Rams outlast Cats 11-10

PORTALES - Off to a 10-2 lead after three innings, the Portales High baseball team could almost taste its first win over Clovis High in years on Thursday night.

In the end it nearly got away, but Rams senior Hagen Rains worked out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the seventh to preserve an 11-10 victory at Ram Field.

Coming off doubleheaders the previous night, both teams' pitching depth was severely tested. In the end, Rains and CHS senior right-hander Jasiahs Jimenez were able to restore some order in a game which featured 17 walks and 21 hits - only two for extra bases.

"We didn't get in until about 2 o'clock (after Wednesday's doubleheader at Roswell Goddard)," CHS coach Richard Cruce said. "But it is what it is - you have to be mentally tough."

Rains issued four walks and hit two batters, but he struck out eight. Meantime, Jimenez got the final nine outs for the Cats, allowing just one hit and striking out seven.

"I was very proud of Jasiahs," Cruce said. "I thought he did a great job."

After CHS (5-9) took the lead in the top of the second on a two-run single by Jimenez, Portales (6-7) strung together seven singles and a sacrifice fly in a six-run rally in the bottom half before adding four more in the third, highlighted by sophomore Andru Ontiveros' two-run single.

Clovis promptly closed to 10-8 with six in the fourth before Rains got back-to-back strikeouts to leave the bases loaded. Sophomore Zane Mayberry scored on a balk in the bottom half for Portales (6-7), and that turned out to be the game-winner when the Cats tallied two in the sixth.

"We made some good plays, and we made some errors," Rams coach Ruben Tellez said. "We've had some bad breaks this season, but they finally went our way today. It was a good victory and a confidence-builder for us."

Fifteen players - eight for the Rams, seven for the Cats - had at least one hit in the contest. Ontiveros and sophomore Devin Diaz were both 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBIs for the Rams while Jimenez and junior Joseph Albert each went 2-for-5 for Clovis, which left the bases loaded three times and stranded 13 runners overall.

PHS returns to action on Tuesday with a 4:30 p.m. twin bill at Eunice, while the Cats' next outing is in their 5 p.m. District 4-5A opener at Carlsbad on April 12.

In Tuesday action:

Portales 6-5, Roswell High 0-16 - The Rams looked like they might sweep the Coyotes at Ram Field before Roswell High's bats came alive in the final two innings of the nightcap.

Mayberry, making just his second pitching start of the season, gave the Rams 5 1/3 innings of four-hit ball before Ontiveros and sophomore Edel Legarda combined to finish the shutout.

PHS plated four runs in the bottom of the first against Coyotes senior Sylvester Lomeli, and added two more in the third. Sophomores Noah Swift and Devin Diaz led the Rams' seven-hit attack with two hits apiece.

In the second game, the Rams managed only one hit - a sixth-inning RBI single by senior Isaac Herrera - yet still led 4-3 after four innings. The Coyotes (6-3) erupted for nine runs in the fifth and added four more in the sixth to win in six innings on the 10-run rule.

Eighth-grader Carson Pfaffenberger worked four innings for PHS, allowing three runs and four hits with six strikeouts. Meantime, Lomeli, junior Ivan Miramontes and sophomore Eli Lynn each had two hits and three RBIs for the Coyotes.

Goddard 11-6, Clovis 1-5 - After getting run-ruled in five innings in the opener at Roswell, the Cats lost a heartbreaker in Game 2 when the Rockets erased the last of an early 5-0 deficit with three runs in the bottom of the seventh. Junior Fields Boston capped a 3-for-4, 3-RBI game for Goddard with a walkoff run-scoring single.

Sophomore Will Jordan pitched into the seventh inning for the Cats, striking out eight while taking the loss, and he also led the Clovis attack by going 4-for-4 with a pair of run-scoring singles.

In the opener, Coyotes senior Dustin Hardwick tossed a five-inning, four-hitter for the win. The Rockets broke the game open with a seven-run third for a 9-1 lead.

Junior Colby Eldridge had a pair of two-run doubles for Goddard. Junior Joseph Albert drove in the Cats' lone run with a third-inning single.