Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Major baseball cruises in state opener

Southpaw goes distance vs. White Rock

Jason W. Brooks News-Bulletin Staff Writer; jbrooks@news-bulletin.com

Los Lunas With nine teams in this year's New Mexico state Little League Major baseball division all-star tournament, winning the tourney opener means a lot.

For tournament host Enchantment, it meant getting a day off before playing their second round game, and it meant proving itself against a scrappy team like White Rock.

Enchantment downed the tough Los Alamos County team Sunday, 7-1, moving into a tourney quarterfinal against Silver. That Tuesday game was to be played after News-Bulletin press time.

Enchantment left-hander Chris Lucero pitched all six innings of Sunday's win, saving other ELL arms for the rest of the tournament.

"That saves a lot," said Enchantment manager Dennis Gallegos. "Most teams have to use at least two or three pitchers per game, and there's pitch counts and all sorts of restrictions."

Gallegos said Enchantment practiced nearly every day since its July 10 win over South Valley clinched the District 9 championship, taking Friday off for a barbecue with other state tournament teams at Daniel Fernandez Park. The Enchantment bats looked a little rusty Sunday, Gallegos said, but the defense and baserunning were sharp, and the hitting definitely came around.

Enchantment, playing as the visiting team on the scoreboard, scored twice in the first inning. Pinch runner Tony Romero scored on a questionable play at the plate on a passed ball and Darron Gallegos, the coach's son, came home on an RBI groundout by Padilla.

The left-handed hitting Padilla had another ground ball to score a run in the top of the third, and that came on the heels of a third baseman's error that scored Enchantment's third run. Enchantment led 4-0 after three innings.

Padilla, meanwhile, faced the minimum nine batter through the first three innings, getting four outs in that span by means of ground balls hit to Gallegos at shortstop. The coach's son would field all five of his attempts at shortstop cleanly.

"I've been coaching Chris for about six years," said Gallegos. "Every year, he seems to get better."

The ELL all-stars would get their final three runs in the fourth. Dakota Wood led off with a double to the fence, and he would eventually score when Colton Hall reached on an error. Gallegos hit a double to the fence of his own a few batters later, one that scored Hall and Landon Moya.

Moya also made a nice defensive play at second base, reaching out to grab a pop-up in short right field with a runner on in the fifth inning.

Enchantment threatened in the fifth as well, but White Rock shortstop Jared Mang made a diving stop for a force at second base, one of several spectacular plays by the shortstop.

Tyler Thorn had a RBI single off Padilla in the bottom of the sixth to break up the shutout.

In other Major division games over the weekend, Eastdale and Mile High joined Silver and Enchantment as first-round winners. All four were set to play Tuesday night, and the winner's semifinal is set for Thursday at 5:30 p.m. All games are being played at Enchantment.

White Rock eliminated Clovis on Monday by a 5-1 score, and Carlsbad American edged Noon Optimist 4-3 to eliminate the Roswell team.

The winner's bracket final will be Saturday at 10 a.m., with a trip to regionals in Waco, Texas, possibly at stake.

A berth in Thursday's winners semifinals would pit Enchantment against either mile High or Eastdale, both tough teams.

Eastdale, a program with a long history of dominance, beat Enchantment in the age 10-11 state tourney a year ago. Most of the players from those teams are with the Major all-stars this year.

"We definitely want to get Eastdale," said Dennie Gallegos before Tuesday's game. "And I'm sure they want to get us."

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