Third time is a charm— and when it comes to state baseball playoffs, you’ll take any charms that come your way.
The Grants High School Pirates, who are last year’s defending state champions in 4A baseball, were able to defeat a well-oiled and highperforming Santa Teresa team last weekend in the first round of the Nusenda state 4A baseball tournament.
“Santa Teresa was one of the toughest offensive teams we have seen all year—and every player was a tough out,” said GHS head baseball coach Mike Furbee.
Game 1
On Friday, May 9 in a crowded home field, the Pirates led 4-3 after three innings.
At the top of the sixth inning, Santa Teresa knocked in two runs to lead 5-4. No score at the bottom of the sixth for the Pirates. The top of the seventh ended without a score from Santa Teresa, but the Pirates were still trailing by one point.
Then, senior Boudy Melonas came up to bat and hit a two-run RBI to win the game for the Pirates at the bottom of the seventh. Whew… a sigh of relief from the Pirate dugout...
What a game… Pirates lead 1-0 in the series.
“I was thinking of just getting the ball in play,” said Melonas whose hit went to left field just inside the fair play line.
Game 2
The second game came on Saturday, May 10, at 11 am.
The Pirates were unable to find their bats or keep the feisty Desert Warriors at bay from the mound. The strong hitting Santa Teresa Desert Warriors ruled the day and the Pirates lost 14-1.
“We conceded game 2 in the sixth inning when we got down 5-1 and asked a couple of guys to pitch that don't normally pitch—they really took one for the team so that we could conserve our other guys to start Game 3,” said Furbee.
Game 3 Game 3 was tense for both teams – after all, this game was for “all the marbles” and the chance to advance to the quarterfinals in the Duke City.
The Pirates went up 2-1 after the first inning. The second inning had both teams scoring runs to make the score 3-2, Pirates.
The Pirates added one more run at the bottom of the third and Santa Teresa matched them with a run of their own at the top of the fourth to make the score 4-3 Pirates.
You could cut the tension with a butter knife.
The Desert Warriors knocked in a run at the top of the fifth inning and Pirates answered with two runs of their own at the bottom of the fifth inning to take a 6-4 lead.
Heavy hitting Santa Teresa bats came alive for two runs at the top of the sixth inning to tie it up – six all.
We have a ball game. At the bottom of the sixth Noah Lundstrom hit a single RBI, a line drive between second and third base – the ball went all the way to the fence, allowing teammate Dominick Gonzales to score the winning run for the Pirates.
The Pirates played good defense at the top of the seventh inning to keep the Desert Warriors from scoring— the final score 7-6.
Pirates advance!
“This was another backand- forth battle but our guys really locked in and got the job done,” said Furbee. “I was super proud of their grit and never-quit mentality.”
Pirates earn a position in the “Elite 8” and will face a familiar foe: District rival St. Pius, a number 2 Seed, who defeated Kirtland Central by a score of 2-0 will be the Pirates next opponent.
“I feel being pushed the way we were will help as we prepare for our third match up of this season against St. Pius,” said Furbee.
Previously, the Pirates lost two close district contests to St. Pius. On April 4 the Pirates lost 3-1 and on April 22 they lost 2-1.
The game will be on Thursday, May, 15, 6:30 p.m. at the Jennifer Riordan SFKS Sports complex in Albuquerque. Hawks Baseball and Softball
The Laguna-Acoma Boys’ Baseball team received a 10 seed and lost to 7th seeded Oak Grove by a score of 8-3. The Hawks ended their season with a 12-12, 4-6.
The Lady Hawks softball team ended their playoff run with a 18-7 loss to Eunice on May 7. The Lady Hawks finished their season with a 19-9, 8-2 record.