NMMI Sports Press
The Colt baseball team got back on the winning track with a one-sided 12-0 victory over the Tularosa Wildcats in the first round of the 24th Annual Colt-Sertoma Classic.
NMMI bounced back after a 6-5 road-loss to Dexter on Tuesday, where they committed eight fielding errors.
“We had lots of positives tonight, lots of opportunities for kids to get better,” said head Colt coach Charlie Ward.
“See that zero spot at the very end,” said the coach, talking about the errors column for the Institute. “From eight errors to zero errors, and we turned two double plays today – we pitched and played defense.. So I’m proud of that part – we focused and played well today.”
Coach Ward continued. “Alejandro [Lopez] threw well, and it was the first time this season we pitched Andres Blaizeffer, normally our catcher. He looked pretty good for those two innings. He threw strikes, had a nice off-speed.”
Lopez got credit for the win, throwing three complete innings with four strikeouts. Bleizeffer closed out the final two innings and also had four Ks.
The Colt bats started hot, posting four runs in the first, a six spot in the second, then a pair of insurance runs in the third - all while the Institute pitching and defense held the Wildcat offense to just one hit and one walk.
“Tularosa’s a got a new coach and they’re a young team. It’s good to see them come out, compete, and not give up,” said coach Ward of the Wildcat effort.
Connor Roe, Lopez, and Bleizeffer were the top hitters for the Colts, each driving in two runs with two hits.
With the win, NMMI’s overall record improves to 8-1 on the season. They’ll stay on the winner’s bracket side of the tournament and will face Santa Rosa at 7 pm on Friday. Santa Rosa defeated Hatch Valley, 8-7, in their tournament opener.
“[Santa Rosa head coach Adam] Sanchez said they were a bit young at the pitcher position. Both teams battled for 21 outs and it was good competitive game, where Santa Rosa found a way to win.
“I’ve got [Francisco] Rivera throwing Game 2 tomorrow. If we just play defense behind him, it’ll be a good ballgame,” said coach Ward about tomorrow’s match-up against the Lions.