NUCLA-Nucla baseball looked to follow up a 6-5 win Saturday, but ended up falling far short.
"Their first pitcher shut us down quite a bit for a while in the first game," said Ignacio Bobcat Anthony Manzanares. "So it was a little disappointing for us to come out and lose, but we just stayed positive.the second one."
"We should have won that game," junior Zach Weinreich (L; 5 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 7 K) agreed. "It was a close game and a good battle, and the fact that we can overcome a four-nothing deficit was pretty huge. The momentum was on our side; all we needed was hits or to get on base."
A spectacular catch was countered by Bobcat sophomore rightfielder Cole McCaw's squeeze of Rummel's bid for extra bases against senior Tucker Ward beginning the bottom of the first inning, and neither team could manage much offensively as the score remained 0-0 going into the third.
But that would change in an amazing hurry:
Batting eighth in Coach Bert Miller's lineup, Kai Roubideaux started by singling to right off Rummel, then chased the Mustang junior off the bump with a 2-RBI double as the 'Cats started through their order a second time, suddenly leading 8-0. It was already Ignacio's fifth two-bagger during the explosion, coming one batter after senior Austin McCaw, junior Juanito Medina and Weinreich-hitting fourth, fifth and sixth-ripped back-to-back-to-back doubles to tear the game wide open.
"We want to come out swinging the bats-not let them decide whether we strike out or walk," sophomore Kruz Pardo had stated prior to Game 2. "We want to.make them make plays, not give them anything easy."
Senior first baseman Andrew Martinez greeted NHS junior reliever Graden Steffan with a single up the middle. Manzanares then managed to beat out an infield roller, Pardo cracked a single to left, Ward reached on an error by Colson at second, and Austin McCaw singled to left.
Steffan then plunked Medina to re-load the bases, and Weinreich capped Ignacio's 14-run rampage with a single to left before Steffan (3.1 IP, 13 H, 14 R, 6 ER, 3 BB, 5 K) struck out Timmy Plehinger and.Roubideaux.
Devyn Rummel singled and scored in the home half of the third to get Nucla on the scoreboard, but IHS went back to work with three runs-via a two-run homer to left by Ward and McCaw's subsequent solo shot to right-in the top of the fourth. Highlighted by a run-scoring ground-rule double by Rummel and a later three-run tater by Cord Colson, the Mustangs mounted a credible comeback, cutting the Bobcats' lead down to 17-9 entering the fifth.
And heading into the sixth the count was still somewhat close at 18-10. Weinreich had doubled and scored for IHS when substitute first baseman Marcus Chapman reached first with a fielder's-choice grounder, and Rummel tripled and scored for NHS when Caden Colson reached on a Chapman error.
McCaw led off with a walk and Medina and Weinreich followed with singles, but after Plehinger and Roubideaux both struck out, Chapman (0-2, 3 R, RBI) walked and advanced all the way to third on two throwing errors. Steffan was then removed in favor of Will Gabriel after giving up an RBI-single to Manzanares.
Finishing the game an awesome 4-for-6 with a run and six RBI, Pardo greeted Gabriel with a single to plate Manzanares-himself an amazing 5-for-6 with four runs and a ribbie-and Ward then walked. McCaw, who'd gone 2-4 with a homer in Game 1, singled in Pardo and finished Game 2 4-for-5 with three runs and two knocked in.
Medina then belted a ground-rule double to left, scoring Ward for the Bobcats' 25th run, then held the Mustangs on 10 by getting designated hitter Sean Sutherland to pop back to the hill, freezing Cord Colson (2-4, R, 3 RBI) with a third strike, and getting-fittingly-Armintrout to fly to a repositioned Cole McCaw in center.
"I just came out and jumped on every pitch.that was good, and came out successful," Manzanares explained. "You know, once one person gets hot and starts hitting.everybody's just feeling the energy, it rubs off on everybody, and we just keep going."
Used as a DH for the younger McCaw, Weinreich finished the 15-run blowout going 4-for-6 with three runs and five RBI. Medina (2.2 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 3 ER, BB, HB, 3 K) went 3-4 officially in his six plate appearances, scoring twice and plating one, and Roubideaux ended up 2-5 with two runs and as many batted in. 0-for-4 in Game 1, Ward (3.1 IP, 3 H, 6 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 5 HB) not only worked for the win in Game 2 but was 1-5 with three runs and three RBI.
Taking the Game 2 loss, Rummel (2.1 IP, 8 H, 9 R, 7 ER, BB, HB, 2 K) went 3-4 with three runs and an RBI, after going 1-3 in the opener in which Cord Colson went 2-3 with two doubles and two RBI. Armintrout, who did score once in Game 2, was held to a combined 0-5 with four K's in seven plate appearances.
Having lost the SJBL lead but having taken one of the season's three meetings with surprising Ignacio, Nucla actually rose one spot in the CHSAANow.com Class 1A poll (issued 4/25) from eighth to seventh, while the Bobcats still-somehow-remained off the 2A radar, despite having improved to 10-4 overall and 6-1 in league. NHS dipped to 7-9, 5-2 with only an April 30 pair at Dove Creek remaining on their slate.
"I'm ready," said Caden Colson. "I want to win.it's going to be tough because I know they want it too."
IHS will travel that day for two at Dolores and, barring an epic disaster, should secure the circuit crown.
"We've got to get going early," McCaw said. "Got to get going early and just stay hot!"
