State baseball: Rams aim to keep momentum going

The Portales Rams have a 16-game winning streak going into the Class 4A state baseball tournament. They’d like it to be 18 by Saturday.

The second-seeded Rams, coming off a perfect run through District 4-4A, host the West Las Vegas Dons in a best-of-three first-round series that begins 5:30 p.m. Friday, and continues Saturday with the second game at noon and a 2 p.m. deciding game if necessary.

Portales (19-6) has already beaten No. 15 West Las Vegas (14-12) this season, 3-1 on April 15 at home, but Portales coach Dusty Nusser isn’t focusing on that win as a blueprint for this series.

“Baseball’s a funny game because there are so many factors that come in to play,” Nusser said. “That night the wind was blowing straight in for both of us. They hit a lot of pop-ups that hung in the air. It could be a different scenario this time, so we’re not taking them lightly.”

Staff photo: Matthew Asher

Portales senior Grant Wagner fields a ball during Tuesday’s practice. Wagner will be the starting pitcher for the Rams in the first game of the state playoffs against West Las Vegas this Friday at 5:30 p.m.

Senior Jacob Salgado threw a complete game in the victory over West Las Vegas but Nusser is starting senior Grant Wagner in the opener.

“Grant’s been our No. 1 guy,” Nusser said. “It’s a Friday night game so Grant’s going to be the guy. I know all the other guys are itching to get on the mound and they’ll be available if necessary.”

For Wagner, he’s treating this game like any other one he’s played this season.

“We haven’t really discussed West Las Vegas,” Wagner said. “Having the No. 2 seed kind of eases our mind. I’ll go in with the same mentality, showing them all my stuff. Being confident in my off-speed pitches and commanding my fastball going inside and outside is the biggest deal.”

The Rams have been nearly unstoppable at home this season, losing just two games, one to Class 6A Clovis in the first game of the season, and the second to top-seeded Sandia Prep during the Rams Tournament.

West Las Vegas, meanwhile, has struggled on the road, going just 3-8 in non-tournament road games.

Even with the loss to No. 1 Sandia Prep, Portales is very happy with their No. 2 seeding for the tournament.

“I thought it was deserving,” Nusser said. “We won 16 games in a row. I think that’s the longest by any team in the state in any class. I think we got (the No. 2 seed) because Hope Christian lost three games to Sandia Prep.”

Wagner said he hopes the Rams learned from the previous game against the Dons.

“These next games we’re really focused on doing the little things right, at least the simple things we can control,” Wagner said. “There are things you can’t so you just have to roll with the punches and take the good with the bad. Our hitting wasn’t hot that day (against West Las Vegas) but we’ve been pretty hot lately so the guys have been making adjustments in the box.

“If we can come out hitting there shouldn’t be a reason we can’t win.”

Wagner believes this team has a good chance to for not just a deep playoff run, but win a championship.

“A lot of these guys are coming off football and are real hungry for a title,” he said. “The seniors are really determined to go as far as possible in the tournament and we have a lot of momentum after district.”

For Nusser, while he said he’d be happy to simply play in the championship game, the ultimate goal of course is to bring a title back home.

“We started this thing in December (as coaches) and a lot of our guys started even earlier,” Nusser said. “Our one goal is to win the state championship. We definitely want to win the last game of our season on that Saturday.”