It has been a challenge to start the season for Sundevil baseball.
Not the least of those challenges has been replacing the coach midseason.
With their new coaching staff, Española Valley (4-15, 1-5) lost to Pojoaque (2-17, 2-3) on Wednesday 10-5.
The game was close much of the way, with Pojoaque leading 6-5 through five innings. But the Elks pulled away in the late innings with good pitching.
Lyle Lomayma, after two years as an assistant, took over as coach midway through the season. He said that former coach Joe Padilla, who coached the team since 2019, had to leave the team for work commitments.
“The kids really did respect (Padilla) and his work ethic, and what he brought to the table,” Lomayma said. “Now we have a different way. We just have to pull through, put it together, and work with what we got.”
The Sundevils have a young team with just two seniors and a larger group of freshmen. Last year’s team had a group of eighth-graders that bring strong talent. The team is looking for who will take on leadership roles. And they are still looking to build a program of players who play year-round.
Lomayma said the team starts strong, but gives up too many errors. He said in two games against Moriarty they led in both games, but lost the lead, and lost both games by 10 runs.
“We have a good defense when we mesh,” Lomayma said. “We probably have one of the best defensive teams in the league. But it’s our errors that kill us.”
Lomayma said the hitting is improving through the season, and that they outhit Pojoaque in the loss.
“There’s no excuses on anything,” he said. “We just have to come and play seven innings strong and hard. And we have to play it with our hearts, our heads and our hands.”
Lomayma said that Tyller Lomayma has been offered an opportunity to play collegiately in Puerto Rico, and other players have opportunities to play at higher levels.
Española next plays a doubleheader at home against Los Alamos (12-7, 4-2) on Saturday.