieved by Kevin Nelson in the top of the seventh with the Chargers leading 7-2, but Walla was reinserted after the Pintos closed to 7-4 with no outs.
       Nick Chavez hit a two-RBI double into left field off Walla. Corr followed with a liner for a single down the third-base line before Andrew Sanchez replaced Walla, Fischer batted, and the Chargers ended the inning with a double play.
       But the damage was done. Moriarty’s Ben Gonzales came in as the closer in the bottom of the inning and finished it by striking out the fourth batter, Kevin Raisch, swinging.
       Chavez, the coach’s brother, was the winning pitcher with five strikeouts, no walks and three hit batsman. He gave up 10 hits.
       Multiple Pintos contributed on offense and defense. But Gonzales’ aura of leadership, especially his confident work on the mound through the first six innings of the second game, willed his team to the win.
       Gonzales had seven strikeouts, walked four and allowed 10 hits. Stablein, his relief in the seventh, had one K, walked two and gave up three singles.
       “Ben is learning to be a leader,” Michael Chavez said. “He’s always led by example on the field, but now he’s learning how to lead on and off the field and during meetings. He’s working hard at it. And he’s hitting around .600, and he’s got an ERA of about .030 (prior to Saturday).”
       Moriarty scored four runs in the fourth inning and three in the sixth of the second game for an 11-6 lead. The Pintos got their 12th run in the seventh on a Nick Chavez single that brought Nick Gonzales home for what turned out to be a much-needed 12-8 cushion.
       The Pintos’ defense and pitcher J Stablein withstood Academy’s three-run rally in the bottom of the seventh.
       “The bottom line is we left a lot of guys on base, including a few times with the bases loaded,” Chargers first-year coach Josué Ayala said.
       In the first game, Ben Gonzales was 2-for-3 batting. Nick Gonzales, Ben’s cousin, was 2-for-3 with a double, and Jason Watrin was 2-for-3 with a double.
       Academy got two home runs, one each from Walla and Nelson, in the first game. Both Chargers had two RBI.
       In the second game, Stablein was 3-for-5, Nick Gonzales was 3-for-5 with a double, Watrin was 3-for-5 with a double, and Nick Chavez was 2-for-4 with a triple. Academy’s Kevin Harrison was 3-for-4 with a homer and four RBI.
       The second game became a little testy with some parents on both sides exchanging retorts. Academy catcher Craig Shul was ejected in the fourth inning.
       Walla, who had nine strikeouts, walked one and gave up eight hits in the first game, replaced Shul at catcher.
       “It was an intense game,” said Walla, a 5-11, 190-pound junior. “You try not to lose your cool, but it’s hard. (The Pintos) are a good team. They’re scrappy. We’ll learn from this.”
       Class 5A Cibola defeated Moriarty 6-1 at the Cougars’ diamond on April 17.
      
       Estancia
       The Bears (13-3, 5-0), who previously clinched a district title and a state playoff berth, handily defeated East Mountain 20-5 in a District 5-2A game at Vista Grande Community Center on Tuesday.
       Estancia also beat Class 3A Laguna-Acoma 4-3 at the Hawks’ field in Casa Blanca on Saturday.
      
       East Mountain
       The Timberwolves (14-5, 0-4 in District 5-2A) defeated Cuba 17-1 in a nondistrict game at Vista Grande on April 17. EMHS also beat the Rams 16-3 in an away game on Monday.
       Santa Rosa defeated East Mountain 15-5 on Friday at the Lions’ field, and, in district play, Estancia sailed past the Timberwolves 20-5 at Vista Grande on Tuesday.
      
       Manzano
       Ninth-ranked Eldorado defeated the Monarchs 9-5 in a District 5-5A game at the Eagle’s field on Tuesday. Rio Grande, which Manzano previously beat 8-7 on April 5, turned the tables and got a 9-3 district win at the Purple Pride’s place on April 17.
   

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BASEBALL Next Up:
       • Manzano hosts Highland, today, 4 p.m.
       • Moriarty at Sandia High, today, 4 p.m.
       • East Mountain vs. Santa Rosa at Vista Grande Community Center, Friday, “ 3 and 5 p.m.
       • Estancia hosts Santa Rosa, Tuesday, 3:30 p.m.