Albuquerque, N.M. – With the virtually unhittable – and projected first round draft pick - Trevor Rogers on the mound for Carlsbad, when the Cavemen built a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the second against Valley, the only drama left in the quarterfinals contest at Isotopes Stadium was how many pitches Rogers would throw.
Would Rogers throw just 40 pitches, thereby making him eligible to pitch Friday in the semifinals against La Cueva or Rio Rancho?
Or would he throw no more than 60 pitches, making him eligible to pitch Saturday should Carlsbad reach the Class 6A state championship game?
Or would Rogers go the distance, making Thursday’s appearance his last in a Cavemen uniform and a fond farewell before next month’s Major League Draft when some professional team to be determined likely makes him a millionaire?
In the end, Carlsbad coach Cody May elected for option No. 2, pulling Rogers in the fifth inning moments after he threw his 60th pitch. Roger could take the mound on Saturday, but the Cavemen must first cross their fingers and get past No. 1 seed La Cueva, which nipped No. 8 Rio Rancho, 1-0, Thursday night at Isotopes Stadium, with another pitcher on the roster.
Considering how this season has unfolded for Carlsbad (just over a .500 team without Rogers pitching), that could be a tall order for the Cavemen with Rogers unable to do anything but cheer on his teammates from the dugout when they square off with the talented Bears.
“We wanted to come out and see how well (Rogers) threw and how well we swung the bats,” May said afterwards. “We’ve been up and down with the bats all year. We really didn’t have a plan (on how to use Rogers). We wanted to see how the game played out and go from there.”
The anticipated pitching duel between Rogers and Valley’s Daniel Romero-Martinez never materialized as Carlsbad roared out of the gates by scoring two runs in the first on a single and throwing error, and adding three runs in the second (RBI single for Rogers, who is a very good hitter) for a 5-0 lead.
“Our kids did a very good job with their looks at the plate,” May said. “We made contact and came up big in some situations. Anytime you can get a four or five run lead and have Trevor on the mound, you feel pretty confident in the second half of the game.”
Carlsbad cleanup hitter Will Fiala capped the scoring by walloping a towering two-run home run over the right-field fence.
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“I wasn’t really surprised (by Carlsbad’s offensive output),” May said. “We’ve had some big games where we’ve come out and swung it extremely well. One game we scored 15 runs in the first inning. We’ve just been up and down. We haven’t done it consistently enough, but I knew we were capable of swinging the bats pretty well.”
Nine runs was much more than Carlsbad needed. Thursday afternoon’s game produced typical Rogers numbers. He experienced little trouble against Valley’s lineup, throwing 4.1 scoreless innings without allowing a hit.
The lefthanded Rogers improved to 11-0 on the season.
“He’s been pretty dominant for quite a few years,” May said. “We almost five innings and 60 pitches out of him. He did a great job. He got ahead in counts and spotted up all three of his pitches. He did another outstanding job for us.”
Ty Castaneda relieved Rogers with one out in the top of the fifth and finished the game, preserving the shutout with 2.2 shutout innings
Tournament Top Performers Here
CLASS 6A QUARTERFINALS (Thursday):
Carlsbad 9, Valley 0
Cleveland 4, Volcano Vista 3 (8 inn.)
La Cueva 1, Rio Rancho 0
Piedra Vista 4, Centennial 1
CLASS 6A SEMIFINALS (Friday at Isotopes Park)
Cleveland vs. Piedra Vista, 3 p.m.
La Cueva vs. Carlsbad, 6 p.m.
