Ranked baseball teams down Tucumcari

The East Mountain baseball team showed last week why it is ranked fourth in Class 3A.

Tucumcari baseball showed it still has a lot of work to do.

The Timberwolves (9-2) swept their district-opening doubleheader April 5 by scores of 22-3 and 17-4 at Tucumcari (1-9). East Mountain's only defeats this season are close losses last month to state-ranked Robertson and Santa Fe Indian.

In the first game, East Mountain jumped to a 4-0 lead in the first inning, led 6-0 after two and tallied 12 runs in the third inning to take control. The Timberwolves' rallies were fueled by three Rattler errors.

"Defensively, we're not getting to the ball and not making the plays we should make," Tucumcari coach George Montano said. "We're not communicating; we're missing grounders. Those things put people on base, and they score runs. It's hurting us."

Wind during the first game made fielding even routine popups an adventure for both teams. The National Weather Service station at Tucumcari Municipal Airport reported sustained winds more than 25 mph, with gusts of 41.

Montano lamented a brief laying of the wind during a half-inning when Tucumcari was batting.

"It seemed like the wind died a little bit more for them than it did for us. What do you do?" he said, shrugging.

Meanwhile, Tucumcari didn't get on the scoreboard until the bottom of the third inning, when the Rattlers already were trailing by double digits.

"We seem to start late (on offense), and we need to start early and keep it going," Montano said.

The Rattlers scored in the third inning on Nick Romero's RBI double that was set up by an error and hit batter. Johnathan Blea later in the inning smacked a two-run double.

In the nightcap, the Rattlers trailed 7-4 after four innings when the Timberwolves erupted for 10 runs in the fifth.

"If we minimize the errors, then the games don't get out of hand like this," Montano said. "We turn a close game into a blowout by missing pop flies, routine grounders, etc."

Tucumcari's next matchup this week is another district doubleheader at home, this time against Sandia Prep, ranked first in Class 3A.

"We've got another (district) game coming up, and hopefully we can turn it around," Montano said.

NMMI 18, Tucumcari 5

NMMI 15, Tucumcari 1

New Mexico Military Institute, ranked second in Class 3A, swept a doubleheader Saturday from the host Rattlers by scores of 17-5 and 14-1.

In the first game, Tucumcari's Josh Griego totaled two hits. The Rattlers also manufactured a few runs with walks and passed balls.

Oscar Angel was the losing pitcher for the Rattlers. "He threw good; we just didn't make plays to get us out of the inning sooner," Montano said.

In the nightcap, Johnathan Blea and Andrew Henderson-Clark each recorded hits.

"Offensively, we never woke up, and defensively, we didn't help ourselves."

Griego and Blea pitched in the second game with 60-pitch limits because Montano wanted them to start in this week's Santa Fe Prep games.

Tucumcari ended the week 1-11, 0-6. NMMI improved to 13-4, 3-3.