Roswell Goddard’s baseball team went from stranding 21 runners in its first two games of the season to being extremely efficient on Friday.

The Coyotes had only eight hits, but whacked four home runs and left just one man on base in beating Clovis High 11-5 in the consolation semifinals of the Clovis Invitational at Bell Park.

Goddard (1-2) got two home runs from shortstop Hobie McClain and one each from right fielder Brandon Cooper and first baseman Casey Steen, accounting for nine runs.

“We finally hit with people on,” Goddard coach Steve Nunez said. “We left nine runners on (Friday in a 12-10 first-round loss to Santa Fe High) and 12 on in our first game (a 6-5 loss to Portales on Tuesday).”

McLain’s three-run shot with no one out in the first inning put the Rockets ahead for good, and he added a two-out solo blast in the seventh one pitch after getting the call on a 1-2 checked swing. Catcher Rowdy Hurst followed with a single and Steen homered to left, making it 11-4.

Freshman right-hander Jason Butts went the distance, allowing nine hits and four earned runs. He walked one and struck out two.

The Cats fell behind 7-0 on Cooper’s two-out, three-run shot to right in the top of the third, but clawed their way back to 7-4 with two runs in the fifth. The damage could have been worse, but Butts got senior first baseman Parker Wood to ground sharply into a 4-6-3 double play and keep the Rockets in control.

“Baseball is like life,” first-year CHS coach Greg Hill said. “Some days you wake up and things are wonderful, and some days they aren’t.

“It seemed like when they put the ball in play, it found a place to drop. You just have to keep your head up and stay focused.”

Senior right-hander Emery Sierra struck out nine batters in four innings, but was victimized by the two three-run homers. After the first, all of Goddard’s runs came with two out.

“He threw well,” Hill said of Sierra, who went five-plus innings. “Every once in a while, he didn’t hit his spots, but wherever you put him he’s going to compete.”

Senior shortstop Jake Burrell and senior right fielder Jordan Jacobs each had two hits for the Cats, who stranded seven baserunners

Clovis Invitational

Friday
Consolation semifinals
Del Valle 12, Bowie 5
Goddard 11, Clovis 5
Championship semifinals
St. Pius 8, Rio Rancho 4
Santa Fe High 12, El Paso Bel Air 4

Saturday
Seventh place

Bowie vs. Clovis,, 9:30 a.m.

Fifth place
Del Valle vs. Goddard, noon

Third place

Rio Rancho vs. El Paso Bel Air, 2:30 p.m.
Championship

St. Pius vs Santa Fe, 5 p.m.