NM HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL

St. Michael’s received another sparkling effort on the mound from senior ace right-hander Owen Gruda and Santa Fe High the same from its junior southpaw hurler Carlos (C.J.) Garcia Saturday, but the final outcomes of their doubleheader brought good and bad news.

For the Horsemen, it was good news as they brought back an 8-1 victory from Albuquerque Atrisco Heritage in non-district play to up their overall record to 7-5 as it starts District 2-3A with a game Tuesday at West Las Vegas.

As for Gruda, he went 6 and one-third innings allowing three hits and the same number of walks, but St. Michael’s left five runners on board over the first two frames that included the bases loaded in the opening inning. But in the third and fourth innings, it delivered five runs to grab a 5-0 advantage. And Gruda struck out seven batters.

Said Horsemen head coach Augustin Ruiz: “I gave them a butt-chewing about not leaving runners in scoring position (after the second inning).”

Senior Ceejay Saiz led an 11-hit offense for the visitors with a 4-for-4 game that included a solo home run in the sixth — his second in as many games. Junior Rahul Williams and senior Isaac Ruiz added two safeties each to go with an RBI and a run scored.

For visiting Santa Fe High in its non-district game, the news was good regarding Garcia, but the end results came with a 7-6, 7-6  sweep for Albuquerque Cibola that dropped the Demons to 7-8 overall.

As for Garcia, he worked six stellar innings in game one, giving up two earned runs, four hits, and striking out seven and walking three in the no-decision outing. He left with the scored tied at 2-2, and the Demons lost both times in walk-off fashion.

In the opener, Cibola filled the bases and tallied the game-winner on a fielder’s choice to third base, with the runner beating the throw home. In the closer, Santa Fe High lost on a wild pitch after taking a 3-run lead into the last inning.

“We didn’t hit our best,” said Demons head coach Ian Farres, “and we could have done things better, but we played a good 5A team and almost won both games.”