Santa Fe’s Sanchez has strong showing at San Juan Open
Santa Fe’s Marty Sanchez finished tied for 17th at this year’s San Juan Open, one of New Mexico’s top golf tournaments played annually at the San Juan Country Club in Farmington.
A St. Michael’s graduate who splits his time between the Phoenix suburbs and Northern New Mexico, Sanchez blistered the course during Saturday’s third round, firing an 8-under 63 to roar back into contention following an opening-round 74 on Thursday and a second-round 68. He shot even par during Sunday’s final round, finishing 13 shots behind winner Jesse Mueller.
Mueller carded a 63 on Sunday and was at least 3-under in all four rounds. His final tally of 23-under 262 was one stroke better than Zahkai Brown.
Sanchez double-bogeyed the par-4 fifth hole Sunday, then double-bogeyed the final hole, a par-3, to close the round and fall out of a tie for 15th.
His third round was a sight to behold as he birdied the first three holes, then had birds on five of the last seven holes, including four straight. He shot a 31 on the back-nine as opposed to the 36 he shot in Sunday’s final round.
Sanchez is the nephew of the late Marty Sanchez, after which Marty Sanchez Links de Santa Fe is named.
The University of New Mexico women’s soccer team scored twice in the final 10 minutes to erase a one-goal deficit and beat visiting Washington, 2-1, on Sunday afternoon in Albuquerque.
It was UNM’s first win over a Pac-12 team in 14 years. It came on a day where the team wore special yellow jerseys for a cancer awareness fundraiser. Jadyn
Edwards tied the match with just under 10 minutes remaining, then true freshman Zaria Katesigwa provided the stunning game-winner with just 59 seconds left when she and Lobos goalkeeper Emily Johnson stopped a cross into the box on the far end of the field and launched a kick that covered the majority of the space between the goals.
That’s where Katesigwa gathered it, beat a Huskies defender at the top of the box and drove home the winner.
UNM (2-2) will be on the road for its next three games, starting Thursday against Northern Arizona in Phoenix. The trip wraps up with a Sept. 16 visit to New Mexico State.
Former New Mexico State star Nick Gonzales, a seventh-round draft pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2020, was named Minor League Baseball’s High-A player of the month for August.
A second baseman in the Pirates’ farm system, he had a league-high 39 hits, 24 runs scored, 81 total bases, 10 doubles and 10 home runs. He also led the league in slugging percentage (.757) and was second in RBI with 28. He batted .364 in August and posted a crazy 1.176 OPS for the month.
He had 11 multi-hit games, half a dozen of which where he had at least three baseknocks.
The 22-year-old is in his first year of professional ball. After he was drafted a year ago, MiLB shut down the season because of the coronavirus pandemic. In 70 games with Greensboro in High-A East he has batted .300 with 16 homers and an OPS of .930.
Gonzales is rated as Pittsburgh’s fourthbest minor league prospect. He is projected to reach the majors in 2022.
Another former NMSU star is already in the show. Daniel “Jet” Johnson has gone back and forth between Cleveland’s outfield and the Indians’ Triple-A East affiliate in Columbus. He’s currently with the big club, having suited up 28 times for the Tribe.
He made his big league debut last season with Cleveland, going through the typical struggles of a greenhorn rookie. He batted just .083 in abbreviated time with the Indians last season but is up to .243 with four home runs.
More baseball: New Mexico Highlands centerfielder Estevan De La O was recently named as a gold glove winner for NCAA Division II. Unlike some postseason awards, this one is reserved for the best of the absolute best as only nine players from the entire country are selected.
De La O played his high school ball in Albuquerque at Hope Christian, went to New Mexico Military Institute for junior college and has suited up for Highlands ever since. This season was his junior year and, to be honest, it was spectacular. In 125 chances in center, he didn’t commit a single error, recording 122 putouts with three outfield assists.
He wasn’t too bad with the stick, either. He was second on the team with a .333 batting average. He started all 38 games for the Cowboys, belting three home runs with 37 RBI. He hit into just one double play the entire season, an indication of the wheels he used to turn center into a wasteland for fly balls.