All four District 2/3-3A baseball teams eliminated Wednesday in opening round of state tournament

Friday has St. Michael’s playing host to district rival Taos In first round of 4A, and if necessary, a doubleheader will be played on Saturday

By Arnie Leshin 

Down went Santa Fe Prep. Down went Espanola McCurdy, Down went Pecos. Down went Raton.

Out went District 2/3-3A from the state baseball tournament. Four opening-round games ended the season Wednesdayfor the four occupants of the district.

The Griffins concluded at 6-15 and had no answers for 2nd seeded Estancia, which won its 23rd contest in 25 outings via a 14-1 result at Estancia. At

McCurdy (12-7), the 8th seeded Bobcats were eliminated, 15-11, versus 9th seeded Laguna-Acoma, which evened its mark at 12-12.

Pecos (11-15) dropped its seventh straight contest when a visit to 7th seeded Dexter (15-5) brought an 11-0 setback, and 7th seed Raton (16-11) was surprised at home, 4-3, by No. 10 Tucumcari (9-10).

Prep didn’t do itself any favors in the errordepartment. It began the fourth inning with three miscues that helped Estancia grab a 3-0 lead. Having a difficult time solving Prep 8th grader,Brian Kice, the starting pitching, it began to lay the ball down, four-straight times in fact.

Said Griffins’ head coach Frank Lucero: “Next year, we should have seven or eight actual players returning, and we can hopefully build on that.”

With the new alignment, Prep will switch to District 2-3A and join St. Michael’s, West Las Vegas, and Robertson.

The 15th seeded Griffins finished with three losses in a row.

McCurdy, trying to move on via its home field advantage, held a 7-3 lead.

But the Hawks began piling it up, grabbed a 13-9 advantage with the assistance of Bobcat errors and a grand slam home run. McCurdy scored in thefifth, sixth and seventh innings, but couldn’t catch up.

Sophomore Diego Borrego and junior Nikko Valdez came away with three his each, with Borrego including a triple and scoring twice, and Valdez crossing the plate three times.

The Bobcats will be realigned into 2A next year and are expected to line up

against Desert Academy, Tierra Encantada and Monte del Sol. The Wildcats will be starting their baseball program and the Dragons did not field a team this time but expects to return next season.

Friday will have 7th seeded St. Michael’s playing host to district rival Taos in the 4A first round, which is a best-of-3. If necessary, a doubleheader will be played Saturday. The winner faces the survivor of 14th seeded Socorro at 2nd seeded Silver.