Horsemen win 2 games at Portales Invitational

Friday was a 180-degree turnaround for the St. Michael’s baseball team.

After a disappointing sweep at the hands of Bloomfield on Tuesday afternoon, the Horsemen were a different team for the opening day of the Portales Invitational. St. Michael’s beat Atoka (Okla.) 11-0 in five innings in the afternoon opener of the round-robin tournament, then outpaced Albuquerque Sandia Prep 6-2 in the nightcap at Portales High School.

The Horsemen pitching was on point, as Eric Romero went the distance against the Wampus Cats, allowing just five hits and no walks while striking out four. They supplied Romero with five runs in the opening frame and added two each in the second and third for a 9-0 edge. Derek Roybal went 2-for-3 with two doubles and three RBIs, while Sean Latham was 3-for-4 with three RBIs.

Latham had his imprints all over the Sundevils in the evening game, as he went five innings, allowing an unearned run on four hits while recording eight strikeouts. He also had a sacrifice fly that scored a run in the second as St. Michael’s took a 2-0 lead, and a two-run double in the fourth to make it 4-1. Latham pitched his way out of a no-out, bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the fourth thanks to a double-play grounder hit to him and a strikeout.

“He didn’t have as good a command has he usually does but he was able to pitch out and make quality pitches when he needed to,” St. Michael’s head coach Augustin Ruiz said.

The Horsemen (6-6) finish the tournament with a Saturday game against the host Rams.