Magdalena Steers baseball takes second at 2A Eunice Tournament

The Magdalena Steers baseball team has taken second place in its second tournament of the season. All of the Steers’ games so far this season have been in bigger schools tournaments. Magdalena is a Class 1A school competing against some 2A and 3A schools in these tournaments.

To open their 2026 season, the Steers traveled for the 3A Tularosa Tournament from March 19 to 21. 

They won 4-2 over Ruidoso in nine innings, won 10-0 against Oak Grove Classical Academy and then lost 4-0 versus Grady in the final game of that tournament. Some of the Steers’ toughest competition comes from its own district, as Grady is also a Class 1A school in the same district as Magdalena.

Their next three games of the season were in the 2A Eunice Tournament from March 26 to 28.

“Magdalena was in a tough 2A tournament in Eunice this weekend. The tournament consisted of some of the top 2A teams in the state. Magdalena won game one against the only other 1A team there, 18-4 over Melrose. In the semifinals, we beat Mesilla Valley 5-4. We lost to [the] host team, top seed in Class 2A, Eunice 5-0,” Magdalena Head Coach Kyl Candelaria said.

Candelaria shared some highlights from the Eunice Tournament games.

In game one, Mathew Lopez went 4 for 5 at the plate while also pitching a complete game in the win over the Melrose Buffaloes. 

Josiah Candelaria pitched 6 ⅔ innings with 14 strikeouts in game two’s 5-4 win over Mesilla Valley Christian School. 

Magdalena still got some hits in during the game three loss to Eunice: Josiah Candelaria was 1-3 at the plate with a double, Zeb Apachito went 1-3 with a single and Tristan Alvarez batted 1-2 with a single.

“Our team is working on finding our way. We are 4-2 on the season and still trying to shake the rust. We returned all three of our starting pitchers this season, and we expect to be very competitive again,” Candelaria said.

District play begins for the Steers in two weeks with a rematch against Grady on April 13. Candelaria emphasized that their district is very tough, and they are fast-tracking their preparation for district with these challenging early season games.