Horsemen shut out Dons in five innings
LAS VEGAS, N.M. — Sitting in class Tuesday morning, Jonah Baca had a gut feeling he just had to share with his teammates.
The catcher for the St. Michael’s baseball team, he was convinced someone was going to go deep in that afternoon’s game at District 2-4A rival West Las Vegas.
“If it was going to be me or someone else, it didn’t matter,” Baca said. “I just had a feeling it was going to happen. Someone was going to take one out.”
Warming up before the game, he seconded that thought when his dad leaned over the fence near the team dugout and suggested Jonah get in a few practice swings before things started.
“I’ll just hit a home run in the game,” he said with a smile.
Twenty minutes later, he did just that, launching a deep fly ball that cleared the fence in left-center to cap a four-run second inning and lead the visiting Horsemen to a 13-0 blowout of the Dons. It was one of two long balls on the day as St. Michael’s (15-9 overall, 8-2 in District 2-4A) pounded out 17 hits en route to the five-inning mercy rule victory.
It sets up Saturday’s regular season finale at 2-4A leader Las Vegas Robertson (20-3, 9-1). The Cardinals need only a split to nail down the district title while a Horsemen sweep would hand the crown to them.
Pitcher Sean Latham will get the start in one of the games. He was rock solid Tuesday, tossing a complete game shutout with eight strikeouts. He retired eight of the final nine batters he faced while throwing just 87 pitches in five innings.
He got all the support he needed in the top of the first when he drove in two runs on a hard single to left to St. Michael’s Sean Latham tossed a complete game shutout for the Horsemen on Tuesday, retiring eight of the final nine batters he faced in a 13-0 mercy rule victory over West Las Vegas. He had eight strikeouts over his five innings.
break a scoreless tie. It was 7-0 in the third when Derek Roybal took his turn going yard. He sent a deep fly ball that appeared to have been robbed at the fence by Dons centerfielder Robbie Alarcon.
Backpedaling straight into the fence as he reached up, Alarcon was just inches away from a ball that disappeared behind him.
“I was watching it the entire way and all I could think of was how much it’s going to hurt if he robs me,” Roybal said.
His first home run of the season was greeted by a dugout full of teammates pretending nothing had happened. As soon as he got there he was instantly mobbed.
“It’s safer that way,” Roybal said. “Sometimes you get hit in the head by those guys if they meet you at the plate. It doesn’t hurt as much when they act like they didn’t see it.”
The top six batters in the Horsemen lineup had at least two hits apiece, led by a 4-for-4 effort from outfielder James Hena and a 3-for-4, four-RBI game from Latham.
Eighth-grader Derek Martinez was 2-for-4 with two runs scored batting out of the 2-hole while Roybal reached all four times he came to the plate, scoring four runs with two walks, a single and a homer.
Head coach Augie Ruiz said he’s pleasantly surprised by the way his team is hitting the ball at this point in the season. It wasn’t until the very last game of their playoff run a year ago that the Horsemen finally reached a .300 average as a team.
Before Tuesday’s game, St. Michael’s was sitting at .295. They were 17-for-31 against two West Las Vegas pitchers. They struck out just three times in 34 plate appearances.
“It’s been a steady progression upwards all year,” Ruiz said. “We’re ahead of last year’s pace.”
West Las Vegas did have its chances early. The Dons stranded a pair of runners in the first and left them loaded in the bottom of the third when Latham finished the threat with a strikeout and an infield groundout.
The game got going about 10 minutes after the scheduled 4 p.m. start because the umpires were late arriving to the field. … Ruiz promoted Martinez to the varsity in the middle of the district season and immediately inserted him into the lineup. Calling Martinez a “five-tool guy,” Ruiz said he has seen nothing to indicate that the mid-schooler isn’t ready for the big stage. Martinez flashed some of his potential with a fantastic diving stop of an infield grounder and three hard-hit balls in his four at-bats. … Leadoff hitter Marcos Leyba went 2-for-3 with three runs scored. The only time he didn’t reach was in the top of the first when he hit a long fly ball the opposite way down the right field line, a ball that carried nearly to the warning track. … Robertson won the only other meeting with St. Michael’s, a 7-3 victory on a snowy and freezing afternoon last month in Santa Fe. … The Cardinals’ only loss in district play came early with a doubleheader split at Taos. Their 20 wins are the program’s most in five years.