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Thursday, March 20, 2008

Estancia Bears Off to Quick Start on the Diamond

By Harold Smith
Mountain View Telegraph
    The two-time Class 2A reigning state champion Estancia High baseball team— with its third rookie head coach in three years— is off to a 2-0 start.
    The Bears defeated Pecos 14-2 and 15-4 in a doubleheader at the Panthers' field on Monday.
    "I definitely think that a lot of the players had first-game jitters, but that went away after the first few pitches," EHS coach Mike Cabber, formerly of the American Amateur Baseball Congress' Estancia Bears youth club, said.
    "But the coach had nerves of steel," Cabber added with a chuckle.
    "Nah," Cabber continued. "I had some jitters, too, as a first-year coach. But (assistant coaches) Eddie Candelas and Sam Chavez are helping me get through it."
    Clayton Gardner was the winning pitcher in the first game. Lawrence Chavez was the victor in the second.
    "I used three pitchers in two games," Cabber said. "Clayton— he's a senior— started the first game. He played three innings. The game only went four innings. Lawrence Chavez, a freshman, pitched the fourth inning, and he started the second game, which started five minutes after the first game ended."
    Freshman Destry Oberg came to the mound in relief in the second game.
    Estancia will compete in the three-day Dexter tournament this weekend, beginning today.
   
East Mountain High
    The Timberwolves (2-1) split their opening home doubleheader against Pecos, which was played at Vista Grande Community Center on March 12.
    EMHS won the first game 19-10. The Panthers took the second contest 9-1 in a five-inning game that ended early because of darkness.
    T'Wolf Rian Padilla was the winning pitcher in Game 1. Andrew Ganger had two home runs, and Jeff Delanoy also smacked a homer.
    In the second game, Ganger was the pitcher. He hit a solo home run in the losing effort.
    East Mountain subsequently defeated Monte del Sol 18-9 at Santa Fe's Fort Marcy Park on Tuesday. EMHS coach David Naylor said pitcher Marco Grieco got the victory.
    The Timberwolves will play in the two-day Tucumcari tournament starting Friday.
   
Moriarty High
    The Pintos (3-2) took third place at the Farmington tournament with an 18-3 victory over Erie (Colo.) at Ricketts Park on Saturday.
    Moriarty defeated Vernal (Utah) Uintah 13-3 in a first-round contest March 13. But Aurora (Colo.) Cherokee Trail beat the Pintos 8-5 in the semifinals Friday.
    "I'm pleased that we got two wins, but you always want to get to the championship game," Moriarty coach Michael Chavez said. "We had another bad inning against Cherokee Trail— they were the 4A champs in Colorado— like we did against La Cueva (a 5-3 loss at the Bears' field March 11).
   
Manzano High
    The Monarchs (1-4) fell in their two most recent games.
    Valley defeated Manzano 17-1 at the Vikings' field March 13. La Cueva beat the Monarchs 10-2 Friday.
    Manzano will compete in the three-day Albuquerque Public Schools Invitational. The competition starts today.