2016 U.S. BankState Baseball Championships

Melrose Wins Second Straight A/2A State Baseball Championship

The Melrose Buffaloes successfully defended their state title with a 4-0 win over McCurdy in the 2016 U.S. Bank A/2A State Baseball Championships. Melrose finished the year 17-4 overall, while McCurdy ended their 2016 campaign at 21-4.

The story of the game was Melrose pitcher Wyatt Williams who threw a no-hitter against the Bob-cats, striking out 13 batters, walking just two in the 23 batters he faced.

The Buffaloes jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first, recording three base hits in the inning. With the score already 2-0 and one out with the bases loaded, Cord-ell Northrup ripped a single to score two, pushing their lead to 4-0.

It proved to be all Williams would need, re-tiring 18 of the next 20 batters he faced.

The Bobcats, starter Matthew Martinez, allowed four runs on three hits in the bot-tom of the first. Alejandro Croff of McCurdy came into the game in the second and al-lowed just one hit the rest of the way with nine strikeouts, walking just one.

Texico Earns First Blue Trophy in Baseball

The Texico Wolverines (25-4) defeated the Pecos Panthers (17-11) 6-2 in the 2016 U.S. Bank 3A State Baseball Championships. It was the first state championship in baseball for the Wolverines in school history.

Nathan Phipps and Ben Crist led Texico on the mound, each allowing just one run between them. Combined, the duo had seven strikeouts and allowed seven hits on the day. Phipps also had a great day at the plate, going 3-for-5 with four RBIs and a run scored.

Six of the Texico starters scored in the game and eight had at least one hit.

For the Panthers, Daniel Saenz started the game, going two innings, allowing five runs on five hits and striking out one batter. Arturo Archuleta came in relief for Pecos and threw five innings of work, striking out seven batters and allowing just one run.

Texico scored three runs in the first. Phipps led the way with a two run single and was later driv-en in by Matt Odegaard, to give the Wolverines a 3-0 lead. In the second, Texico added two more runs to push their lead to 5-0. Brock Thompson led off the inning, reaching base after being hit by a pitch. He then advanced to third on a single by Brayden Wines. With runners on the corners, Phipps hit his second single of the game, scoring two.

Neither team could add a run in the third as the Wolverines continued to lead 5-0. Two errors in the top of the fourth by Pecos allowed Tanner Dickenson to reach base and advance to third be-fore a single by Cole Rohrbach pushed the sixth run across.

The Panthers finally got on the board in the bottom of the fourth, making it 6-1. To-mas Duran doubled to start the inning and scored on a Saenz single. The Pecos de-fense held in the top half of the fifth, as the Panthers scored again to make it 6-2 after five. Cameron Quintana singled to start the bottom half of the inning and scored on a double from Archuleta.

But the Texico pitching was too much over that last two innings of play, as the Wol-verines held on to win 6-2 and capture the school’s first blue trophy in baseball.

Sandia Prep Repeats as State 4A Champions

The Sandia Prep Sundevils (27-4) repeated as the Class 4A state baseball champions, behind an-other brilliant pitching performance by Joe Martinez, defeating the Portales Rams (23-7), 13-0, at the 2016 U.S. Bank State Baseball Championships.

Martinez, who threw a perfect game in the 2015 state championship game, allowed the Rams just two hits the entire game. He struck out seven batters on the day, allowed no runs, no walks and retired 21 of the 23 batters he faced. In fact, Martinez did not allow a hit or a base runner in the last four innings of the game.

Offensively, the Sundevils were led by Mike Snow, who went 4-of-5 from the plate with three singles and a double, while scoring two runs. Sean Jarvis also had a good day with the bat in his

hands, going 3-for-4 with three runs scored, as Garrett Cleavall was just 1-for-4 but scored three runs.

Jacob Salgado and Chris Aranda each singled for the Rams but Martinez’s pitching was too much for Portales.

Sandia Prep opened up the scoring in the second, scoring three and held that lead until the top of the fifth, adding two more runs, making it 5-0. Two more runs in the top of the sixth pushed the score to 7-0, as the Rams continued to struggle at the plate.

In the top half of the seventh, the Sundevils put the game out of reach, scoring six addi-tional runs, making the score 13-0.

Centennial Claims First Baseball Title

The Centennial Hawks (25-6) defeated the Goddard Rockets (27-4), 5-4, in the 2016 U.S. Bank State 5A State Baseball Championship game. It was the first state title in the sport of baseball for the Hawks and the second straight year the Rockets had made the championship game.

Junior Pena led the Hawks at the plate, going 3-for-4 with an RBI and one run scored, while Jes-se Watson and Julian Seniceros were both 2-for-3. Watson scored one run and recorded an RBI, while Seniceros score two runs for the Hawks. Manny Cachora was 2-for-4 at the plate with two singles and an RBI.

