5/7/09
In his last home game as an Española Valley baseball player May 2, Sundevil senior James Flores wanted the ball.
“I told the coach I wanted it,” Flores said. “We stayed confident and believed in ourselves.”
The 6-foot, 4-inch right-hander pitched five gutsy innings and helped the Sundevils recover from a 13-0 spanking by Bernalillo in the first game of a doubleheader.
“We talked about it since Wednesday — that in order to get into the state tournament, we had at the minimum to split with Bernalillo,” Española coach Anthony Alarid said. “We knew we were going to face their number-one pitcher in the first game.”
Bernalillo’s Kellen Quintana dominated the Sundevils in that first game. He tossed a no-hitter and the game ended in five innings under the 10-run mercy rule.
The real mercy came in the second game, when Quintana stepped aside.
“In that second game, we faced Bernalillo’s number-three pitcher,” Alarid said.
The Spartans took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning, but Española responded with three runs. Spartan pitcher Yoshio Najera walked six Española batters, three with the bases loaded.
Each team added a run in the second inning and Bernalillo pushed three runs over the plate in the top of the third to take a 6-4 lead. In the bottom of the inning, Española took advantage of a sloppy Spartans defense.
With two outs and Greg Serna on second base, Española used three Bernalillo errors, two walks and a single by Sean Salazar to score six runs and take a 10-6 lead. Española added two runs in the fourth inning and led 12-6.
After Flores yielded a leadoff home run and hit the next batter, sophomore lefty Mario Archuleta came on in relief. Bernalillo scored five runs to come within one point of the Sundevils.
Española would not score again, but Archuleta struck out the side in the sixth inning and induced three fly-ball outs in the seventh to protect Española’s one-run lead. The victory evened their record at 6-6 in District 2AAAA.
“Mario did a heck of a job,” Alarid said.
It was an unlikely win over the Spartans, who had beaten Española 21-1 April 15 and finished second in the district with a 9-3 record.
“We minimized our errors and capitalized on their errors,” Alarid said.
Los Alamos easily took first place in District 2AAAA with a 11-1 record.
Although Alarid thought the second-game victory would earn Española a spot in the state tournament, he and the Sundevils had to wait until May 3 to have their hopes confirmed by the New Mexico Activities Association. Española received the 14th seed in a 16-team field and will face third-seeded Farmington in the opening round of the state tournament, in Farmington.
“We came through,” Alarid said. “I’m really proud of these guys.”
The Sundevils have not been to the state baseball tournament in at least nine years, and likely even further back than that. Española athletic director Dave Fontaine said he doesn’t know for sure if the Sundevils have ever been to the state baseball tournament in the school’s 33-year history.
The opening round of the state tournament was originally scheduled for Friday and Saturday but has been postponed. When it is rescheduled, it will be a best-of-three series.
“It’s the team that has the depth in pitching that has the best chance,” Alarid said.