At one point in the year, less than a month ago, the McCurdy baseball team was 3-8, and on a six-game losing streak.
But the team credits that early-season schedule, filled with big-school opponents at tournaments, with pushing them to improve to becoming a playoff team.
“We’ve grown a lot as a team,” said senior Kordero Talachy. “If we were down, we might not have been able to battle back. But now we’re solid. We bring energy, we have spirit.”
The Bobcats, finishing the year with a 15-9 record and 11-1 in district, earned a No. 7 seed in the state tournament. They will face Texico (11-12) in the first round at home. Should they win, they will advance to a quarterfinal against No. 2 Rehoboth Christian (20-1) — the team that beat McCurdy in last year’s tournament.
Senior Marcos Gasca starred for the team’s final week, and now leads the state and ranks 12th in the nation, per Maxpreps, with 44 stolen bases on the year.
McCurdy hosted Peñasco in a doubleheader on April 26. After winning 19-2 in the first game, the Bobcats saw a much tougher battle in game two. A four-run fourth inning put Peñasco up 9-6. As the afternoon grew later, McCurdy went down in order in the fifth inning and left the bases loaded in the sixth while trailing by a run.
In the seventh inning, Peñasco scored twice and sent seven batters to the plate, ticking down the clock and the remaining daylight. McCurdy started their half with a single from Gasca, and then Kordero Talachy singled and came all the way around to score when the ball was misplayed by the right-fielder who could barely see the ball.
After that point, with nobody out in a one-run game, the umpires decided that the game could not continue given the lack of lights at McCurdy’s facility. McCurdy coach Roberto DeVargas announced to the crowd that the game would finish the following afternoon. But by that night, the two schools determined that transportation for the game would not be feasible, as Peñasco also had to finish regular-season series with Mora and Questa. By rule, the score reverted to the last completed inning, and was a 12-11 Peñasco win.
The loss broke a Bobcat district win streak that dated back to early in the 2018 season. It was also the first Panthers win against McCurdy in 22 attempts.
The Bobcats also honored their three seniors — Gasca, Talachy and Andres Borrego, all of whom had been team leaders on and off the field — between games of the doubleheader.
Peñasco will be a No. 12 seed in the tournament, the last wildcard to enter, and will face No. 5 Santa Rosa. The Lions swept a doubleheader in the regular season, scoring 21 runs in both matchups.
McCurdy wrapped up their district championship with a 21-5 win over Mora on April 29, a road game that was relocated to McCurdy’s field while many Mora residents and students deal with evacuations due to fires in the area.
“It’s pretty sad that it’s already coming to an end,” Gasca said. “But we’ll just come back out and battle.”