SCENE STEALERS
La Cueva, Cleveland secure state tournament bragging rights
Next weekend, I’ll present my annual, and irreverent, reflection on the 201617 high school sports year.
Today, we shall confine things to the last 11 days, and the usual flurry of highlights that dotted the end of the spring season.
7 OUT OF 8? THAT’S IT?:
Cleveland would be the envy of most schools, what with three state championships over the last week — boys and girls track, plus boys golf. Most schools. Not all. La Cueva one-upped the Storm with four blue trophies: boys tennis, girls golf, and then the baseball/softball combo on Saturday.
The very burnt orange of Eldorado girls tennis had the eighth 6A state title.
Two nationally ranked teams won titles on Saturday for La Cueva. And in the softball team’s instance, the Bears — led by pitcher Kendra Keahbone and that relentless offense — completed a tremendous 28-0 season.
(Incidentally, an apology to the La Cueva girls golfers; I wasn’t able to write as much about your victory the other day in Roswell as I would have liked. Well done, indeed.) PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE, BUT IT CAN STILL SUCK: Aztec softball had four second-place finishes since 2012, but ended
that frustration by beating Artesia on Saturday in the Class 5A final.
Goddard’s baseball team — who, after beating Albuquerque Academy in the 5A final stuck around and also took down Cleveland in the 6A title game … wait, that was La Cueva? Oh, sorry —had lost in the championship game three years running before their triumph on Saturday.
As an aside, Bears coach Gerard Pineda said that La Cueva had never worn that color jersey before Saturday night. If you didn’t see them, it was sorta Columbia blue. Goddard blue.
“I have usually had a surprise for state championship games,” Pineda said. “(Saturday) night was the jersey and the hat.” SHARING THE WEALTH: Senior Wes Alexanderson was the winning pitcher Saturday night for La Cueva. Of course he was!
Amazingly, he is the third member of his immediate family to be the winning pitcher in a state championship game. His older brother Trey did it in 2014 for La Cueva; his father Russell won the title game for Eldorado over Mayfield in 1985. That was the first big-school final I ever covered for the Journal.
SILVER STREAK: Silver’s softball program won its seventh straight state title. Quite impressive.
Yawn, says the Albuquerque Academy boys tennis program, coming off a 15th consecutive championship — with no end in sight. I may be retired before someone unseats them.
FAMILY TIES: There were
some touching moments I witnessed over the weekend, none more so than the sight of Pineda. This was his fourth state championship as the Bears baseball coach, but the first with his son Jack in the lineup.
Those in the prep baseball community know that Jack used to be a batboy for the Bears for many years. On Saturday, He was La Cueva’s starting shortstop.
“He really wanted this,” Gerard said through tears. “That was important to him.”
Said Jack: “It’s something you dream of. It has been such a ride, and I’m so excited to share it with him, and I can’t wait to do it again next year, hopefully.”
THIS AND THAT: The St. Pius girls and Piedra Vista boys both had devastating team losses at state golf, although not for the same reason. The Sartans saw Artesia edge them for the second straight year, while the Panthers had a player’s DQ cost them a blue trophy. … Hobbs high jumper Zach Marshall gets, well, highest marks for his “White Men Can’t Jump” T-shirt after he cleared 7 feet to tie a state record. … A couple of future Lobo female track stars, Sarah Mackin of Cleveland and Shalom Keller of Ruidoso, both were multiple event winners over the weekend. …The Corley sisters, Carmen (singles) and Ivana (doubles) both won individual state titles at tennis. THROW HIM A BOUQUET: After Academy’s Jackson Morris had completed the final throw of his tremendous career — nine individual state wins, three apiece in each of the three disciplines — Morris walked over to a nearby tent. He was hunched over, crying, for almost 2 minutes.
I suspect part of that was his disappointment in not getting the javelin state record he craved. I suspect part of it was the realization that his days at Academy are over.
Either way, this was one of New Mexico’s special athletes. “It’s been a ride,” he said.
LASTLY: To all the seniors, I wish you health, happiness and success as you enter this next chapter of your lives. I’m always melancholy to see some of my favorite athletes move on. Too many to mention.
But, I do want to take a moment and acknowledge Carlsbad’s Trevor Rogers. So far as I can tell, this young man exemplifies everything any parent would want their child to be. He is polite, intelligent, humble. And in a few weeks, he will probably become a millionaire. Down the road, he may evolve into New Mexico’s next great professional athlete.
Through a parade of astonishing distractions that might crumble many teenagers, Rogers never was anything less than gracious. My favorite image from last week was watching Rogers take time to sign baseballs for a father and what I assumed were his two young sons, who were standing across the thirdbase walkway.
The boys were beaming, so was the dad. Trevor signed the balls, tossed them over the walkway, and then walked up to greet friends and family in the concourse. A few minutes later, he walked out of Isotopes Park.
I sincerely hope we see him back at IP someday, on the next part of his journey.