The Española Valley baseball team stretched its winning streak to five games with three victories last week.
“The team’s playing with a lot more confidence,” Española coach Anthony Alarid said. “We’re cutting down on our errors and tightening our defense.”
The Sundevils defeated Grants 5-4 April 19 in a nondistrict game and knocked off Taos 7-3 April 21 in District 2AAAA competition. The Sundevils finished the week off avenging a April 7 loss to Santa Fe High School with an 11-4 victory over the Demons April 24 in Santa Fe.
“Our sticks are coming around,” junior Ryan Fresquez said. “We know we have to win out to get a high seed at state.”
The surging Sundevils improved to 13-9 on the season and 6-3 in District 2AAAA.
Against Santa Fe, senior Sean Salazar went the distance on the mound for the Sundevils to pick up the win. He helped himself at the plate in the first inning with a triple to drive in Fresquez, who led off the game with a walk. Salazar ended up scoring when the throw to third went wild.
“If we keep plying like we’ve been playing we can get to state and win some games,” Salazar said.
The Sundevils had a 4-2 lead heading into the seventh inning. That’s when Española exploded for seven runs.
Fresquez led off with a triple. After a pair of walks loaded the bases, Salazar stroked a single to center to drive in two runs. Jesus Chavez pounded Española’s second triple of the inning into the gap in right center to score two more runs and catcher Corey Atencio blooped a double down the right field line to score Chavez. The final two runs of the inning scored on Ariel Flores sharp single to center that got past the outfielder and rolled to the fence. Flores circled the bases and slid home, making the score 11-2.
The Demons added two more runs in the bottom of the seventh, but Española held on for the win.
“The bottom of our lineup has been hitting the ball well,” Alarid said.
Flores, batting eighth in the lineup, provided the thrills in Española’s win over Taos. The Sundevils were clinging to a 2-1 lead in the top of the seventh inning, when Flores came to bat with the bases loaded. He hit a fly ball to center field that the outfielder misplayed, resulting in an inside-the-park grand slam home run.
Ryan Fresquez followed two batters later with a solo inside-the-park home run to give the Sundevils a 7-1 lead.
In the bottom of the inning, Taos loaded the bases with no one out. The Sundevils turned an unusual triple play to end the game. The Tigers attempted a suicide bunt, but the batter missed the ball and struck out for the first out. Atencio tagged the runner out at home trying to score and then threw to third to nail the runner trying to advance from second.
Española is in third place in District 2AAAA. Bernalillo is in second place at 7-2 trailing Los Alamos at 8-1. The Sundevils finish the regular season by taking on Los Alamos Wednesday (4/28) in Española and have a doubleheader Saturday at Bernalillo.
“The (nondistrict) wins over Santa Fe and Grants will help us in the seedings at state,” Alarid said. “If we can win out, we could finish in a tie for second in District (2AAAA).”