Albuquerque, N.M. – A year ago, Portales fell one game short of their championship aspirations, falling to Sandi Prep in the state title game.
Twelve months later, the Rams are celebrating their first state championship since 2012.
Building an early 3-0 lead, Portales countered two Hope Christian rallies with runs of their own en route to an 8-4 victory over the Huskies at Isotopes Park for the Class 4 state championship.
“This was our number one goal going into the season,” Portales coach Dustin Nusser told NMPreps. “We wanted to get back to the state championship game and see what happened. Our four seniors kept us together. We ended up in a pretty good spot.”
Portales almost didn’t make it to the championship game. Three outs from seeing its season end, the Rams rallied for three runs in the bottom of the seventh Friday to stun St. Michael’s, 4-3, in the semifinals.
Cleanup hitter Alex Galvan walloped a long home run for the Rams amidst a two-run fifth inning that restored Portales’ three-run advantage.
“It’s a crazy feeling,” Galvan exclaimed as he and his teammates celebrated near the dugout and held up the championship trophy. “Coming into the game, we weren’t sure if we would have some doubts about it happening again losing in title game). When that final out came, we were overcome with emotion. It’s a great feeling.”
Portales, which scored three runs on Hope Christian wild pitches, wasted little time getting its offense cranked up. Freshman Jordan Garcia led off with a triple and scored on a one-out single by Emilio Lovato.
The Rams expanded the lead to 3-0 in the top of the third. With runners on the corners, Juan Espinoza scored on a single by Alex Galvan and Lovato scampered home on a wild pitch moments later.
Hope Christian rallied in the bottom of the third with a healthy dose of two-out lightning, knocking out Portales starter Damien Belden in the process.
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After a walk and single put two Hope runners on base, Estevan DeLaO lined a two-run double to deep center to cut Portales’ lead to 3-2.
Garcia produced a run with his legs for Portales in the top of the fifth. His speed forced a hurried throw from the Hope second baseman on a dribbler that skipped into the Portales dugout for a two-base error.
Garcia surprised Hope by stealing third when the catcher was throwing the ball back to the pitcher. The bold baserunning move soon paid dividends when Garcis raced home on a wild pitch.
After two outs, Galvan rocketed a solo homer into the bullpen beyond the left field fence to give Portales a 5-2 lead.
“I just tried to put a good swing on the ball,” Galvan said. “I was just trying to do something. I just let the ball do the work and it ended up going up.”
Hope Christian had two baserunners on in the bottom of the fifth as a result of a throwing error and walk, but a foul pop kept the gap at three runs.
An inning later, with Hope trailing by three runs and down to its last five outs, the Huskies sought to mount a rally. A walk and double put two runners into scoring position with one out. Noah Chavez drove a pitch to deep left that was run down by the Portales left fielder, but the fly was deep enough to easily score the runner from third.
Moments later, DeShawn Lee belted a drive to deep left that fell a few feet short of being a game-tying wo-run homer. Instead, Lee coasted into second with a RBI double that cut Portales’ lead to a single run, 5-4.
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Portales carried the one-run advantage into the top of the seventh, when they loaded the bases with one out on a single and two hit batters. A five-pitch walk forced home a run before a groundout brought home another run. Quickly, a third run scored on a wild pitch.
“Those three runs were huge,” Galvan said. “We came together, got some insurance and held it together for the rest of the game.”
Portales took an 8-4 lead into the bottom of the 7th and faced the top of the Hope Christian order. A one-out single put a Huskies runner on base, but a groundout and flyout ended the game, setting off celebrations among Portales players, coaches and fans.
