NMMI Sports Press
The Colt Baseball team fell to the Ruidoso Warriors 5-3 in the quarterfinal round of the New Mexico Class 3A State Championships at the Jennifer Riordan Spark Kindness Sports Complex in Albuquerque Thursday.
It was the fourth meeting of the season between the district rivals and the third straight. Like the final doubleheader of the regular season, an 8-7 Ruidoso win and a 3-1 NMMI victory, the final matchup in the playoffs was won by the team that played a cleaner game.
The Colts committed seven errors and only one of the Warriors five runs was earned.
“It’s kind of tough to swallow,” said first-year head coach Brad Blackwell. “Just little simple mistakes that really cost us. But hats off to Ruidoso. They are a 10 seed and should really be a five or six. I wish them the best and I hope they keep the championship in our district.”
Sophomore pitcher and shortstop Tegin Maloney began the game on the bump for the Colts, completing two innings on a 40-pitch limit with four strikeouts and just one walk, but his own miscues and his teammates fielding errors derailed his promising start.
In the top of the first, with two outs and two Warriors on base as a result of errors, a passed ball scored the first run for the opposition. Maloney got the final out on a ground out to second and had a much better second inning, sitting the side down in order and freezing the final two hitters of the frame.
In the bottom of the second, the Colts tied the game with a two-out, RBI single by sophomore outfielder Nicolas Barcenas that scored junior catcher Luis C. Patron, who doubled to start the inning.
The lead-off hitter for the Warrors reached on an outfield error to start the third inning and after issuing a walk to the next batter, Maloney was replaced by junior David Cobia, who got the first out on a fielder’s choice to Maloney, now at short.
Cobia got the next out on a fly ball to center, but during the next at bat, the Warriors’ lead runner scored on an error at second before outfielder Wylie Casson fouled off a couple pitches then lined one to Barcenas in center, scoring another to make it 3-1.
Cobia went 3-and-a-third innings with two Ks and one walk, giving up one unearned run in the fifth after loading the bases on a single, hit by pitch and walk.
Senior first baseman Miguel Rivera took the mound in the top of the sixth inning with one out and gave up a double and a single before getting Hayden Casson to hit into a double play that ended at home plate as Caplan handled the grounder, tossed to senior Sergio Gonzales at first base, who then got the ball to Patron in time to stop the runner from third.
The Institute lessened its deficit to one run in the bottom of the frame with a two-RBI homer by Patron to make it 4-3, but it wasn’t enough to rally the Colts as Ruidoso’s Logan Sandoval turned in another dominating performance against the Colts.
Back on April 29 in Ruidoso, Sandoval held the Colts to three scores, but didn’t get the run support he needed.
“Sandoval is a great pitcher and I think they came in thinking they had to throw their best guy to beat us, and it worked out for them,” Blackwell said. “We planned for winning three games, so we saved Maloney, but we trust all our arms and I thought all our guys pitched well.”
Rivera allowed a run in the top of the final inning, but finished strong with two strikeouts.
Gonazles had the final hit of the season for the Colts in the bottom of the seventh, finishing the game 2-for-3.
Maloney went 2-for-3 with a run scored and Patron was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two driven in.
“Maloney played well, had a nice double and the single that set up Patron for the two-run home run, and that was a spark for us, but we shouldn’t have needed it if we could just limit the mistakes. But I’m proud of these guys and we’ll learn from this.”
Blackwell has been a mostly calming presence for his Colts since getting booted from an early-season tournament game in Dexter. The Colts rallied to win that game and have played hard throughout the season for the young former junior college cadet and Bronco baseball shortstop.
Blackwell never admitted it, but like any good coach that cares he was probably feeling the pressure to repeat after taking over a team from longtime Hall of Fame coach Charlie Ward, but he showed nothing but gratitude after the upset.
“I enjoyed coaching every single one of these kids and we’re going to really miss our four seniors,” he said. “I’ve been blessed with great assistant coaches. Having coach (Steven) Rogers come back, coach (Greg) Maloney who volunteers his time. Couldn’t have done it without them. And a big shout out to coach (Robert) Johnson who couldn’t be with us, but hopefully he’s back next year.”
Patron likely felt the pressure too, having played on last year’s title team with star older brother Luis A. Patron, now a pitcher for the Broncos. The junior catcher played with fire and passion all year and let his emotions out after the game.
As the tournament has progressed, District 4/5 has shown it’s strength, with 11-seeded East Mountain upsetting 3-seed St. Mike’s before falling to Ruidoso. The Warriors and district champion Sandia Prep play for the Class 3A title today at 4 p.m.
The Colts end the season with an overall record of 21-5, a second-place finish in the district at 12-3 and a perfect 10-0 record at the NMMI Ballpark.