Breaking News
Home / Sports News / St. Michael’s plays Bernalillo in state 4A baseball quarterfinals

St. Michael’s plays Bernalillo in state 4A baseball quarterfinals

It’s 3rd seeded St. Michael’s against 6th seeded Bernalillo in the state 4A baseball quarterfinals Thursday afternoon at Rio Rancho High 

Horsemen won regular-season game against the Spartans, 4-3, and both had to win twice after dropping game one of the best-of-3 opening round

Arnie Leshin

By Arnie Leshin | May 10, 2017 

Bernalillo High is very familiar to the Santa Fe schools, having played in the same districts with Santa Fe HS, Capital, St. Michael’s and presently Indian School.

But as it goes against 3rd seeded St. Michael’s in Thursday’s 4A state baseball quarterfinals at Rio Rancho High, its mission is to win its first state hardball title since 1956, a draught of 61 years. The Horsemen last won state in 2004.

The 6th seeded Spartans are 16-12 overall, tied with defending state champion Albuquerque Sandia Prep (already eliminated) for first place in District 5, and, as did the District 2 champion Horsemen, had to rally back after losing game one to visiting Las Vegas Robertson in the best 2-of-3 opening round.

They won two on Saturday, same as St. Michael’s had to do against Cobre, and now meet up against the team it lost, 4-3, to back on March 14. Versus opponents from the Horsemen’s district Bernalillo won five of eight, whereas St. Michael’s played only Indian School and lost.

The Spartans have not hit any home runs, but has stolen 62 bases and committed 42 errors. It has several batters who bring balance to the lineup.

There’s junior Andre Bethea at .343, junior Daniel Gutierrez at .316, senior Aaron Neely at .317, sophomore Dominic Tenorio at .296, and senior Carlos Duran at .295. The team is batting .276.

Right-hander Gutierrez will probably start on the mound. He owns a 6-3 record, a 1.01 earned-run average, has made 13 starts and has one save.

When not on the hill, he plays second base. He also has 18 stolen bases, the most on the team. There’s also Tenorio, also a righty, with a 5-3 mark, a .352 ERA, and 10 starts. He’s also the regular shortstop.

St. Michael’s is now at 18-11. It has won five of its last six. It has won four-straight on two occasions, and has lost there in a row once.

The Horsemen will probably send junior Sean Latham to the mound this single-elimination round. He has a 4-5 record and has made 10 starts with three complete games. He’s also been one of the team’s top batters and sports a .323 average with 29 RBI, 20 runs scored and 30 hits.

Senior Josh Delgado is at .312 and has scored 18 times to go with 24 safeties. Senior Jason Romero is also at .312 while driving in 25 runs, scoring 25 himself, and with 30 hits. Then there’s junior Jonah Baca batting .282. Delgado and Romero are two of four seniors on the roster.

St. Michael’s has a .292 batting average can also call on Delgado (1-2), Romero (6-1), and junior Jude Mondragon (3-3) to pitch.

Game time is scheduled for 4 p.m. The winner gets the winner of the game matching 2nd seeded Portales (21-7) with 7th seeded Ruidoso (16-10).

The rest of the bracket has top-seeded Albuquerque Hope Christian (21-7) facing 8th seeded New Mexico Military Institute (17-6-1), and 5th seeded Taos (18-8) versus 4th seeded Silver (19-9).

From the four District 2 schools making the field, only Taos and St. Michael’s remain, with 9th seeded West Las Vegas losing twice and ousted by NMMI, as well as 11th seeded Robertson being eliminated by Bernalillo.

The semifinals are Friday, the championship game on Friday at Isotopes Park.

Check Also

All in the world of sports

By Arnie Leshin  The world champion United States women’s soccer team wins on the field …