Ignacio had its chances in a one-run, eight-inning baseball game.
Nucla, however, earned the 5-4 win – or unearned it, if you will.
Ignacio had leads in the top of the seventh and top of the eighth innings, only to commit errors that allowed Nucla to tie it in the seventh and win it in extra innings Tuesday in Nucla.
“We’ve definitely placed an emphasis on our defense, and we’re close,” Ignacio High School baseball head coach Lupe Huerta said. “We’re close.”
Iaasic Peña pitched all eight innings for IHS in the loss.
“He did a fantastic job,” coach Huerta said.
Peña walked four, struck out four and allowed five runs on seven hits.
Clayton Jefferson and Rain Rosa gave the Bobcats the lead in the seventh, only to have an error let the Mustangs back in the game on what could’ve been the game-ending play.
Adison Jones delivered a pinch-hit RBI single in the eighth to give the Bobcats a 4-3 lead in extra innings.
Nucla hit a home run in the bottom of the eighth to tie, then won the game on another costly Ignacio error.
On a day when “the top of the lineup struggled a bit,” Huerta said, the bottom of the lineup delivered the clutch hits. Rosa led the Bobcats with two hits.
Ignacio (5-4) will host Bayfield at 3 p.m. Thursday.
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