RIO RANCHO -- The sobering reality for the rest of Class 3A is defending state champion and current No. 1 seed Texico has just one senior on its 2017 roster.
That means everybody except leftfielder Michael Hill - and he hits ninth in the batting order - is back next season.
As for this year, well, the Wolverines’ impressive and entertaining brand of baseball was on full display Wednesday at Cleveland High School.
Texico (23-3) continued its march towards a possible second straight state title with a convincing 11-2 victory over Tularosa in the quarterfinals of the 3A baseball tournament, scoring 11 straight runs after the Wildcats grabbed an early yet short-lived 2-0 lead.
It was the type of performance that made you wonder if any other Class 3A team still alive in the tournament possesses the moxie to knock off Texico in the semifinals on Thursday (at Cleveland HS) or finals on Friday at Isotopes Park.
“(Hill) is our lone senior and he does a great job of leading,” Texico coach Ty Thatcher told NMPreps.com afterwards. “He hits in the nine hole for us and moves guys around. We do have a lot of guys back. They’re hungry and want to continue to compete.”
The Wolverines have outscored its first two opponents in the single-elimination Class A Tournament by the combined score of 27-2.
The left side of Texico’s infield consists of sophomores Cole Rohrbach and Dalton Thatcher at third base and shortstop, respectively. Second baseman Robin Winton is a sophomore as well. Thus, the Wolverines will have three-fourths of their starting infield around for another two years.
What will it take to beat Texico? Most likely a flawless game in all areas, particularly on defense and on the mound.
Tularosa, which knocked off Pecos, 17-3, in the first round, didn’t enjoy that type of game on Wednesday. The Wildcats struggled on defense, committing five errors.
When Tularosa took an early 2-0 lead on Darren Hood’s 2-run single in the top of the first, Texico didn’t blink, responding with four runs in the bottom half of the first, stringing together four straight two-out singles to knock Tularosa starter Dawson Prudencio from the mound.
“They (Tularosa) did a good job bringing a lot of energy and put some runs up on the board early,” Thatcher said. “But I thought our kids were pretty resilient in withstanding that charge. We did the same thing in the bottom half of that inning. The first couple of innings I thought we were very sharp and disciplined (at the plate). We put the ball into play and capitalized on a few mistakes.”
The Wolverines added two more runs in the bottom of the second for a 6-2 lead on a two-out RBI single by Dalton Thatcher and an error by the Wildcats.
A pair of errors (third and fourth of the game for Tularosa) and hit batter led to two Texico runs in the bottom of the fourth and an 8-2 lead for the Wolverines.
Texico starting pitcher Ben Crist settled down nicely after allowing those two first-inning runs, keeping Tularosa off the scoreboard for the remainder of his six-inning stint. He encountered serious trouble just once, but wiggled out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth with a strikeout.
“Ben is our ace and he has been throwing well all year,” Thatcher said. “He has been consistent. He was a little off early on and not hitting his spots like he can. But he commanded the game and throws the ball well. He has a bright future.”
Needing four runs, Texico came close to ending the contest in the bottom of the fifth, scoring three times on two singles, a triple misjudged by the Tularosa centerfielder and wild pitch for an 11-2 lead.
Texico had the game-ending run at third base in the bottom of the sixth, but couldn’t score before closing out Tularosa in the seventh.
Texico has lost just one game all season long to a New Mexico-based opponent – Raton on April 1 when the Tigers squeezed out a 1-0 win in the nightcap of a doubleheader at Texico.
Those two teams will square off tomorrow at 4 p.m. in the first of two Class 3A semifinal contests at Cleveland High School.
Raton Routs McCurdy: Patiently waiting through a second inning lightning delay and then a rain delay shortly thereafter totaling more than an hour, Raton, the only team to beat Texico on New Mexico soil this season, blanked McCurdy, 9-0.
Raton took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first off McCurdy starter Kemmer Croff on a walk and pair of two-out RBI hits: single by Cole Medina and triple to the right-center gap by Austin Jones.
Raton pitcher Johnathan Cabriales dominated McCurdy after allowing a leadoff single in the top of the second, setting down 11 of the last 12 McCurdy batters he faced. He exited after allowing just one hit over five innings.
Raton erupted for 7 runs in the bottom of the fifth to put the game out of reach since McCurdy down to its last six outs. Reliever Jason Parker recorded the last six outs.
Estancia Blanks Dexter: No. 6 seed Estancia scored twice in the top of the first, added another run in the third and built an early 3-0 lead over No. 3 Dexter in the second quarterfinal game of the day at Cleveland High School. They would prove to be all the runs the Bears needed in a 10-0 victory in five innings.
Estancia senior righthander Devin Cantu threw a complete game shutout, ending the game on a 6-4-3 double play.
Estancia exploded for seven runs in the top of the fifth to take a 10-0 lead. Zack Abeita delivered a RBI single to give Estancia a 4-0 lead before Drayton Oberg whacked an opposite field 2-run double. Moments later, he scored on a RBI single.
When the inning finally ended, Estancia had a double-digit lead, forcing Dexter to score at least one run in the bottom of the fifth. They couldn’t do it as the contest ended on a double play grounder to short.
CLASS 3A QUARTERFINAL RESULTS:
Texico 11, Tularosa 2
Estancia 10, Dexter 0 (5 inn.)
Raton 9, McCurdy 0
Capitan 9, Santa Rosa 8 (8 inn.)
CLASS 3A SEMIFINALS (Thursday at Cleveland HS)
Texico vs. Raton, 4 p.m.
Estancia vs. Capitan, 7 p.m.
3A First Round - Features
3A First Round Recap | Video: Tularosa over Pecos
First Round - Final Scores
#1 Texico 16, #16 Loving 0
#2 Santa Rosa 13, #15 Santa Fe Prep 3
#3 Dexter 12, #14 Zuni 0
#4 Raton 4, #13 Eunice 3 (9 innings)
#6 Estancia 10, #11 Clayton 0
#7 Capitan 17, #10 Tucumcari 7
#9 Tularosa 17, #8 Pecos 3
#12 McCurdy 8, #5 Laguna-Acoma 3
