Roosevelt teams lose openers

The Roosevelt 9-10 year old All-Star Little League baseball team lost in its first game in the state tournament Saturday to the Artesia All-Stars in Carlsbad.

Sammy Villanueva, the manager of Roosevelt’s team, said the final score was 11-5.

“We just weren’t hitting the ball today as well as we were in the district tournament games,” Villanueva said.

He also said that Artesia’s pitcher threw some fast balls for his age.

“He was clocked throwing the ball in the mid-50s (miles per hour). He threw the ball pretty hard for a 10-year old.”

One of Roosevelt’s better plays of the game was in the fifth inning when Lane Carrasco hit a double, he said.

Villanueva said his team was a bit disappointed with the game’s results, but he hopes that it was just due to the “first game jitters.”

“We can still come back and win state if we start hitting like we did in the district games and win the next seven or eight games. These are a good group of kids, and they won’t quit.”

Roosevelt will play against White Rock Sunday at 4 p.m. in the double-elimination tournament.

“Hopefully we will win and keep on playing.”

Los Alamos defeats Roosevelt 11-3

The Roosevelt County 11-12 year old All-Star Little League baseball team lost to the Los Alamos All-Stars 11-3 in a state tournament game Saturday evening in Alamogordo.

Roosevelt team manager Albert Acosta said they spotted Los Alamos an early lead due to walks and errors on Roosevelt’s part.

“It just wasn’t our night. We just weren’t hitting the ball,” Acosta said.

He said Roosevelt did not get any hits in until the fifth inning. J’Kobie Lee broke the opposing pitcher’s no-hit streak with a base hit in that inning. Despite the rally Roosevelt still failed to score in the inning.

In the bottom of the sixth, Roosevelt managed to score three runs.

Acosta said Lathan Lieb drove in two runs with a triple and scored on a passed ball.

Roosevelt’s next game will be on Monday at 7:30 p.m. They will play the winner of Las Vegas and Silver City.