Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Texico senior Daltyn Cain sends the ball plateward during Wednesday's Class 2A first-round playoff game against District 6-2A rival Pecos at Texico. Cain's day was short on the mound as the visiting Panthers opened a 5-0 lead in the second inning, but his leadoff triple started a two-run seventh which allowed the Wolverines to advance with a 13-12 victory.
TEXICO – Finally, a close game against Pecos went Texico's way, and the Wolverines are advancing to the Class 2A state quarterfinals because of it.
Texico erased deficits of 5-0, 10-8 and 12-11, scoring twice in the bottom of the seventh to nip District 6-2A rival Pecos 13-12 on Wednesday night.
It's the third time in four meetings this season that the teams have played tight, high-scoring contests decided late. The Panthers won the first two, erasing an 8-0 deficit for an 11-9 win at home and then edging the Wolverines 11-10 in 10 innings on May 2 at Texico.
Texico run-ruled the Panthers 17-3 in the second game of the April 19 doubleheader at Pecos.
"I'm happy to be on the winning end of that," said Texico coach Zack Shank, whose squad (9-12) was seeded one notch higher than Pecos and got the home contest with the No. 8 seed after finishing one game ahead of the Panthers (13-11) for second place in the district. "Last week, we were on the losing side."
Pecos took the lead in the top of the seventh on a two-out, opposite-field RBI single by junior Daniel Aragon. But Wolverines senior Daltyn Cain led off the bottom of the frame with a triple to center field, then beat the throw home on Edgar Mendoza's fielder's choice grounder to second baseman Brandon Holton to tie it.
Mendoza reached second on the play and rode home with the game-winning on sophomore Bryce Cooper's single to the gap In right-center.
"I'm proud of the kids," Shank said. "They fought the whole game."
Senior Kyle Gonser, the third Texico pitcher, worked the final two innings for the win. He came in with the bases loaded and no outs in the sixth and, after throwing a wild pitch for the tying run, proceeded to strike out the side.
"Kyle came in and did what we needed him to do," Shank said. "He had some big strikeouts with runners on base."
Aragon's two-out single to right in the seventh put the Panthers in front, but it wouldn't hold up.
"That's part of the game," Mendoza, who finished 3-for-4 and tripled twice in an eight-run third which erased the Wolverines' early deficit, said of the back-and-forth nature of the contest. "You just have to adjust to the environment."
Aragon started on the mound for Pecos, but was chased in the third-inning rally which included RBI singles by sophomore Hunter Bowman, freshman Luciano Miranda and senior Easton Cooper. Junior Jonah Villanueva's two-run single highlighted the Panthers' five-run fourth, but a two-run single by Bowman made it 10-10 in the bottom half.
Bowman also finished 3-for-4 for Texico, while five others had two hits apiece.
Aragon hit a two-run single to put Pecos ahead early, and the Panthers made it 5-0 with three in the second, highlighted by a two-run single from junior catcher Avenicio Martinez.
The Wolverines handed Santa Rosa (21-2, 8-1 district) its only loss in district play, a 15-11 decision in the second game of an April 23 twin bill at Texico.
"We just have to come out with a supreme effort, and put it all out on the field," Mendoza said.
