Rattlers earn first baseball win since 2019

The Tucumcari baseball team notched its first win of the season last week and snapped a 41-game losing streak that dated to 2019.

The Rattlers won the first game of a March 29 doubleheader at Clayton by an 18-11 score and were leading the second game 3-1 until it was canceled due to darkness.

Tucumcari first-year coach George Montano — the third Rattlers coach since the skid began — acknowledged the victory produced “a lot of emotions from the coaches and the boys.”

“The game should have ended soon than it did,” he added. “We need to learn how to stay focused and close a game out, but we also just won our first game in three years. To say I’m proud of these boys is an understatement.”

Tucumcari’s Josh Griego went 4-for-5 hitting, and Johnathan Blea drove in five runs with a double and a triple. Luis Archuleta and Jordan Rincones both went 3-for-5.

“We walked 12 times, which means we’re finally seeing the ball and not swinging at bad pitches,” Montano said.

Blea started on the mound, allowing seven hits and three walks while striking out eight. Oscar Angel relieved in the seventh inning and struck out a batter to end the game.

Clayton fell to 0-2.

Previously, the last baseball game Tucumcari had won was a 17-3 decision at Melrose on March 18, 2019.

After that, the Rattlers lost 19 straight to finish the season.

In 2020, the Rattlers played two games and lost both before the rest of the season was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the abbreviated 2021 season, Tucumcari went 0-15.

This year, the Rattlers dropped their first five games before logging their first “W” last week.

Dusty Young, associate director of the New Mexico Activities Association, stated in an email last week the association did not have records on the state’s longest baseball losing streak.

Dexter 20, Tucumcari 2

Dexter 14, Tucumcari 3

Host Dexter swept a district doubleheader from Tucumcari by scores of 20-2 and 14-3.

In the first game, Blea smacked a triple, and teammates Angel, Griego and Nick Romero each collected singles for Tucumcari.

“Defensively, we were struggling to stop the ball,” Montano said. “We act like we’ve never played defense before.”

Blea and Angel each pitched for Tucumcari.

Montano added: “We know we can make a run, but we just aren’t playing to our ability on both sides of the ball.”

In the nightcap, Montano said: “We hit the ball right at them, and we recorded only six hits in the second game.

“Defensively, we were in the same situation as Game 1: Couldn’t make a play, and it hurt. We can hang in our district, but not by committing errors and having mental breakdowns in a game.”

Griego started on the mound in the second game and eighth-grader Kamren Apodaca relieved. Montano said Apodaca “threw well for his first time on the mound in a varsity game.”

Tucumcari fell to 1-7 overall. Dexter improved to 3-9.