Cavemen no-hit Cats in 9-2 win

CARLSBAD — Monday’s District 4-5A baseball matchup against Carlsbad didn’t exactly go a lot better than last Thursday’s doubleheader at Bell Park for Clovis High’s baseball team.

Still, the Wildcats made the Cavemen play the full seven innings this time and, despite being no-hit, they broke up the shutout in the seventh inning.

Carlsbad (17-3, 3-0 district), ranked third in Class 5A, pulled away with a five-run fourth to beat the Wildcats 9-2 on Monday night.

Last Thursday, the Cavemen won the two games in Clovis by scores of 15-1 and 14-3, both in five innings, so there was certainly some improvement.

“It’s just frustrating when you walk 10 batters and hit two,” Cats coach Richard Cruce said of Monday’s setback. “You’re just putting too many people on base.”

Carlsbad’s Grant Harvill was working on a no-hitter into the seventh. But with a series coming up this week against Roswell High, he was pulled after 80 pitches when Clovis got the first two men on in the inning on an error and a walk.

Junior Jeremiah Dominguez finished, although the Cats did get two runs home on another error.

Meantime, senior Josiahs Jimenez and sophomore Nathan McIntosh held the Cavemen to six hits, but Carlsbad had more than help from the Cats enough to win comfortably.

Senior Nolan Perry hit a pair of triples, including one to drive in two runs and sparking the Cavemen’s big fourth, making it 8-0. Senior Brandon Ganaway also drove in a pair of runs with a single and a squeeze bunt.

“We’ve got to have better approaches at the plate,” Cruce said. “I didn’t think we got off the bus tonight with the right mindset.”

Clovis faces a three-game set against Hobbs this week, with the teams meeting in a 4:30 p.m. single tilt on Thursday night at Hobbs before returning to Bell Park for a 5 p.m. twin bill on Friday.