Cats drop finale to Coyotes

CLOVIS - When you're scuffling anyway, you just can't afford to extend opponents' innings.

Clovis High did that several times on Friday, and it resulted in some crooked numbers for Roswell High as the Coyotes swept a District 4-5A doubleheader from the Wildcats 10-6 and 13-1 at Bell Park, finishing the COVID-impacted season for both teams.

Roswell (12-8, 6-6 district) scored in only three of the seven innings in Game 1, but tallied at least three runs in each of them. That allowed the Coyotes to withstand a belated bid by the Cats (4-16, 0-12), who made things a bit interesting with consecutive two-out RBI singles by Will Jordan, Norbert Achibeque and Zack Wheeler in the bottom of the seventh.

Until that frame, Clovis had managed only two hits off starter Brady Villegas and reliever Andrew Sedillo.

Coyotes coach Tyrell Curtis was happy to finish on a strong note.

"They're young, we're 'old,'" he said of the teams. "We started nine seniors in the first game.

"For us, 12-8 is a really good record. In a normal year, we make the (16-team Class 5A) playoffs; this year, we come up a little short (with only eight qualifiers)."

CHS coach Richard Cruce said the Coyotes didn't hit that many balls hard in the two games, but when they did it did damage from walks and errors provided by the Cats.

"They hit the ball hard three or four times tonight," he said. "The problem is, people were on base when they did that.

"It seemed to be that way all year for us."

The opener started out as a pitcher's duel, but back-to-back Clovis errors with one out in the third opened the floodgates. Roswell took advantage to plate three unearned runs off senior left-hander Josh Martin.

Clovis closed to 3-2 in the bottom half without benefit of a hit, but Roswell added three more in the fourth and four in the sixth to pull away.

The Coyotes collected 24 hits in the twin bill. While they scored a lot of runs, they also stranded 10 runners in each contest.

Senior Tayman Burrola led the Coyotes, going 5-for-8, while sophomore Ivan Miramontes knocked in four runs in the nightcap with a single, a two-run double and a sacrifice fly.

"For us, 12-8 is a really good record," Curtis said. "We can't be upset with that with the district that we're in."

While he knew it would be challenging in a tough district, Cruce hoped the Cats would be able to hold their own.

"I honestly thought we could go 6-6 in the district," he said. "We had our chances, if we don't make 'young' mistakes."

Clovis collected six hits in each game. Sophomore Joseph Albert went 3-for-5 in the doubleheader with a double, a walk and two runs scored.

Hobbs 9-9, Clovis 0-1 (Tuesday) - Sans Martin on the mound due to pitch count limits at Hobbs, Cruce decided to go with mostly-freshman arms against the Eagles (18-2, 11-1), who are ranked first in Class 5A this week by MaxPreps and clinched the district title with the sweep.

"We went with the youngsters and, honestly, they threw pretty well," he said.

Freshman Zane Urioste tossed a complete game for Clovis in the nightcap, allowing seven hits. Three pitchers worked for CHS in the opener, including Jordan and fellow freshman Manuel Gutierrez.

The Cats made the Eagles go the distance in both tilts. They avoided any huge innings, although Hobbs did score in nine of its 12 turns at bat.

Senior J.D. Parada went six innings in the opener before junior Colton Graham finished the combined two-hit shutout. In Game 2, junior Marcos Aldrete pitched a complete-game five-hitter for the Eagles.

Senior Brevin McCool drove in six runs in the first contest with pair of home runs - a three-run shot in the third and a two-run blast in the sixth - and a sacrifice fly. Graham added 2-for-3 with a triple, a walk and three runs scored, while leadoff man Eryk McNabb finished 2-for-3 with two doubles, two RBIs and two runs scored.

In the second game, Albert's third-inning single drove in courtesy runner Anthony Garcia for the Cats' lone tally. Senior Zack Wheeler went 2-for-3 for Clovis.

"As a team, we're getting better, but we're just so young," Cruce said. "We've competed a lot better as the year has gone on."