Cats await postseason fate after split

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Clovis High’s baseball team came up short by a run of ending senior Daniel Gallegos’ shutout bid against Hobbs in the fifth inning on the 10-run rule on Tuesday, and the Wildcats paid for it with a demoralizing 11-10, eight-inning loss.

link Staff photo: Tony Bullocks

Clovis senior Austin Adams retreats to first base on a pickoff attempt during the third inning of Friday’s District 4-6A doubleheader opener against Alamogordo at Bell Park. The Wildcats split with the Tigers, winning the nighcap 10-0 on senior Daniel Gallegos’ five-inning no-hitter after dropping the opener 9-6.

On Friday, after a 9-6 District 4-6A setback to Alamogordo, Gallegos carried a no-hitter and an 8-0 lead into the bottom of the fifth. This time, CHS finished it off with two runs for a 10-0 win.

Whether it will be enough to get the Cats (14-12, 4-8 district) into the Class 6A state tournament field of 16 remains to be seen. Seedings are scheduled for Sunday in Albuquerque.

The Cats’ 12 losses this season have been by a combined 25 runs, including six one-run losses. They’ve lost by more than three runs only once.

“We’ve competed with the strong teams,” Gallegos said of the team’s chances for a state berth. “Hopefully, (the NMAA) will take that into consideration.”

Gallegos, who struggled a bit despite blanking Hobbs through five innings on Tuesday, had no such issues this time. In fact, the only Tigers batter to reach base was junior Thompson Rick, who was safe on a third-strike passed ball with one out in the second.

Gallegos retired the next 11 batters, finishing the abbreviated game with just under 60 pitches. He also contributed a pair of run-scoring singles to a 12-hit Clovis attack.

“I’m very happy for him,” CHS coach Richard Cruce said. “That’s as good as it gets.”

He had several nice defensive plays behind him, including a couple by senior third baseman Donovan Garcia, who filled in after sophomore Connor Langrell banged a foul ball off his ankle in the seventh inning of the opener. Senior shortstop Keaton Greenwalt, who drove in three runs with a pair of hits, fielded seven ground balls for outs.

“It’s one of my best outings this year,” Gallegos said. “(Assistant Corey) Adams has always told me to hit my spots and make (the opponents) hit the ball.”

Alamo (9-17, 4-8) beat the Cats 2-0 and 2-1 at home earlier this month. This time, the Tigers won a bit of a slugfest in the opener, pounding out 14 hits and taking command with a four-run third off senior Hunter Pipal for a 6-3 lead.

“Clovis was swinging it well today,” first-year Alamo coach Michael Crabtree said. “We were fortunate in the first game to get (enough) hits to get the split.”

Alamo, which survived five errors in the first contest and committed four more in the nightcap, won only four district games in its two years in 4-6A, with three coming at the expense of the Cats. The Tigers will be in a Class 5A district next year with Deming, Santa Teresa and Chaparral.

“I think we’re going in the right direction,” Crabtree said. “It’s a young team, but I think we’ve made improvement this year.”

Pipal, who hasn’t seen much mound time in district play, got through four innings against the Tigers in the opener, giving up 10 hits.

“Hunter did everything we asked him to do,” said Cruce, who was not on the bench for that one after getting ejected from Tuesday’s second game against Hobbs. “He came in and threw strikes, but Alamogordo was swinging the bats really well.”

Senior Austin Adams took over in the fifth, allowing three runs as the Tigers built a 9-3 lead before he set down seven of the final nine hitters.

Juniors Josh Caraway and Jacob Gerber each had three hits for the Tigers, while Adams was 3-for-4 for the Cats.

In the second game, Pipal went 3-for-3 and his fifth-inning single knocked in senior Gabriel Montoya with the game-ending run.