Horsemen stun Sandia Prep
Sundevils knocked out of first place
ALBUQUERQUE — With St. Michael’s locked into third-place in the District 5 baseball race, a split in Friday’s doubleheader at Sandia Prep would have given the previously top-ranked Sundevils the league crown, while a Horsemen sweep would knock the front-runner off its perch.
But while St. Michael’s coach David Vigil insisted that playing the role of spoiler was never his intention — it just turned out to be an added bonus.
The Horsemen (19-7, 5-4 district) saved their best for the last series of the regular season, taking Game 1, 9-3, and then Game 2, 13-3, to drop Sandia Prep (13-14, 6-3) from the top spot in district action Friday.
“We hit the ball real well today,” Vigil said. “We came in here trying to just tweak the mental game a little ... and getting the sweep is a big confidence-builder for us.
“We weren’t really thinking of being the spoiler — but we’ll take.”
Game 2 was called in the top of the seventh inning because of darkness.
ST. MICHAEL’S 9, SANDIA PREP 3: In Game 1, St. Mike’s took control with six-run second inning.
Marc Brandt earned the win, allowing three runs through six innings while striking out five. And the Horsemen senior highlighted his day by hitting his second home run of the season — a solo shot in the sixth inning to give the Horsemen a 9-3 win.
“I was looking fastball, and I got a fastball down the middle — it was a nice spot,” he said.
The Horsemen scored a run in the first inning, six in the second and a run in each of the final three innings to seal the win.
ST. MICHAEL’S 13, SANDIA PREP 3: Although Game 2 was called in the top of the seventh inning because of darkness, there was plenty of time for the Horsemen to take a 10-run lead over the host squad.
St. Mike’s struck first, scoring a pair of runs in the second innings, before the Sundevils evened the contest, 2-2, by the bottom of the third.
The Horsemen then took the lead for good with a fourrun fourth inning, including an RBI single by Marcus Pinchera Sandoval, an RBI double by Andre Chavez and a two-run double Zach Bobchack.
Meanwhile, Sandia Prep stranded runners in scoring position in the third, fourth and fifth innings — including the bases loaded in the fourth — settling for just one run in the fifth. And Sundevils coach Paul Huitt was not pleased with his team’s lackluster performance.
“The whole day was just awful for us,” he said. “Not one guy showed up. We had been playing well — St. Mike’s is a good team — so we thought we could put it together. But you can’t win playing like this.
“We knew we needed a ‘W’ but the guys played bad.”
As for the Horsemen, after the road sweep over one of the best team in 3A, Brandt said: “Why haven’t we been playing like this a long time ago? I guess it’s better late than never.”
Pinchera Sandoval earned the win, allowing three runs on seven hits through six innings.