If ever there was a close one, it was this past April 22, our very own Grants High School Pirates baseball team, was unable to seal the deal and defeat visiting district rival, the St. Pius Sartans in a nail biter that ended with a 2-1 score.
“The St. Pius' game obviously wasn’t the outcome we wanted but we felt we played well enough to win—but couldn't get a hit when we needed it,” said GHS head baseball coach, Mike Furbee.
“We left 11 runners on base and seven in scoring position”.
The first inning was the key inning in this game as Jacob Madrid, a senior, had two RBI’s, to put St. Pius up by two runs. The Pirates answered back as senior Noah Lundstrom scored the lone RBI of the game for the Pirates allowing Estevan Barela to score a run to make the score 2-1 at the end of that first inning. The Pirates were unable to score any more runs, for that matter, St. Pius also was not able to score either. A stalemate ensued. Every pitch, strike, ball and hit became all important. The apprehension loomed large for 6 innings as both teams were unable to get a break. The apprehension broke to the cheers of the St. Pius players and their fans, the bottom of the 7th inning secured their 2-1 win and also secured their lead in the district.
Estevan Barela pitched all seven innings for the Pirates allowing five hits, two runs, two earned runs and four strikeouts.
The Pirates regrouped and played two more games and won them decisively.
On April 25 they played another district rival, Highland High School (5-15-1 0-6) and defeated them 28-5. On April 26 they played Moriarty (in a non-district game and defeated them 11-3.
Evan Taylor pitched seven innings and allowed nine hits, three runs, three earned runs and had seven strikeouts in that Moriarity game.
“We played well against Moriarity (9-11, 63) and hopefully we get it together for the next games,” said Furbee.
The Pirates are currently 15-6, 5-2 and 2nd in district 5 4-A and the Pirates dropped to third in the state rankings in 4-A baseball. St. Pius at 14-11, 7-0 is second in the state and Artesia (17-6, 6-0) last year’s runner up is ranked first.
Next up for the Pirates are the Belen Eagles at 16-8, 3-3 in another big district match-up on Tuesday, April 29.
The GHS softball team is currently 14-9, 34 after a 20-3 loss to district rival, St. Pius on April 22. The Lady Pirates were able to bounce back and defeat 15-14 on April 23 and then they defeated district rival, the Highland Hornets 15-0 on April 24.
“Overall, our team has been on fire,” said GHS softball head coach, Victor Aldaz. “We have won nine out of our last 10 games.”
Aldaz was quick to point out that their “strong offensive performance” has been the key factor. “We are averaging 12.5 runs per game during this stretch,” said Aldaz.
In the Espanola Vally game Aldaz noted Olivia Toivanen as a major factor in that win as she pitched 4 innings allowing 1 earned run and three hits and finished 4-for-5 with five RBI’s, two doubles and one triple play.
In the Highland’s game Aldaz noted Melory Largo had “dominated” the mound. Kymber Cash went 2-for-2 with four stolen bases, three runs scored and three RBI’s.
Samanth Carlson had three RBI’s, two runs and one triple play Aldaz concluded, “Looking ahead we face Belen in a must-win game—we strive for a spot in the state tournament.”
The Lady Pirates travel to Belen (12-12, 42) on April 29.