Cibola Sports

The Pirates are undefeated after four games (4– 0) snubbing out baseball powerhouses Academy and Valencia in the week-long winning spree. “It’s a good start but we have a long way to go,” said first-year Grants High School Baseball Head Coach Mike Furbee. “Every game is to prepare (us) for districts.”

In their first outing, the Pirates hosted the traditionally powerful Academy Chargers (0-2) on Tuesday, February, 21. After a brief wait for umpires to make their way to the game, the Chargers were first to put some runs on the scoreboard in the first inning making the score 2-0. It was not until the fourth inning when the Pirates scored two runs of their own that brought the goose egg off of the Pirates scoreboard — they tied up the game 2-2. Academy bounced right back with two runs in the fifth inning giving them a 4-2 lead. The 4-2 score sat there as both teams endured the spring wind as it picked up.

The Pirates were in a tough situation with no runs scored in the sixth inning. The Pirates needed to make something happen or they would face the first loss of the season. Nick Bustos, a senior, connected with a pitch and put it over the fence for a walk- off home run that scored three runners and sent the bewildered Charges back home with a 5-4 loss, their second.

Starting pitcher for the Pirates was Estevan Barela, a freshman, who pitched 5.1 innings, five hits, four strikeouts, four runs allowed, and two errors.

“I was really excited to be named the opening day starter — our team battled through the rain and backed me up,” said Estevan Barela about pitching in that game.

Izeyah Manzanares pitched 1.2 innings pitched, zero hits, four strikeouts, one walk and zero errors. Cameron McDougale had one for three home runs, and two RBI’s. Nick Bustos had one for four and two RBI’s.

The Pirates made short work of the Pojoaque Elks (2-2) by a score of 16-0, on February 24 in the first round of the Valencia Baseball Tournament.

On February 25 the Pirates defeated Hope High School 14-6, propelling them to the championship game with the host, the Valencia Tigers (3-1). The Pirates set the tone early scoring five runs in the first inning to Valencia’s one run in the second, fourth, and fifth innings respectively for eight runs to Valencia’s six runs to garner their fourth win “We were trying different line-ups and batting orders — we are where we want to be right now,” said Coach Furbee.

Estevan Barela pitched three innings, six hits, six strikeouts, one walk and four runs allowed and two earned runs. Dominic Gonzales pitched four innings, six hits, six strikeouts, one walk, two runs allowed and zero earned runs. Andres Lopez had two for four base BB and Gabriel Marquez had two for three RBI’s.

Cibola County Sports Wrap-Up

The Lady Hawks hit paydirt with the number four as well. They defeated their district rival, the Lady Hawks of Dulce (20-8, 5-1) for a fourth time in a row by a score of 37-24 at the buzzer off a shot by senior point guard Erica Martin. The Lady Hawks earned a three-seed to the prestigious New Mexico Activities Association’s state basketball tournament and will host the Menaul Panthers this Friday at “The Nest” in their first round of the state tournament.

Franklin Romero - CC