Winds dominated the day at Pojoaque on the baseball field.
Gusts were as high as 50 or 60 miles per hour in the area (according to the National Weather Service), making fly balls difficult to field, and pushing many deeper into the outfield.
Pojoaque (7-6) lost 24-1 to Santa Fe (9-5) on March 30 in five innings, a day after they had won their first district game.
The day prior, the Elks went to extra innings with Moriarty (5-11) after falling behind 5-0 early in the game. Tobias Velasquez was clutch in the top of the eighth with a go-ahead single, part of a 4-for-5 day, and Pojoaque won 8-6.
The Elks this year are under the tutelage of David Soveranez, who took over for Chris Kitchens shortly before the start of the season.
Soveranez’s son, Mateo, is currently a senior on the team, and David stepped in to coach the team when the position opened.
Overall, the season has been strong early on for Pojoaque, starting with a third-place finish at the Valencia Tournament in the first weekend of the season, and third at the Shiprock Tournament soon after. As of Monday, they are ranked No. 13 in 4A on MaxPreps. That would be their highest in 12 years, and they have a chance for their first season above .500 since 2011 as well.
Pojoaque is led by a group of seniors who are the top contributors on and off the field.
“They are the leaders of the team, and they’ve really developed some character on the team,” Soveranez said. “We put a lot of pressure on our seniors, so we expect them to perform.”
The day against Santa Fe started slow for Pojoaque, with the first 11 batters for Santa Fe all reaching base (one on a dropped third strike), starting with a single, walk, single and home run. Nine of them scored, putting Pojoaque down 9-0 before their first batter. And in the bottom of the first, three batters struck out.
Tobias Velasquez settled in on the mound in the second inning, sending down the Hilltoppers 1-2-3. But Los Alamos came back with a vengeance in the third, scoring 11 runs on 10 hits, including five doubles, two walks and one Pojoaque error, making the lead 20-0.
Elijah King had a dominant performance for the Demons, finishing with a walk, two doubles and two singles, and five RBIs total.
Pojoaque finally found success in the bottom of the fourth, after a two-out single by Angelo Romero, who scored two batters later on an RBI base hit by Ray Corbine.
Santa Fe scored four more times in the top of the fifth, after subbing in multiple backup hitters, and ultimately ended the game after five innings.
Soveranez said that Santa Fe is a program that he wants to model Pojoaque after, including senior leadership and strong pitching.
Pojoaque next plays on Wednesday at Taos (4-8) and faces Los Alamos (10-5) in a doubleheader on Saturday.
“This will be a good test for us to know what the level of play is that we need from our players,” Soveranez said.