Rockets roll to win over Rams

It didn’t take long to see that it probably wasn’t going to be the Portales Rams’ day.

With two outs and a runner on first in the top of the first, the Rams committed two errors on the same play to hand Roswell Goddard the game’s first run.

It didn’t get any better from there. The Rockets cruised to a 10-0 win on Saturday at Ram Field in a game called after five innings because of the 10-run rule.

Portales (8-5) finished with six errors, leading to four unearned runs. In addition, the Rockets took advantage of four hit batsmen, a walk, a balk, a passed ball and a wild pitch.

“That might have been our worst outing all year,” PHS coach Arturo Ontiveros said, “and we’ve have some bad ones.”

Even without the generosity from the Rams, Goddard (4-7) probably would have been hard to beat. Senior left-hander Peter Martinez, who hit a two-run homer and an RBI single, held Portales to just one hit — a two-out double in the fifth by Kevin Gonzales — and faced only one batter over the minimum.

He retired 13 in a row after Lynn Pinedo reached on a one-out error in the first. Martinez struck out nine — including eight in breezing through the second, third and fourth innings.

“Coming off a couple of losses, we were needing a win,” Goddard coach Steve Nunez said. “We needed a good game out of Peter, and we certainly got it.”

Senior right-hander Justin Gilchrist allowed just three hits in 3 1/3 innings, but he was victimized by Portales’ fielding woes. He also contributed to his downfall by plunking four Goddard batters, including Josh Nine twice.

“Justin didn’t throw a bad game, but when they did put it in play we didn’t make the routine plays,” said Ontiveros, whose team opens District 4-3A play with a home doubleheader against New Mexico Military next Saturday. “We just came out flat today.”

In addition to Martinez, designated hitter Aaron Michelson and third baseman Ed Virales were also 2-for-3 for the Rockets. Michelson chased Gilchrist with a two-run single in the fourth, and Martinez then capped the scoring by greeting reliever Antonio Lucio with a two-run homer to right-center.

Nunez said he didn’t anticipate what happened.

“When you’re struggling like we were to score runs, every little bit helps,” he said.