Sergio Lucero got the start for Centennial, going six complete innings, allowing three runs on five hits, while striking out five batters. Pena came in relief for the Hawks, allowing one run on one hit and walking three batters.

Goddard was let by Cal Villareal, who was 2-for-3 in the game, scoring one run, while Gaylon Yound went 1-for-4 with a run scored and two RBI.

Cameron Stevenson started the game for the Rockets, going three and two-thirds in-nings, allowing two runs on five hits, while striking out two batters. Ethan Coombes pitched three innings and saw two batters in the seventh, allowing no runs on four hit. Young came in relief in the bottom of the seventh, giving up three runs on two hits with one hit batter.

The Rockets jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first. Stevenson singled to start the game, followed by a Villareal walk to put runners at first and second. Young then doubled to score Stevenson and Villareal. Derek Farmer then tripled to score Young from second, giving Goddard a 3-0 lead.

The score remained 3-0 until the bottom of the third when the Hawks pulled to within one at 3-2. Seniceros singled to start the inning and advanced to third on a single by Pena. Watson then singled to score Seniceros as Pena was caught stealing at second. Cachora then singled to score Watson from second, as the score was 3-2 after three innings of play.

Neither team could score over the next three innings as Goddard continued to lead 3-2.

In the top of the seventh, Goddard added to their lead. The Hawks loaded the bases with three walks before a single by Villareal scored Luke Fink from third with one out. The Rockets then hit into a 4-6-3 double play to end the threat but held a 4-2 lead going into the final half inning of play.

Coombes started the inning on the mound for the Rockets but gave up a single to Seniceros and triple to Pena, making it 4-3 with one out. Young then came in to pitch for the Rockets. He would hit the next batter, Cedric Reynaud to put runners at the corners and the winning run on base. Watson then singled to score Pena and advancing Reynaud to second. Cachora then hit a walk-off single to score Reynaud from second, giving Centennial the 5-4 win and the blue trophy.

Carlsbad Wins 2016 6A Baseball Championship

The 2016 U.S. Bank 6A State Baseball Championship game was an extra inning thriller between two powerhouse baseball programs. Carlsbad (25-6) defeated Rio Rancho (25-6), 2-1, in nine in-nings to capture the blue trophy for the first time since 2012 and the 11th time in school history.

Trevor Rogers, who came in relief in the fourth inning, earned the win for the Cavemen, going five innings, striking out eight batters, allowing one run on two hits, while walking five. Starter Nate Arrington saw three innings of work, allowing no runs on one hit and striking out four. Josh Chavarria earned the save, facing five batters in the top of the ninth, striking out two, while one hit allowed and no runs.

Tristen Walker had two doubles on the day for Carlsbad, as Seth Olguin was 1-for-4 at the plate with a triple. Rogers and Chavarria each recorded an RBI, one on a fielder’s choice and the other on a sac fly.

Rio Rancho’s Zac Bravo got the start for the Rams, going nine and a third innings, allowing two runs on five hits, while striking out three batters and hitting four.

Willie Baez was 1-for-4 for the Rams on the day, scoring the only run for Rio Rancho, while Fer-nando Jara was 1-for-3 with an RBI.

The Cavemen jumped out to an early 1-0 in the top of the first. Bravo hit the first two batters he faced, putting runners at first and second with no outs. A sac bunt by Eric Hernandez allowed Garret Day to advance to third and Ryan Razo to move to second. Then with one out, Rogers hit a chopper to the shortstop, scoring Day from third, giving Carlsbad the 1-0 lead.

The Rams went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the first. Carlsbad would do the same in the top of the second but still held the 1-0 lead. Rio Rancho loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the second but a strikeout by Arrington and a fly out to center ended the threat.

Neither team could push a runner across home plate over the next three innings as the Cavemen maintained a 1-0 lead going into the top of the sixth. The Rams then stepped to the plate and quickly put runners on first and second with one out. Willie Baez hit a single to put the tying run aboard and Bravo would walk. Rogers would strikeout the next batter for the second out of the inning. A single by Fernando Jara scored Baez from second to tie the game at 1-1 after six.

Both teams would put runners on in the seventh and eighth but were unable to push runners home.

Carlsbad’s Seth Olguin stepped to the plate in the top of the ninth a crushed a triple to start the inning. Chavarria then hit a sac fly to center field, allowing Olguin to tag up and score from third, giving the Cavemen a 2-1 lead.

In the bottom of the ninth, the Rams would ground out to second and strike out for two quick outs. With their backs against the wall, Rio Rancho’s Garrett Goldsmith hit a single to put the tying run on. Chris Carr then drew a walk to put runners at first and second and the winning run aboard. Baez then stepped to the plate and struck out swinging to end the game as the Cave-men hoisted the blue trophy overhead.