Cats notch splits with Coyotes, Bulldogs

ARTESIA - Clovis High and Artesia went from one extreme to the other on Friday night.

The Wildcats took a pitchers' duel in the opener 3-1 behind senior left-hander Josh Martin's complete-game six-hitter. Then both sides struggled to get outs before Artesia claimed a wild 20-15 victory in a contest which lasted nearly 3 1/2 hours.

Coach Richard Cruce noted Cats pitchers combined to walk 16 batters in the nightcap.

"We just struggled from the beginning," Cruce said. "We just couldn't find the strike zone."

Martin, though, was efficient in the opener, walking one and striking out eight. His counterpart, Artesia senior Josh Madrid, was almost as tough, also giving up six hits and just two earned runs with no walks and seven strikeouts in going the route as well.

Senior Quincie Molina singled home the game's first run in the second, then Martin knocked in junior Justin Lawson with a single in the third. The final Cats run came after a Bulldogs error in the fifth.

Artesia (3-1) finally got on the board in the seventh with the help of a Clovis error, but Martin fanned the final two hitters with the tying runs on base.

"Josh came out and commanded his pitches," Cruce said. "He pounded the strike zone. I was pleased with how he competed and held his composure."

The nightcap saw the Cats (2-3) score seven times in the top of the first, only to see Artesia promptly come back with an eight-spot. Clovis tied the game 11-11 with a four-run third, but the Bulldogs plated seven more in the bottom half.

The Cats pulled to 18-15 with a four-run fourth, but were blanked over the final three frames.

"We're growing as a team," said Cruce, noting the squad has been nursing some bumps and bruises. "When we're at full strength, I think we'll be OK."

Clovis resumes its slate when it opens its home schedule in a 5 p.m. tilt against Lovington on Friday at Bell Park. The Cats lost at Lovington 7-3 in their season opener on May 4.

Roswell High 4-6, Clovis 3-7 (Tuesday) - The District 4-5A rivals added the doubleheader after Portales High was temporarily shut down last week from in-class learning due to COVID-19 protocols. The Cats and Coyotes are slated to play home-and-home district twin bills in June.

Clovis won the seesaw nightcap in eight innings after losing a tough one in the opener.

"It wouldn't have been a good day if we hadn't pulled it out," Cruce said of Game 2. "The kids competed hard and found a way to win."

The Coyotes (2-1) built a 4-0 lead with two-run innings in the first and second in the lidlifter. The Cats closed to 4-3 with three in the bottom of the second, two on a single by Zack Wheeler, but that was the end of the scoring.

Clovis committed five errors in the contest. Freshman Will Jordan, the second of three CHS hurlers, worked 3 1/3 shutout innings, allowing three hits with one walk and four strikeouts.

Senior Taymon Burrola hit an RBI double in the first and senior Rhett Stokes tripled home a pair of runs in the second for the Coyotes, who outhit the Cats 8-5 in the contest.

The nightcap was a seesaw affair. Clovis took a 5-2 lead with four runs in the third and the first of two RBI singles by junior Justin Lawson in the fourth. Lawson's second RBI hit tied it 6-6 in the sixth.

In the eighth, catcher Donovan Usery hit a leadoff single but was out trying to stretch it to a double. Junior Jaden Nigerville then reached on an error before junior Roman Galvan and Wheeler followed with singles to load the bases.

After a forceout at home, senior Johnny Jimenez drove in Nigerville with an RBI infield single.

Clovis outhit the Coyotes 7-2 for the game. Each team had three errors.

"I thought our pitchers threw pretty well," Cruce said. "They did everything we asked of them.

"For our pitchers to be the bright spot this early in the year is a plus. We've just got to get better defensively."

Softball games postponed - Friday's scheduled softball twin bill between the Lady Wildcats and Portales High at Lady Wildcat Field was called after after several delays due to lightning.

The teams will now meet three times this week, all at Portales - a 6:30 p.m. single game on Monday, and a 10 a.m. doubleheader on Saturday.