The McCurdy Bobcats kept their fans on the edge of their seats last week with a pair of one-run home victories in District 2A-AA competition.
The Bobcats (8-5 overall) held off the Peñasco Panthers 8-7 April 13 in their district opener and then beat the Questa Wildcats April 15 by an identical score.
In both games, the Bobcats built up comfortable leads, only to watch them melt away.
Against Peñasco, Bobcat shortstop Ryan Bustos had a triple to lead off the game and added a home run in the second inning. McCurdy held a 7-1 lead going into the fifth inning when the Panthers scored three runs.
McCurdy added what would prove to be the winning run in the bottom of the fifth inning, but Peñasco responded with three runs in the top of the seventh inning before Bryan VanderVossen struck out the final Peñasco batter for the victory.
“We plan these close games from the beginning,” McCurdy coach Roberto DeVargas said. “Just kidding.”
The win over Questa was a historic moment for DeVargas.
“In the four years I’ve been coach, we’ve never beaten Questa,” he said. “It just goes to show you all the teams (in District 2A-AA) are tough and we know we’ll be in a battle every game.”
The Bobcats jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning after Justin Chavez singled and scored on an error. McCurdy added three more runs in the second inning on four walks, two hits, a fielder’s choice and a hit batsman to take a 4-0 lead.
The Wildcats left the bases loaded in the top of the third and fourth innings as McCurdy extended its lead to 6-0 going into the sixth inning. Questa then broke out for five runs to close the gap to one run.
Seeking some insurance runs in the bottom of the inning, McCurdy had runners on second and third with two outs after hits by Louis Jaramillo and Josh Lovato. Catcher Ron DeVargas, who already had three hits, was walked intentionally. VanderVossen was due up, but DeVargas sent eighth-grader Manny Jaramillo in to pinch hit.
“Manny sees the ball really well,” Roberto DeVargas said. “I noticed this pitcher had a slow delivery. Manny doesn’t have a big stride and he’s going to wait for the ball.”
Manny Jaramillo delivered a single to center field that brought in two insurance runs to give the Bobcats an 8-5 lead.
“I was just trying to hit the ball,” Manny Jaramillo said. “That’s about it.”
In the final inning, Questa scored two runs on three consecutive hits and put the tying run at third base. Chavez struck out Andres Chavez to end the game but not without drama. Ron DeVargas let the third strike get away and had to throw out Andres Chavez at first.
“I really don’t know why we can’t put teams away,” Bustos said. “Our team’s mysterious.”