Goddard rallies for six in seventh to hand Cats 12-9 loss in tourney

ARTESIA — Roswell Goddard plated six runs in the top of the seventh inning on Thursday to overhaul Clovis High 12-9 in the quarterfinals of the Artesia Invitational baseball tournament.

Sophomore Lucas Wright went 3-for-5 and drove in five runs for the Rockets (2-5) with two-run triples in the third and seventh innings and an RBI double in the sixth.

CHS baseball coach Richard Cruce said fielding faux pas helped Goddard’s late comeback.

“We just didn’t finish out the ballgame like we should have,” he said. “We don’t make a routine play and it ends up biting you in the butt.”

Goddard took a 4-1 lead with four runs in the top of the third, but the Wildcats (3-5) regained an 8-4 advantage with a six-run fourth. Clovis, which led 9-6 after six innings, outhit the Rockets for the game 13-12.

Starting pitcher Jasiahs Jimenez went 3-for-4 for the Cats with three RBIs, two coming on a fourth-inning double. Senior Kobyn Rivera was 3-for-3 with a double, a triple and two RBIs, while sophomore Will Jordan went 2-for-4, scored twice and drove in one.

The Cats were slated to face Belen, which lost its opening-round tilt to Carlsbad, in a Friday consolation semifinal.

Clovis 12, Lovington 1 (Tuesday) — At Lovington, the Cats erupted for seven runs in the second inning and beat Lovington (0-7) for the second time this season.

Sophomores Manuel Gutierrez and Jayden Jameson on a five-inning, three-hit effort on the mound — the game was shortened by the 10-run rule. Meantime, Clovis collected 10 hits, with Jimenez going 3-for-4 and driving in four runs with an RBI single in the first, a two-run single in the second and a sacrifice fly in the third.

Freshman Quinn Culiver also had a two-run single in the second while senior Derek Bretz knocked in a pair with a base hit in the fourth.

“It was nice to go on the road and put up some numbers,” Cruce said. “Our two pitchers threw OK. We kept them on pitch counts.”

Next up for the Cats and Rams is a 5 p.m. meeting on Tuesday night at Bell Park.

St. Michael’s tourney pushed back — Cold, windy weather delayed the start of St. Michael’s Jim Pierce Memorial baseball tournament on Thursday.

Portales High (2-1) was slated to face the home team in a quarterfinal game on Friday morning. Two rounds were scheduled to be played on Friday, with the final round set for Saturday.

Clovis track teams compete in Bulldog Relays — At Artesia, CHS squads finished third in a four-team field in Thursday’s competition.

Artesia swept both team titles, scoring 145 points on the boys side and 156 in girls competition. The Cats tallied 83 points while the Lady Wildcats scored 77.

CHS boys won four events, including the 1,600 medley and 3,200 relays. Meantime, junior R.J. Nora was first in triple jump (40 feet, 4 inches) and the 100 hurdles (15.31 seconds), and placed second in long jump (20-7).

The lone win for the Lady Cats came in the medley relay, with Mya Slade, Lucy Shreves, Natalia Zamora-Travis and Jazlyn Salazar-Lucero clocking 4:57.07.

The next outing for Clovis squads will be on April 1 in the Bulldawg Relays at Plainview, Texas.

Softball game postponed — Thursday night’s scheduled softball game between Clovis and Portales at Lady Wildcat Field was postponed. The teams will attempt to find a makeup date.