Fire & rain impact District 9 Little League tournaments

LOS LUNAS — When the final out had finally been registered Wednesday, June 25, there was most certainly a collective sigh of relief from those involved with the four separate District 9 Little League baseball tournaments held at two locations in Los Lunas.

Players, fans and tournament officials dealt with the stress of what was called “environmental challenges,” starting with several nearby bosque fires and ending with a washout from heavy rains.

“It’s been an extremely hectic week, yeah,” said Pam Stanley, who oversees the championships as the New Mexico District 9 administrator and is the Southwest representative on the Little League International Board of Directors.

Even though the destructive Cotton 1 Fire in Carson Park was several miles away from the baseball fields, which are located off N.M. 314, flames were visible at times. “Just knowing what was happening to people’s homes” was unnerving, according to Stanley.

When evacuation notices and “prepare to go” alerts were issued for areas near the fire, some people left the tournament grounds because “they had some family members that were being evacuated,” said Kevin Riley, Enchantment Little League treasurer. “They were going to help them get their belongings.”

That included Stanley, who rushed to her home when she got word that embers from the Cotton 2 Fire near Peralta were landing in her Bosque Farms neighborhood. “I got out of there and went home to be with my family,” Stanley recalled.

With the wind blowing smoke from the fires away from the ball fields, the games were not directly impacted, although the smell permeated the grounds.

The games also continued after PNM cut the electrical power Saturday to part of Los Lunas for safety reasons. That impacted concessions, the public address system and some bathrooms that used a pump. It was still daylight, so the field lights were not being used.

During a normal year, the tournaments generally provide a flurry of activity, but over 48 hours it was “pretty insane,” according to Riley, with “emergency vehicles coming and going, parents concerned about their houses.”

The nearby Daniel Fernandez Recreation Center was used as an evacuation shelter for those who didn’t have a place to stay.

The sports complex also became a base for firefighting helicopters, which retrieved water from tanks below to drop on the flames.

“You could see the pilots, they were so close,” Riley observed. “They were coming so many times that it became normal.”

Ultimately, the district tournaments continued despite the fire activity, but heavy rains on Tuesday, June 24, did postpone the contests. The Enchantment Little League grass fields were unplayable after “tons of rain” fell from the sky, so the final contests the next day were moved several hundred yards to the south to the artificial turf fields at the Los Lunas Sports Complex.

Through it all, Stanley said, “The tournaments have gone exceptionally well this year, considering everything that we’ve had to face. The teams have been good, the kids have been playing hard.”

Following the District 9 championships, Valencia County qualified several teams for state baseball and softball tournaments.

The softball tournaments were hosted June 13-19 by Isleta. Enchantment won both majors and junior softball district titles to reach the state tournaments, also at Isleta. Both teams finished 0-2.

In baseball, Yucca rallied to down South Valley in the “if game” to reach the Major state tournament July 11 at Roadrunner Little League in Albuquerque.

Yucca got by Enchantment in the district 9-10-11 title game and will play July 12 in the state tournament at Enchantment.

An overflow crowd watched Belen defeat Westgate to reach the Junior State Tournament, starting July 5 at Roadrunner.

In the Minor Classic, Yucca defeated Enchantment in the best of three series.