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Thursday, March 27, 2008

T'Wolves Win First Tourney Title Ever

By Harold Smith
Mountain View Telegraph
    The East Mountain High baseball team won its first tournament title in school history.
    "The best we did (previously) was when we took fourth last year at the Thoreau tournament," Timberwolves coach David Naylor said. "I really feel good about this team. Now they realize they can go out there and win."
    East Mountain (5-1) defeated Cimarron 10-6 in the championship game of the Tucumcari Tournament on Saturday.
    The T'Wolves defeated the host Rattlers' junior varsity 17-8 in the first round on Friday. They followed that with an 8-7 win over Tucumcari's varsity squad in the semifinals on Saturday.
    EMHS juniors Rian Padilla and Marco Grieco were named to the all-tourney team. Padilla was the winning pitcher in the last two games.
    "I am proud that we played well enough to get our first first-place finish, and that every player contributed across the board," Naylor wrote in an e-mail Monday.
    East Mountain will open District 5-2A play at Estancia on April 11. The Timberwolves were 0-6 in district last season.
    "I'm excited to see where we're at in district," Naylor said in a telephone interview later on Monday. "Our pitching has been very consistent. We've been giving up less walks, and our batters have been patient and are walking more. I think the games will be competitive this year. Our district will still be tough, but we can beat them, and they can beat us."
    The T'Wolves' road game versus Hot Springs in Truth or Consequences, originally scheduled for Tuesday, was postponed. A new date has not yet been set.
    Estancia
    The Bears just keep on winnin'.
    The two-time defending Class 2A state champions are 6-0 under their third rookie head coach in as many years.
    Estancia, now coached by Mike Cabber, won the Dexter tournament with a 14-11 finals victory over Santa Rosa on Saturday. The Bears will later face those same Lions in District 5-2A play on April 15.
    To get to the finals, EHS defeated Roswell's Valley Christian 15-10 in the first round on March 20 and beat the host Blue Demons 16-12 in the semifinals on Friday. Scores were provided by Bears assistant coach Sam Chavez.
    "Hitting, that's the difference with this team (in recent years)," Cabber said. "They are a good hitting team."
    Estancia subsequently edged Class 3A Dexter 10-9 in a nontourney game at the Bears' field on Tuesday.
    "We definitely saw some things that disappointed us about our play during the (latest) Dexter game," Cabber said. "We were down by three runs going into our last at bats. But we went up to the plate and scored four runs with no outs for the win."
   
Manzano
    The Monarchs (4-5) are on a three-game winning streak after blanking Gallup High 6-0 in the McKinley County seat on Tuesday.
    "I like that kind of a streak better," said Manzano coach Jim Briggs, whose team had dropped five straight games from March 7 to 20.
    The Monarchs defeated Highland 8-1 in the consolation finals of the eight-team Albuquerque Public Schools Invitational on Saturday at Sandia High's field. Manzano beat West Mesa 11-1 in the losers-bracket semifinals on Friday.
    "We've got to continue to get better," Briggs said. "We'll find out (today) against Rio Rancho how far we've come."
    The host Matadors edged the Monarchs 11-10 in the APS tourney first round March 20.