Texico grad joins ENMU baseball team

PORTALES - Dalton Thatcher is putting the green back on, and he hopes he can have nearly as much success at his new college as he had at his nearby high school.

The 2019 Texico High School graduate, following a year at Arizona Christian, is joining the Eastern New Mexico University baseball program for the 2021 season. The 5-foot-11, 185-pound Thatcher won four state championships with the Texico program and was a two-time 3A player of the year.

"I wanted to help create a winning culture and do what I could with a new coach I enjoyed talking to there (in Riley Price)," Thatcher said. "We've had some good talks about his plans, and the culture he wanted to build."

Thatcher doesn't show up in the Firestorm's season stats, as Arizona Christian's NAIA program recruits about 100 players and creates a prospect or junior varsity team for its younger players. Thatcher started seven games on the mound and floated around .300 with about 40 at-bats in 30 games for that prospect team before the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out spring sports.

The freshman experience was enjoyable, and Thatcher said the team played some junior colleges that were better than teams on the varsity schedule, but he determined it wasn't the place for him and talked to Price.

While Thatcher wishes he got to finish out the season, like nearly every college athlete during the pandemic, he said a silver lining was that he retains all four years of eligibility for the Greyhounds.

Soccer signs three - The Greyhound women's soccer program finished out its signing class for the 2020-21 season with a trio of prospects announced by the school Monday.

ENMU announced it is adding defender Haley Huff of Henderson, Nevada; defender Nina Ballesteros of San Diego and forward Victoria Galindo of Chico, California.

The Lone Star Conference has not yet announced a soccer season for the 2020-21 athletic year.

ENMU announced in July it would not compete in sports or hold practices during a virtual fall semester.