Texico clobbers Capitan for crown

Wolverines prevail despite six errors

Texico marched into the Class 3A baseball state championship game with the reputation of an offensive juggernaut.

The top-seeded and defending champion Wolverines lived up to that and then some in a 20-3 mercy-rule rout of No. 7 Capitan in five innings at Isotopes Park on Friday afternoon.

“The feeling hasn’t quite sunk in, but they competed real well today and did what we typically do,” Texico coach Ty Thatcher said. “We put the ball in play like we need to.”

The Wolverines (25-3) outscored their first three opponents 47-4 in easily advancing to the championship game.

“It’s just doing the little things right,” Texico starting pitcher Nathan Phipps said. “Coach Thatcher has been pushing us all season, trying to play as tough of a schedule as we could so when we came out here it would be a little bit easier.”

The Tigers (13-10) did not have enough experienced pitching to keep up. Sophomore John Rogers started the game and had control problems throughout.

Capitan was down 6-3 in the third when the wheels came off. Rogers was charged with seven runs that inning, 13 overall, as his team fell back.

In contrast, Phipps allowed just three unearned runs. The Wolverines made six errors and yet still won easily.

“We kicked the ball around a little bit today, which is uncharacteristic,” Thatcher said. “I guess the field was just too perfect, I don’t know.”

Phipps also did damage at the plate, going 2-for-3 with two doubles and four RBIs. Cole Rohrbach was 2-for-5 with a triple and four RBIs.

The tough news for the rest of Class 3A is that Texico loses only one senior, left fielder Michael Hill.

“We do have some kids coming back, and I think they’re good enough kids that they’ll continue to work and get better,” Thatcher said.