Saturday, May 10, 2008

Indians slam Warriors in 30-run debacle

SHS works to fill the gaps of fielding changes

Nat Holland El Defensor Chieftain Reporter

"I don't think bad could describe it," Socorro High School baseball coach Alan Edmonson said of Tuesday's doubleheader against Cobre. "It was horrendous, a debacle. I don't think I've ever seen defense perform so poorly."

The Cobre Indians (19-5, 10-0 District 3-3A) outscored the Warriors 30-4 and 15-1 in two five-inning mercy rule games in Socorro.

Socorro's (19-5, 7-3) opening pitcher Zach Gallegos performed well, Edmonson said, but the defense wasn't there to back up him up. Gallegos only gave up two hits, but a string of errors explains the rest of the nine runs scored by Cobre in the first inning.

After two innings Gallegos had thrown over 70 pitches, according to Edmonson.

"That's as much as an efficient pitcher will throw in a whole game," Edmonson said. "And Zach is usually an efficient pitcher."

Ryan Alguire replaced Gallegos on the mound in the third, but Cobre continued to pour in the runs, many of which got on base because of errors. Justus Jaramillo came on the mound to replace Alguire in the fifth and close out the game.

Socorro's brief offensive flash happened in the bottom of the third. Three Warrior batters walked to load the bases and then Gallegos and Elias Mora hit back-to-back doubles to score four runs.

The Warriors opened the second game in better shape defensively. Cobre only scored four runs in three innings, two of them unearned, with Mora pitching for Socorro.

Mora scored in the second inning, after getting on base with an error, then stealing around the bases and eventually home on passed balls.

After three innings of close play, the Warrior defense started slipping again. Cobre added five runs in the fourth inning. two more of them scored on passed ball.

Socorro assistant coach Kenny Gonzales was ejected in the top of the fourth after complaining to the umpire that Cobre batter Isaac Castillo stepped outside the batting when he hit a home run in the fourth.

In the fifth inning, Mora replaced Andrew Contreras as catcher and Justin Zuni rotated to the mound. After four runs and only one out, Jaron Herron took over pitching and closed the inning, but only after another three runs were scored.

The Warriors are still struggling with shifting positions due to the loss of Matt Lyon, Edmonson said, citing Contreras as an example. Contreras spent most of the season practicing at first, but has had to fill in as catcher when Mora is pitching and also has spent some time at third base as the rest of the infield rotates around to fill in gaps for whomever is pitching.

"You can't control it," Edmonson said. "You just have to get out there and play."

Socorro travels to play Hatch Valley today (Saturday) in their final district game in a doubleheader scheduled to start at 11 a.m.

"We had a good two days of practice," Edmonson said on Thursday, hoping for a better performance. "They've come out and worked harder than they've worked in a long time. I think it's hard sometimes to come out here and for two or three months and do something daily."

Seeding for the Class 3A state tournament will be released on Sunday, and Edmonson is hoping for a top eight seed, but acknowledged the drastic losses to Cobre may be used against them by those deciding the rankings.

Despite the poor performances recently, Edmonson cited New Mexico Military Institute as an example of a team that has lost badly and made a strong comeback.

"NMMI lost five games in a row, some to (Class 2A) schools," Edmonson said. "Now they are playing as good as anybody in the state. Anyone can go through a rough stretch."

The first round of the state tournament will be Friday and Saturday, May 16-17. Top seeded teams will host against lower ranked teams in a three-game series. The rest of the tournament will be single-elimination.

"Anything can happen," Edmonson said of the state tournament. "I look at (Class 3A) baseball and it isn't always the best team winning the championship. If the team show up that played the last two weeks, though, we might be in trouble against the 14th, 15th, or 16th seeds even."

As of the coaches poll released Wednesday by the New Mexico High School Coaches Association, Cobre was the No. 2 ranked Class 3A baseball team, and Socorro fell in at the No. 6 spot.

nholland@dchieftain.com

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