Saturday, March 22, 2008

Eagles nearly keep Warriors off basepaths in 10-0 win

Nat Holland El Defensor Chieftain; nholland@dchieftain.com

Socorro The Belen Eagles soundly thumped the host Socorro Warriors 10-0 in five innings in Tuesday's baseball game.

Belen pitcher Johnny Garcia (2-1) pitched Belen's first shutout of the season after he struck out 13 Socorro batters and only allowed one to get on base.

The Class 4A Eagles (4-4) contended the sole baserunner got on because of an error, which would give Garcia his first career no-hitter, while 3A Socorro (5-1) believed it to be a base hit.

"I just go out there to pitch my game and get as many outs as I can," Garcia said of his performance. "It feels like I accomplished one of my goals in life."

"It should have been a perfect game," Belen coach Steven Contreras said. "(Garcia) executed very well and kept them off balance with his pitches. I think the key to his success was he was working ahead in the count."

Belen batters faced Socorro junior Elias Mora (0-1), normally a catcher, in his pitching debut. The Eagles scored their 10 runs on just eight hits. An equal number of Eagles got on base by walks and errors.

Belen didn't waste any time lighting up the scoreboard. A first-inning single from Lucas Sanchez followed an error that allowed Chris Gonzales to get on base. Clean-up batter Jaime Yalch then hammered the ball over the left field fence, giving Belen a 3-0 lead.

"It's kind of nice when you get a three-run home run in the first," Contreras said. "We hit the ball well, but we left a couple on base that we didn't need to."

Three walks, two errors, and a base hit by Justin Maestas scored Yalch and Garcia in the third inning. Jordan Moore and Sanchez added two more runs in the fourth.

Jared Barkemeyer opened the fifth inning with a base hit and came around to score Belen's eighth run. A double by Moore scored Carlos Barela, who got on base with a fielder's choice. Gonzales walked and Moore took third on a passed ball, setting up the games final play.

Gonzales stole second and was eventually caught in a pickle, but while Socorro's infield was distracted Moore slipped in from third to score Belen's 10th and fnal run.

"We needed the run just to get up by 10," Contreras said of the trick play. "We've had leads before, and they can diminish quickly. We didn't want to take any chances."

The Eagles beat the Warriors 7-4 last year in Belen to avenge a 15-7 loss in Socorro in 206.

The Eagles now await the Cibola Cougars, a top-notch, veteran Class 5A team, who comes to Belen on Tuesday for a 4 p.m. game. The Cougars are loaded with seniors, and the Eagles will face a team that pounded Los Lunas 10-1 on March 6.

West Mesa visits Belen on Thursday, March 27, for a 6 p.m. game.

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