Pintos remain upbeat after getting upended by Albuquerque Academy
Moriarty senior Bryan Wright was one of the last players to walk out of the dugout after the Pintos’ 20-1 thumping in five innings at the hands of the Albuquerque Academy Chargers April 20 at home.
The defeat leaves the Pintos still searching for their first win of the spring season, but Wright—who scored the home team’s lone run—was quick to point out the positives of simply being able to play.
“Oh yeah, it’s really good to be playing,” Wright said. “I love playing baseball, man. It’s my passion, that’s for sure.”
Academy scored in every inning of the mercy-rule shortened matchup, starting with a run in the top of the first on a passed ball.
The knockout blow came in the second inning when the Chargers erupted for 12 runs. During the inning, Academy capitalized on two Moriarty fielding errors and four free passes: three from bases on balls and the other was a batter who was hit by a pitch. The Chargers also socked two bases-clearing triples during the frame.
“I don’t think our pitchers pitched poorly, we just didn’t pitch well in spots and it was combined with mistakes behind them,” Moriarty head coach Denny Young said.
The Chargers tacked on three more runs in the third inning and added a pair of runs in both the fourth and the fifth.
“We had opportunities, we just made mistakes in inopportune times,” Young said. Moriarty’s run came in the bottom of the fourth inning when Wright got on base, stole second, advanced to third base on a balk, and then hustled home on a passed ball.
“It felt good scoring a run, but when you lose by 19 runs it doesn’t really matter, you know what I mean?” Wright said, adding, “But yeah, it felt good, man. It’s good to have a season, that’s for sure.”
Young said despite the loss and the 03 start, the Pintos have faced some strong opponents—they opened the season against Hope Christian, and St. Pius X and Sandia Prep are coming up soon— and the skipper said that is how the team is going to improve.
“We have a tough schedule, we have Academy, we have Pius, we’re not taking games off, we’re here to get better,” Young said, adding that he is seeing improvements.
“I mean, our bat control is getting better, our contact’s getting better, the only thing we’re not doing real well is playing defense, and that’s gonna take a little bit of time,” Young said. “But our season really starts when we strap it on for district play with Los Alamos, and that’s what we’re working for.”