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Pirates celebrate after defeating district rival the Belen Eagles (18-7,4-4) who are also ranked third in the state in 4A baseball. In a defensive battle the Pirates won by a score of 2-1. Franklin Romero - CC -
Freshman pitching sensation Eric Barela throwing a heater against district rival and third ranked team in the state the Belen Eagles last week. Barela pitched 5.1 innings allowed five hits, one run, one earned run, and two walks with five strikeouts. Franklin Romero - CC -
With no hole in his glove, short stop Izeyah Manzanares, 24, with a fly ball catch as third baseman Caleb McDaugle, 42, backs him up in a recent district game against the Belen Eagles. Franklin Romero - CC
The Grants High School Pirate baseball team garnered a number one seed in the Nusenda Credit Union state baseball tournament in class 4A.
“A lot of expectations come with being a one seed—we will take a one game at a time approach not overlooking any opponent,” said GHS head coach Mike Furbee.
“It feels very good,” said freshman Estevan Barela, a pitcher for the Pirates when asked about the team receiving a number one seed. “We have made it a long way already and can’t give up now.”
The Pirates at 21-5, 8-0 who recently hosted the number three ranked team in the state, the Belen Eagles, outlasted them in a defensive game to come out with a narrow 2-1 victory.
“We played well—it was good to get tested in the game (Belen) before the state tournament,” said Furbee.
Both teams were unable to score a run until the top of the third inning when the Pirates cracked the goose egg and went up 1-0. Belen answered back at the bottom of the fourth inning with a run of their own to tie it up 1-1. The tie continued for the fifth, sixth and seventh inning. It wasn’t until the bottom of the eighth inning the Pirates scored a winning run to claim victory by a score of 2-1 off a RBI of Dominick Gonzales.
“We were expecting a tough game,” said Furbee about the Belen game.
Barela who pitched 5.1 innings for the Pirates against Belen said, “Going to the state tournament hopefully my pitching will continue with the success that it has had in the current season and benefit the team the best way possible.”
Barela pitched 5.1 innings, allowing eight hits, one run, one earned run, two walks and five strikeouts. Dominick Gonzales pitched 2.2 innings and had one walk, and three strikeouts.
Gonzales had one RBI, two hits, and one at-bat. Izeyah Manzanares had two hits, and four at-bats. Andres Lopez had one hit, and four at-bats and Jessie Nieto had one hit, and four at-bats.
The Pirates, with a 12game winning streak, will host the 16th seeded Deming Wildcats (10-16, 7-2). The first game is scheduled for Friday, May 5 at 6 p.m. followed by a 10 a.m. game on Saturday May 6 and a third game if needed at 12pm.
The Wildcats earlier in the season defeated the number 9 seeded Los Alamos Hilltoppers by a score of 74. They also lost a close 2-1 contest to the 14th seeded Lovington Wildcats.
Cibola County Sport Roundup The Laguna-Acoma baseball team (10-8,2-2) received a 10th seed in the 2A state baseball tournament and will play away against the seventh ranked Tularosa Wildcats (15-7,9-0). The first game is scheduled for Wednesday, May 3 at 3 p.m.
The Laguna-Acoma Lady Hawks softball team at 11-7,6-0 await the softball state tournament seeding to be released. The Lady Pirates softball team ends the regular season with a 6-18, 2-6 record.
The GHS track team recently participated at a meet at 64th Annual Bloomfield Invitational. Results will be posted in next week’s issue.