“We played well enough to win but still haven’t put it all together yet,” said Grants High School head baseball coach Mike Furbee about the Pirates district win last week over Valencia High School (9-13,1-4) a team they handily defeated 251 on April 1.
Both teams came out of the dugouts ready to bat in the first inning as the Pirates scored a run at the top of the first inning and the Valencia Jaguars scored two runs at the bottom of that first inning. The Pirates went on to score two runs in the third inning and another two runs in the fifth inning to make the final score 5-2.
Furbee had great accolades for his pitchers in that game, senior, Niko Young “shut down” Valencia after that first inning and Dominick Gonzales finished up the game and contributed by getting the final four outs.
Young pitched 5.2 innings allowing one hit, two runs and had nine strikeouts. Gonzales pitched 1.1 innings.
A total of four Pirates, Estevan Barela, Niko Young, Diego Lopez and Daniel Gracia had one RBI a piece. Gonzales had three hits and also scored two runs.
Next up for the Pirates is “a big game.” It’s no joke, this will be the biggest district game for the Pirates, who are ranked number two in district 5 4A, as they host district rival, the St. Pius Sartans, who are ranked number one in the district with a record of 12-11, 50.
“The upcoming game with Pius is huge!” said Furbee. “A win by at least three [points] would put us in the lead of the district— and in full control of our own fate.”
On the other hand, Furbee said, “A loss or a win by two or less would basically give them the district title.”
The Pirates will play St. Pius on Tuesday, April 22.
Pirate Softball
The Grants High School softball team (129, 2-3) just coming off three recent wins extending their winning streak to eight games. The Lady Pirates defeated district rival, the Valencia Jaguars on April 17 by a score of 10-8 and then went on to defeat Newcomb High school (5-13,2-3) in a double header 18-0 and 18-3 respectively on April 21.
“The win against Valencia was monumental for us—we hadn’t defeated them since 2012,” said GHS softball coach Victor Aldaz.
“We approached the game with confidence.”
A “stand out moment” for the Lady Pirates in that game was when freshman Makayla Chavez, who hit a walk-off home run to secure the Pirates win late in the game.
“We truly had a team effort for us to clinch that win,” said Aldaz.
“In the doubleheader against Newcomb we focused and came ready to play”.
Aldaz emphasized that the team needs to play with confidence and to “remember” they can compete with any team as the play St Pius on April 22.
St. Pius at 11-12, 5-0 currently are on top of district 5-4A, Belen comes in second at 11-11, 3-2 and Grants in third place followed by Valencia 5-13, 2-3 then Highland at 2-19, 0-4.
“A win against them (St. Pius) wold be huge for us,” concluded Aldaz.
Cibola County Sports Round-Up
Pirates running sensation Laila Martinez, a junior, placed first at the Marilyn Sepulveda Meet of Champions on April 14 in the 800-meter with a time of 2:18.94 and third in the 1600-meters with a time of 5:12.20.
The Lady Hawks softball team of Laguna-Acoma are currently 10-6, 1-1 after a loss to Atrisco Heritage Academy by 231. They will play Belen (11-11, 3-2) on the road on April 22 and are currently ranked third in their district.
The Hawks baseball team is currently 8-7, 0-2 after a recent 13-2 win over Zuni High School. Next up for the Hawks will be Jemez Valley (7-9, 0-4) in a double-header on April 22 in a district game. The Hawks are currently 4 in their seven team district.