Karen Boehler — NMMI Sports Press

LAS VEGAS, N.M. — The Bronco baseball team (15-1) wrapped up the post conference season with another solid pair of victories, despite using the games against Luna Community College (2-7, 1-2) as prep for the WJCAC opener at Odessa.

"We played pretty good," said coach Chris Cook. "It was a little different for us because we had everybody throwing out of the bullpen to prepare for the games coming up. We went into it knowing everybody was going to pitch one, maybe two innings."

Still, the pitching staff — four in Game 1 and seven in Game 2 — had some strong outings, the defense made some good plays and the offense simply blistered the ball.

"Offensively for the day, we had multiple guys have really, really good at bats," Cook said. "Hit some balls really hard and saw some positive things offensively." 

Playing at Brandt Field on Highlands University, the Broncos wasted no time in getting started in Game 1.

Edwin Martinez Pagani hit the first pitch of the game for a line-drive triple to center, and Rudy Solis scored him three pitches later on a sacrifice fly.

In the second, with one out, Cam Stevenson homered to center to make it 2-0 Broncos. Then, with two outs, Rough Rider pitcher Tony Limon walked Noah Nunez and Martinez Pagani, and they came home on a Solis line drive to right.

After Jorge Garcia (in after one inning by Megumi Fukuda) gave up one run on a double and two-out single in the bottom of the second, NMMI continued its offensive onslaught in the third.

Gavon Clemons opened the stanza with a home run to second. Mario Chacon was hit by a pitch and Ryan Flake singled with Clemons going to third. Clemons scored on an error that put Gonzalez Rodriguez on first but Flake out at second. Nunez then homered, and the Broncos were up 8-1.

The Institute put the game in mercy-rule territory in the fourth, all with no outs.

Solis singled, Guillermo Borquez was hit by a pitch and Clemons doubled, making it 9-1. Chacon then homered to left making it 12-1, then, after a pitching change, Stevenson tripled and Flake singled him in, making it 13-1.

After that, there were 12 straight outs to wrap up the game on the 10-run rule after five.

The Broncos tallied nine extra-base hits in Game 1, including two doubles, three triples and four home runs.

Game 2 was more of the same offensively — the Institute scored in every inning — but Luna managed to tack a few more runs on the board.

"Game 2 was close," Cook said. "Still kind of using that as a learning experience. Because Luna has some guys who can hit, and we just had to make quality pitches."

In the first, Martinez Pagani and Clemons walked, and Martinez Pagani came in on a single to left.

NMMI made it 4-0 in the second on a solo home run by Victor Jimenez, a walk to Copeland and home run by Nunez.

The Rough Riders loaded the bases in the bottom of the second off Ty Villareal, but a double play — from Martinez Pagani at second to Clemons at first — ended the inning without any runs coming in.

The Broncos added two more in both the third and fourth, but Luna finally got its first multiple-run inning in the third.

NMMI scored two in the top of the stanza on a Stevenson double, Jayden Diaz RBI single and passed ball that scored Diaz. 

The Rough Riders scored three in the bottom of the inning on a single, double and home run, but despite then loading the bases on a walk, single and error, the Broncos again got out of the inning on a double play.

NMMI's two runs in the fourth came on a Solis double, Clemons RBI double and Chacon single, then they added one in the fifth on a Hunter Roquemore walk, balk, and hard single to left by Nunez that scored Roquemore.

Luna closed the gap to 9-5 in the bottom of the fifth on a walk, double, RBI out and error, but NMMI got that back in the sixth when Justin Lawrence homered, Diaz and Jimenez were both hit then Diaz scored on a two-out error.

The Rough Riders had their biggest inning of the day in the sixth when they scored on a walk, two-out single, walk and double off Flake, closing to within two runs.

But the Broncos added one more in the seventh on another home run by Martinez Pagani and Lopez shut Luna down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the stanza to end the game.

Again, NMMI had solid offense, with five doubles (two by Clemons) and four home runs.

The Broncos head to Odessa Saturday to open the WJCAC season, and even though it will get tougher, Cook said his squad is ready.

"We're not intimidated by playing these teams," he said. "The rest of the league is shaping up to be pretty tough. One through eight, or whatever it is, I know going into it everybody can beat anybody. We're as ready as we can be at this point in the season with the obstacles that have been put in front of us."

Cook said they're going to be living the old baseball cliche "one game at a time" the second half of the season.

"Every game in conference matters, because from here on out, every win or loss could potentially affect your chances of playing in the post season," he said. "This team has put themselves in a position where they should legitimately be working towards that goal. It's a fun situation to be in. Sitting at 15-1, getting votes in the national junior college baseball pool — I don't think that's ever happened in NMMI history — it's a testament to the players we've got and where the program has come in the last nine years."