Alamo shades PHS 7-6

ALAMOGORDO – With about a five-hour bus ride, it was going to be tough to play two games on Monday night anyway.

With an hour delay for lightning in the middle, that pretty much took care of a second game. Portales High and Alamogordo did manage to get through one tilt, though, with the Tigers rallying after the delay for a 7-6 victory.

PHS (3-2), coming off a championship in Eunice’s Cardinal Classic on Saturday, led 2-0 through three innings when play was halted. The Rams went up 5-1 with a three-run fifth, but the Tigers (5-4) tied it with four in the bottom half and took the lead with a two-run sixth.

Senior Noah Swift’s RBI double in the seventh made it a one-run game before the Tigers got the final out.

Senior Elijah Pena went 2-for-3 with three RBIs for Alamo, while junior Caleb Crawford was also 2-for-3 with a double, two runs scored and an RBI. Sophomore Kade Kiss finished 1-for-4 and knocked in a pair of runs.

For the Rams, sophomore Carson Pfaffenberger went three shutout innings before the delay. Swift and junior Elijah Tellez were both 2-for-4, with Tellez hitting a pair of doubles and driving in a run.

Portales returns to action at noon today in an eight-team bracket tournament hosted by Moriarty.

On Saturday, the Rams pounded Eunice 23-10 in the tourney finals. Junior Victor Lozano knocked in seven runs with a three-run homer and a grand slam and added a double en route to a 4-for-4 outing in a game shortened to five innings by the 10-run rule.. Tellez, Pfaffenberger and senior Edel Legarda all had a pair of hits and combined for seven runs and five RBIs.

In the fifth-place game, Texico (1-2) rallied from a 6-0, fifth-inning deficit only to come up short in a 9-8 loss to Santa Rosa.

Senior Jykub Gage drove in five runs for the Lions (2-1) with a three-run, inside-the-park homer and a two-run single, finishing 4-for-4, while junior Josiah Barela was 2-for-3 with an RBI.

For the Wolverines, sophomore Hunter Bowman was 3-for-4 with a double and a run scored and senior Daltyn Cain had a double and a triple in five at-bats, driving in two runs and scoring once.

Texico plays Taos at 12:30 p.m. Thursday in the opening round of a tournament at West Las Vegas.

In other action on Monday:

Grady 9, Dora 6 – The host Bronchos opened their season with a win as senior Xavier Romero went 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs, freshman Andre Garcia was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and freshman Zander Ciancio finished 2-for-3.

For the Coyotes (0-2), freshman Timmy Neal was 1-for-3 with a double, a run scored and two RBIs, and junior Gunner Tipton went 1-for-3, scored twice and drove in a run.

In Saturday softball:

Estancia 16, Dora 1 – In the finals of a tournament at Santa Rosa, the Lady Bears held Dora hitless and used a pair of seven-run innings to win in three on the 15-run rule. Freshman Payton Looper went 3-for-3 with a pair of triples for Estancia (4-0) while junior Samantha Barela had an inside-the-park home run.