Peter Dindinger — NMMI Sports Press
Stringing a couple of wins together is all it will take to get right back into the hunt for a top four spot in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference.
The New Mexico Military Institute Bronco baseball team returned home for the first time in four weeks, and they did not disappoint.
Offensive was plentiful for the Broncos as they swept a doubleheader with the El Paso Community College Tejanos by the scores of 9-5 and 14-5 Friday afternoon at NMMI Ballpark.
It's been three years since NMMI last played the Tejanos back on March 30, 2019.
NMMI had dropped its last six games of the season.
"To come back home and play well was big. That showed me a lot," said NMMI head coach Chris Cook. "I'm proud of the effort we had today. We got to come back tomorrow and be ready.
"What I liked today was that even though our pitchers weren't perfect they both competed and gave us a chance."
In Game 1, the Tejanos struck first on a solo home run to left by Mauricio Millan in the top of the first.
NMMI took a 2-1 lead in the bottom half of the frame with a ground out by Ryan Flake that plated home Rhett Stokes and an RBI single by Jesh Leckey.
EPCC tied up the game at two-all in the top of the second. After back to back singles, Benito Hernandez hit an RBI single.
After a duel between both pitchers, the Broncos regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth when Guillermo Borquez hit an RBI double to center.
In the top of the fifth, EPCC pushed across the game-tying run that came on an RBI double by Kenneth Dutka.
On a wild pitch, B.Y. Choi was able to score to give the Broncos a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the fifth.
The momentum had shifted over to El Paso as it went ahead with a 5-4 lead. Joseph Rodriguez tallied an RBI double to center to highlight the inning.
NMMI rallied for five runs in the bottom of the sixth.
The Broncos took advantage of an error by the catcher to get the inning going. Albert Oliva Velez doubled and then Borquez hit a two RBI single to right to give NMMI the 6-5 lead.
Stokes hit a clutch triple to center to drive in two runs. Stokes later scored on an error by the second baseman to make the score 9-5.
NMMI scattered 14 hits.
Stokes finished 2 for 3 with a single, triple and two RBI while Borquez finished 2 for 3 with a single, double and three RBI.
Velez also went 2 for 3 with a single and a double. Diego Solis tallied a single and a double to go 2 for 4.
Jorge Garcia threw 5.1 innings to earn the no-decision. He allowed six hits while walking one batter and striking out one.
Leandro Tamaki earned the win after allowing one hit in 1.2 innings with two strikeouts.
NMMI's potent offense carried over into Game 2.
El Paso got ahead, taking a 2-0 lead in the top of the first.
The Broncos came back to tie up the game in the bottom half of the first. Solis delivered an RBI triple while Borquez hit an RBI single.
In the bottom of the third, NMMI took a 4-2 lead. Edrien Martinez hit a sacrifice fly to center to drive in Solis while Stokes hit an RBI double.
Trotter Boston led off the fourth with a solo home run to right. Borquez helped extend NMMI's lead to 6-2 with an RBI single to left.
NMMI extended its lead to five in the bottom of the fifth after an RBI single by Stokes.
The Tejanos cut the deficit to two runs in the top of the sixth with a solo home run by Hernandez and an RBI ground out by Jaime Munoz.
During the bottom of the sixth, the floodgates opened as the Broncos pushed across seven runs. Owen Alsup delivered a clutch three-run home run to left.
Boston and Stokes then hit back to back RBI triples to make the score 12-5.
The rally continued with an RBI single by Choi and an RBI double to left by Solis.
Jose Cabanillas Jr. tossed a solid game, going five innings with five strikeouts. Cabanillas allowed six hits and five earned runs.
Henrique Date shutdown the final two innings as he allowed one hit.
The Broncos put together 19 hits, which included 10 extra base hits.
Solis finished 4 for 5 with a single, two doubles, a triple and two RBI. Boston finished a single shy of the cycle, going 3 for 3 with a double, triple, homer and two RBI.
Stokes went 3 for 4 with two singles, a triple and two RBI. Velez tallied a single and a double to go 2 for 4.
Borquez drove in two runs to go 2 for 3 with two singles and two RBI. Leckey was the sixth Bronco to have a multi-hit game, going 2 for 4 with a pair of singles.
"What was really good to see finally was (the) offense picking up the pitching a little bit," Cook added. "We did a much better job of getting zeros after we scored. That proved to be the difference.
"Offensively, we just had some guys that did what they're supposed to do with mistake pitches. Putting up some runs was clutch. We still got to clean a couple things up."
>> UP NEXT: NMMI closes out its four-game series with the Tejanos with a doubleheader at 12 p.m. Saturday.
Game 1
NMMI 9, El Paso Community College 5 (7)
EPCC……1100120 — 5 7 2
NMMI….200115x — 9 14 0
Jesus Campa, Andres Perez (6). Jorge Garcia, Leandro Tamaki (6). W — Tamaki. L — Perez. 2B — EPCC: Joseph Rodriguez (2), Kenneth Dutka; NMMI: Guillermo Borquez, Albert Oliva Velez, Diego Solis. 3B — NMMI: B.Y. Choi, Rhett Stokes. HR — EPCC: Mauricio Millan.
Game 2
NMMI 14, El Paso Community College 5 (7)
EPCC…..2000030 — 5 7 1
NMMI...202217x — 14 19 1
Aaron Sanchez, Bryan Aguirre (4), Carlos Maldonado (6), Raul Ferniza (6), Matthew Morales (6). Jose Cabanillas Jr., Henrique Date (6). W — Cabanillas. L — Sanchez. 2B — EPCC: Deandre Llopiz; NMMI: Trotter Boston, Ryan Flake, Albert Oliva Velez, Diego Solis (2). 3B — EPCC: Deandre Llopiz, Joseph Rodriguez; NMMI: Trotter Boston, Diego Solis, Rhett Stokes. HR — EPCC: Benito Hernandez; NMMI: Owen Alsup, Trotter Boston.
Records — El Paso Community College (21-17, 8-6); NMMI (20-17, 6-8).