Eagles hand Cats one-run losses

HOBBS — It was Heartbreak City on Tuesday night for the Clovis High baseball team.

Red-hot Hobbs extended its late-season winning streak to seven games with a pair of 5-4 District 4-5A wins over the Wildcats, the second game in eight innings.

With the sweep, the Eagles (15-10, 5-3 district) moved into first place in the standings over Carlsbad, which is 3-3 and hosts the Cats in a Friday doubleheader to end the regular season. Hobbs needs Clovis (10-13, 2-4) to split the twin bill to clinch its second consecutive district title.

Junior third baseman Joe Shelley continued his hot hitting in the opener with a pair of home runs — a two-run shot in Clovis' three-run third and a solo blast in the fifth to make it 4-1.

Hobbs responded with three in the bottom of the fifth, tying it up on a two-out, two-run single by Tyler Janecka and a three-base outfield error which also allowed him to score. In the sixth, Caleb Young led off with a triple and scored on a one-out single by Eric Rangel.

David Thomas went the distance for the win for Hobbs, allowing seven hits and striking out eight. Junior Tyler Greene did likewise for the Cats, allowing eight hits and fanning eight.

In the second game, Hobbs led 4-1 before Clovis scored three times in the sixth, pulling even on Kordell Tindle's two-out, two-run single. The Eagles pushed over the winner in the eighth after Porras led off with a double and took third on a wild pitch. After a strikeout, the Cats elected to walk two hitters intentionally to set up a force play at home, but Hobbs' Ricky Aranda foiled the strategy with an RBI single.

"Those (losses) hurt our kids, they hurt our fans, they hurt our coaches," Hatley said. "They are tough ones to swallow. We invested a lot to come out with two losses.

"They were two great baseball games to be a part of."