Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Portales starter Brent Mitchell fires a pitch in the second inning of Monday's season opener against Muleshoe. Mitchell went six innings in the 4-3 extra-innings loss.
PORTALES - Muleshoe spoiled Portales' season and home opener Monday, plating a run in the top of the eighth to take a 4-3 victory at Ram Field.
But win or loss, the Rams wouldn't have had much time to let it soak in. Portales (0-1) was slated to play at Clovis Tuesday night, before heading out to Santa Fe for the St. Mike's Invite.
"We've got a lot of baseball ahead of us, definitely," Portales coach Dusty Nusser said. "We've got five games just this week. Can't dwell on this one."
In the early-season matchup - Muleshoe improved to 2-3 on the season - starting pitching was the key. Riley Kettner went five innings for the Mules, striking out 12 while allowing just two runs and four walks. Reliever Kelan Florez was also up to the task, allowing two hits and a walk while striking out six.
For Portales' part, starter Brent Mitchell allowed one run on four hits over six innings, while reliever Chandon Neece took the loss with two hits and a run allowed in the seventh and eighth innings. He had three strikeouts.
"I felt like their guy did a good job, our guy did a good job," Nusser said. "The key is we struck out 18 times. We've got to find ways to put the ball into play. They had four errors - and that's with 18 strikeouts, so we didn't give them that many chances."
Kettner and Florez each had a double for the game's only extra-base hits.
The Rams will open the St. Mike's Invite 4 p.m. Thursday against Cobre. Other teams in the invite include the host Horsemen, Wingate, Santa Fe, Sandia Prep, Raton and Bernalillo.
