The Pojoaque Elks baseball team went on a roller coaster ride last week.
The Elks picked up their first two District 2AAA wins of the season by defeating West Las Vegas 8-6 April 5 on the road and Robertson 14-13 April 8 both at home. However, they were brought back down to earth April 9 with a resounding thud by Sandia Prep, the defending Class AAA state champion. The Sundevils pounded Pojoaque 20-2 in five innings in a nondistrict game also in Pojoaque.
Pojoaque bounced back the following day, sweeping a home doubleheader from Hope Christian 6-2, 14-12 in nondistrict competition.
“We played good solid baseball on Saturday (April 10),” Pojoaque coach Anthony Alarid said. “We stunk against Sandia.”
The victories over West Las Vegas and Robertson snapped a three-game losing streak for the Elks, who were just 1-6 overall and 0-3 in District 2AAA to start last week. Pojoaque senior Mike Garcia threw a complete-game against West Las Vegas. The Elks held off a late rally by the Dons after taking an 8-3 lead into the seventh inning.
“They had runners on second and third with one out,” Anthony Garcia said. “(Pojoaque catcher) Josh (Ortiz) picked the guy off third and Mike struck out the last batter.”
Against the Cardinals, Pojoaque trailed 13-12 going into the bottom of the seventh and final inning. Andrew Martinez led off with a single and took second when the ball was bobbled in the outfield. Chris Ortiz was walked intentionally. The tactic backfired when Michael Garcia stroked a single to left to drive in Martinez. With one out, Rob Ortiz was hit with a pitch to load the bases. Brandon Jaramillo drew a walk to force in the winning run.
“If we could just quit giving runs away, we’d be okay,” Anthony Garcia said.
The Elks gave away plenty of runs away against Sandia Prep, committing nine errors. The Sundevils held a slim 4-0 lead before exploding for seven runs in the fourth inning and adding nine runs in the fifth inning. Sophomore Michael Parrish took the loss.
“I thought (Parrish) pitched well,” Anthony Alarid said. “We didn’t back him up defensively.”
Against Hope Christian, Pojoaque got a complete-game victory from Mike Garcia in the first game. Hope led 12-9 in the second game before Pojoaque came back to score five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to retake the lead. Josh Ortiz had a three-run home run for the Elks.
“The game against Sandia Prep showed us something,” Anthony Garcia said. “If we want to reach that level, we have to make the routine plays.”
Pojoaque plays Santa Fe Indian School Thursday (4/15) in Santa Fe and hosts Raton Saturday in a doubleheader.