It was déjá vu for Pojoaque baseball coach Anthony Garcia March 18 after the Elks blew a 10-6 lead at Santa Fe High School in the bottom of the seventh and final inning.
“It was Bloomfield all over again,” Garcia said.
Garcia was referring to Pojoaque’s final game of the 2009 season May 14 in the quarterfinals of the Class AAA state baseball tournament. The Elks held a 7-2 lead over Bloomfield in top of the sixth inning and were six outs away from advancing to the semifinals. The Bobcats scored three runs in the sixth inning and three more in the seventh inning to defeat the Elks 8-7 and end Pojoaque’s season.
This time Santa Fe scored five runs to sew up an 11-10 victory.
“We got to learn to take care of business and play seven innings,” Garcia said. “We have to finish.”
The Elks started strong against the Demons, putting up two runs in the top of the first inning on Robert Ortiz’s run-scoring double. The Demons came back with three runs in their half of the inning against Pojoaque starter Mike Garcia, the coach’s son.
The Elks tied it up with a run in the top of the second. Roberto “Berto” Garcia led off with a single, took second on a wild pickoff attempt at first and scored on Brandon Jaramillo’s single. Pojoaque added two more runs in the top of the third on a two-run double into the left field gap by Aaron Yates to take a 5-3 lead.
Pojoaque led 8-5 after five innings and added two more runs in the top of the sixth inning. After Ryan Wolf led off with a walk, Fernando Zavala singled. With Wolf on third, Zavala took off for second and drew a throw while Wolf raced home from third to complete a perfectly executed double steal.
Pojoaque pulled off another successful double steal after a single by Andrew Martinez. With Zavala at third, Martinez took off for second and drew a throw, scoring Zavala.
Entering the bottom of the seventh inning, the Elks led 10-6 and the Demons were down to their final three outs.
Chris Ortiz took over on the mound from Garcia. He walked the first batter he faced, then gave up three straight singles. The third by Aliré scored two runs, making the score 10-8.
R. J. Porras followed with a double down the left field line that scored two more runs and tied the score. After a ground out, Jason Fitzpatrick drove in Porras with the game-winner with a sharp single to left field.
Anthony Garcia didn’t second-guess his decision to bring in Chris Ortiz.
“Michael (Garcia) was getting high in the pitch count and it’s early in the year,” he said “We wanted to see what Chris had and maybe coming from the right side (Mike Garcia throws left-handed) would make a difference.”
Missing Players
The loss dropped the Elks to 0-3 on the season. Pojoaque opened the season March 2 by dropping a doubleheader to Socorro 13-0 and 19-4 at Socorro. The Elks played that doubleheader without Chris Ortiz, Rob Ortiz, first baseman Wolf and shortstop Andrew Martinez, who were still playing basketball.
“I played six junior varsity players,” Anthony Garcia said. “My six-through-nine hitters struck out 25 times.”
Basketball also cost Pojoaque its starting catcher. Junior Josh Ortiz suffered a knee injury Feb. 16 against Raton in a junior varsity basketball game. He is being evaluated by a doctor and his return is uncertain.
The Elks lost a key player against the Demons when Yates dislocated his right shoulder diving back to first base on a pickoff attempt in the top of the seventh. His return is questionable.
“He’s my left fielder,” Garcia said. “A heck of a stick.”
Pojoaque graduated six senior starters from last year’s team. Zavala, Chris Ortiz, Mike Garcia, and Martinez are seniors. Wolf, Roberto Garcia, Rob Ortiz and Jaramillo are sophomores. Yates is a junior.
“This was the first game where they all played together,” Garcia said.
Despite the slow start, Garcia expects Pojoaque to challenge for the District 2AAA title.
“We’ll make a run,” he said.