Rams stay perfect in district

SANDIA PARK — The first half of District 4-4A play for the Rams couldn’t have gone much better as Portales won both games in their doubleheader against East Mountain on Monday, 9-1 and 6-2, in the nightcap to stay perfect in district play.

Portales (11-6, 6-0) battled both the weather and the Timberwolves as the cold temperature forced Portales coach Dusty Nusser to pull starting pitcher senior Grant Wagner in the first game after just two innings of work.

“(Grant) said his arm was a little sore,” Portales coach Dusty Nusser said. “It was pretty cold. We were just being cautious. We're going to need him in the long run so we decided to change.”

Wagner struck out two batters, walked three and allowed one hit and one unearned run in his two innings.

Sophomore Josiah Lucero game in for the third inning with Portales leading 3-1 and shut down the Timberwolves, striking out nine batters and walked two without giving up a hit or run for the rest of the game.

“Josiah did fantastic,” Nusser said. “We've gone to him all year a little bit so we know what he's capable of. As a sophomore, coming in with the elements we were in, that was pretty impressive for him. Great to see it come out of Josiah.”

Lucero also went a perfect 3-3 from the plate in the first game and was responsible for two RBIs.

East Mountain (2-16, 0-8) pitcher John Spanjers had trouble with the Rams lineup as he allowed nine runs, eight earned, coming off 14 hits while walking seven batters and striking out five in his 141 pitches.

In the second game, junior Emilio Lovato pitched a complete game for the Rams, giving up just two hits while striking out 11 batters. The two runs East Mountain scored were both unearned as Anthony McKenna reached base on a double in the first inning, but a throwing error by Portales’ first baseman allowed him to score. The other run, coming in the second inning, was due to a wild pitch and a passed ball, allowing Marcel Benavides to score the second and final run for East Mountain.

“(Emilio) threw really well,” Nusser said. “He was a lot like Jacob against West Las Vegas. He was around the 90 pitch mark and he had 11 strikeouts as well. We've expected that out of him this season. He's come out of some pretty good rest. Ruidoso was the last game he threw.”

Lovato didn’t just pitch a great game for the Rams. He also contributed to Portales’ offense, finishing the day 6-7 with five RBIs and four runs scored while senior Draven Saiz went 3-6 with one run scored.

With all of the variables throughout the doubleheader, Nusser was happy with the results.

“The elements were rough,” he said. “It drizzled through the entire first game. We hit the ball well. We made a couple of mistakes on the base that got us out of what could have been big innings. We played pretty well and those were big games. That makes us 6-0 in the first half of district play. We just need to try to go 6-0 in the second half of district play.”

Portales will look for its ninth-straight victory as its stays on the road for their next series. The Rams will travel to Ruidoso to face the Warriors (13-8, 6-2) on Saturday with a noon start for the doubleheader.