Texico starts baseball season with rout of Tularosa

EUNICE — The defending Class 3A champion Wolverines picked up right where they left off in 2017, clubbing Tularosa 21-0 to open the Eunice Cardinal Classic.

Luke Phipps went 3-for-3 to lead a 10-hit attack for Texico (1-0), which didn’t win the game via mercy rule — though it was certainly headed that way before tournament officials enforced a two-hour time limit after three innings.

The Wolverines have only had a few days off since Saturday’s Class 3A basketball title game to get ready on the diamond, but coach Ty Thatcher said the players have snuck in work where they can.

“We’ve been penning and throwing for about a month and a half, all of the pitchers and catchers,” Thatcher said. “We haven’t done a lot of hitting, but we have had our 100-inning game.”

The Wolverines return 14 of their 15 players from last year’s 3A champion. That team went 27-3, losing only to Lubbock Christian (twice) and Class 4A Raton while outscoring the opposition 322-54.

Ben Crist and Robin Winton combined to pitch an abbreviated no-hitter against the Bobcats (0-2). Crist threw just 19 pitches in his two innings, but compiled four strikeouts. Winton also went 3-for-4 at the plate, while Cole Rohrbach had two walks,a double and a triple on the day.

Texico plays its second game in the Classic Friday, with a 4 p.m. game against Midland Christian.