The third inning proved to be the downfall of the McCurdy Bobcats in the opening round of the Class A state baseball tournament.
The Valley Christian Academy Lions scored six runs in that frame to take a 6-1 lead in the May 12 contest held at Rio Rancho High School. The Lions added four runs in the top of the seventh inning to take a 10-1 victory.
“One bad inning in baseball is all it takes,” McCurdy coach Roberto DeVargas said. “After that, you try too hard and overcompensate.”
McCurdy starter Josh Lovato had sailed through the first two innings, setting down the Lions in order while striking out three.
McCurdy scored a run in the first inning after leadoff hitter Ryan Bustos drew a walk. He stole second base and scored on a ground ball past first base by Justin Chavez. Eventually, Lovato flew out deep to right field to end the inning.
“I thought I had burned (the Lions’ right-fielder) on that one,” Lovato said.
Valley Christian’s outfield caught every fly ball hit their way in the game.
“During the season, we’d hit fly balls to the outfield that would drop,” assistant coach Ron Lovato said. “It gave us a false sense of security.”
Garrett Messer led off the top of the third inning with a single for the Lions’ first hit. Christian Wentland’s potential double-play grounder was bobbled by Bustos and both runners were safe. After a walk to Tyler Raney loaded the bases, leadoff hitter Gus Gray doubled into the gap in left center field to score three runs.
“Those errors will kill you,” Lovato said. “Then they get that one big hit.”
The big blow shook the Bobcats, who committed two more errors that led to three more Valley Christian runs.
“I’d never seen the errors during the season that we had in that inning,” DeVargas said.
That was all Lions’ starter Taylor Line would need. He shut down the Bobcats for the next five innings, finishing with nine strikeouts and allowing only two hits.
“We thought we were seeded lower than we should have been,” Line said. “My curve worked pretty good.”
Chavez, who relieved Lovato, had trouble finding the strike zone and walked five batters in the seventh inning. Two passed balls also allowed the Lions to pad their lead.
“It hurts,” Chavez said. “I know we’re a better team than that.”
Bustos singled with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning to keep McCurdy’s slim hopes alive, but Chavez grounded out to the shortshop to end the game.
The third-seeded Bobcats finished the season 12-6, while the sixth-seeded Lions improved to 10-9 and advanced to the semifinals to face Floyd.
Floyd defeated Valley Christian 7-2 in the semifinals to advance to the championship game. Gallup Catholic defeated Floyd 10-1 to win the Class A state title.
“When it’s your day, it’s your day,” DeVargas said. “They hit the ball when they needed to and caught the ball when they needed to.”
Bustos, Chavez and second baseman Fernando Avila graduate this year, but McCurdy will return six starters.
“We’ll work with some of our sophomores,” DeVargas said. “I don’t think we’ll miss a beat.”