Hobbs sweeps Wildcats

The Clovis Wildcats have hit a low point.

The District 4-5A rival Hobbs Eagles came to town, dealt the Cats two tough losses and dropped Clovis to 0-4 in district play.

In the first game, Hobbs erased a four-run deficit and crushed Clovis 18-11. In the second game, the teams battled for nine innings before the Eagles came out on top with a 10-9 win.

“We’ve got a good ball club,” Clovis coach Shane Shallenberger said. “We’re just struggling this year. If we make a mistake, it turns out to be a huge mistake. When you’re losing things don’t go your way.”

The Cats knew district play would provide stiff competition with Carlsbad and Hobbs ranked third and fourth, respectively, in the Albuquerque Journal’s Class 5A poll.

“We’ve got a lot of potential,” Shallenberger said. “To play (Hobbs and Carlsbad) this tough shows you what kind of team we’ve got. We’ve just got to finish it.”

Clovis traveled to Carlsbad on Saturday and took two losses by a combined three runs.

In Tuesday’s first game, Hobbs seniors Kazuki Kito went 5-for-5 with five RBI and Kyle Campbell had four hits and two RBI to lead the Eagles’ comeback.

“We knew we weren’t going to see anything real dominating,” Hobbs coach Tim Phillips said. “But we knew we had to be disciplined in the zone. We really wanted to make sure that when we got pitches in the zone that we hacked at them.”

In the second game, Clovis took a 6-5 lead into the top of the sixth, but Hobbs notched four runs on a one-run double by Joshua Hargrove, a two-run triple by Garrett Bertola, and a one-run single by Jarred Caperton.

The Cats evened the score in the bottom of the sixth thanks to a two-run throwing error, a one-run fielders choice, and a sacrifice fly by Cade Wheeler.

Hobbs (12-2-1, 2-0 District 4-5A) got the leadoff runner aboard in the top of the seventh, but Clovis pitcher Daniel Casarez turned a double play on a popped-up bunt attempt.

Clovis (7-12, 0-4) dodged another leadoff bullet in the top of the eighth when catcher Sean Cruce picked off the runner at first.

The Eagles finally broke through in the top of the ninth when senior Josh May doubled to bring home senior Clay Schubert for the winning run.