Portales routs Kermit for first win of baseball season

EUNICE - Gusting winds at the Eunice Cardinal Classic couldn't stop Portales baseball from dominating in all facets of Thursday's game against Kermit. The Rams poured it on the Yellowjackets to the tune of 13-1 to earn their first win of 2018.

"The wind was blowing really hard from left field, which made us hit the ball more towards the middle, which I think was good for us," Rams coach Dusty Nusser said. "We hit it hard a few times (in the early going), but it was right at them. But once we got going, we gained a lot of momentum."

Portales (1-1) and Kermit (0-3) were deadlocked at 0-0 after two innings, before the Ram bats came alive. The Rams scored three runs in the third, which proved to be the difference.

Chandon Neece led off the inning by beating a ground ball that he hit to the shortstop. Juan Espinoza's hard grounder to left field then put runners on first and second, before Jordan Garcia's double brought home Neece.

A balk would soon score another Portales run, before Baylor Diaz' fielder's choice added a third run. The Rams would go on to add two runs in the fourth, three in the sixth and five in the seventh.

Jordan Garcia and Logan McDaniel each hit home runs, and were two of the six Rams to have multiple base hits on the day. For Portales, however, pitching was just as strong, as ace Josiah Lucero struck out eight batters and allowed only two hits and one run in six innings of work.

"He threw really good," Nusser said. "He did a good job of pounding the zone and he had 54 strikes on 87 pitches." Portales will play at the Eunice Tournament again tonight, as it'll face Thursday's late game winner of Eunice and Gateway Christian at 7.