Let’s play three; Valencia Invitational opens baseball season

TOME — The Valencia Invitational started the baseball season last week for Belen and the host Jaguars, with both teams seeming to lay a solid foundation for the rest of the campaign.

Each squad went 2-1, with VHS reaching the title game before falling to Hope 10-7 in the championship. The Jaguars scored six runs in the second inning to build a 7-3 lead, but they were shutout the rest of the way.

“Our bats went cold,” said Rustin Porter, Valencia coach. “Hope just made plays offensively and defensively when they needed to.”

To get to the title game, Valencia defeated Pojoaque Valley 10-1 and Bernalillo 13-4.

“We pitched really solid for most of the weekend and definitely had moments on offense where we manufactured runs,” said Porter, who noted the tournament had, “great weather, atmosphere with fans, food trucks and great games.”

Belen opened the tournament with a hard-fought, eight-inning 5-3 loss to Hope. The Eagles followed that up with a narrow 6-4 win over the VHS junior varsity and an 11-1 win against Pojoaque Valley.

“We did a lot of things well,” said BHS coach Justin Miller. “We put ourselves in some tough spots that we will learn from.”

Miller believes the tournament “knocked some of the nerves off” his young roster. “I’m very excited for what’s in store for this bunch and I’m very proud of them.”

There’s no rest for the Eagles, who play at a tournament in Hobbs starting Thursday against Clovis, Cleveland and the host team.

Valencia returned to the diamond Tuesday at Bernalillo, defeating the Spartans for a second time, 18-8.

Meanwhile, Los Lunas went 1-2 at the Cleveland Invitational, defeating Hobbs 7-5 but dropping decisions to Carlsbad (19-3) and Cleveland (9-8). The Tigers are also at the Hobbs tournament, where they will face Piedra Vista, Clovis and Farmington.

Softball

LLHS opened the softball season Tuesday at home with a 7-5 victory over Aztec.

After defeating Pojoaque 22-0 last week, Belen had home games Monday against Los Alamos, a 12-11 victory, and an 8-6 win Tuesday against Santa Fe to remain unbeaten.

Valencia started Feb. 21 with a 15-0 shutout of Manzano. The Jaguars travel Thursday to Los Alamos.