As important as junior first baseman Jay Tsosie’s first-inning homer was for Kirtland Central on Monday afternoon, catcher Shadwyn Simpson’s defensive work proved most crucial.
Forced to block numerous pitches in the dirt while receiving starter Alijah Salas and lone reliever Tyler Joe, the senior was a major reason visiting Ignacio left seven runners in scoring position and nine on base overall. None were more important than Bobcats second baseman Marcus Maez, who was stranded at third three times.
Having singled, reached first via an error by Kirtland Central counterpart Ethan Billey, and drawn a walk against Salas in the Bobcats’ sixth, when Maez stepped in against Joe with two outs in the seventh – with runners on the corners – the Broncos stopped him.
As fate had it in for the guests, Joe – who’d just given up a two-run single to Ignacio catcher Gabe Archuleta – managed to get Maez to pop foul toward the Bobcats’ on-deck circle. Concentrating on the baseball, Simpson dove forward and completed a difficult overhead catch clinching Kirtland Central a 6-5 victory.
Ignacio dropped to 1-4, while with Kirkland Central improved to 5-6.
“We left a lot of runs on base, and that really killed us,” said Ignacio right fielder William Mendoza-Lechuga, who was in the on-deck circle when Simpson made the squeeze. “We could have probably beaten this team by two or three. But yeah, I think we played really good the whole game. We honestly just lost that one inning.”
Mendoza-Lechuga went 3 for 3 with one run batted in. Maez ended up 1 for 3 and Archuleta went 2 for 4 with two RBIs.
“I wasn’t really able to hit the first, like, three games but now I’m hitting. I’m doing me. I just had to not get down on myself for swinging and missing it. You’ve just got to have lots of confidence when you step in,” Archuleta said.
After expanding their early lead to 5-1 before Ignacio senior Phillip Quintana got leadoff Bronco Demusico Edsitty to line out to Maez, Kirtland Central had abundant confidence.
White Thunder slapped an opposite-field single to left his first time up, then reached second on one of only two pitches Simpson failed to at least block.
White Thunder touched home plate via an opposite-field single to right by first baseman Rylan Maez. Salas then kept the Bobcats quiet until the fourth inning.
Quintana then fired his third straight scoreless inning, freezing Osai Garcia with a called strike for the third out after intentionally walking Tsosie.
But Ignacio went quickly in the top of the fifth, and Kirtland Central capitalized in the bottom of the frame with Joe singling Kaeden Benally home and giving the Broncos a 6-3 lead.
However, the Bobcats gained momentum to end the inning, as Montoya snagged a Billey liner, and Sonny Flores made a catch in left to rob Simpson of at least a single.
Valdez made a running grab in right-center of an Edsitty fly beginning the bottom of the sixth inning, and Ignacio went into the seventh fully energized after Quintana fanned Jharrin Tyler and Tsosie popped foul to third baseman White Thunder.
White Thunder then led off reaching base via an E-5 error and later advanced to second via a short Rylan Maez single to right. Valdez then went down swinging, but designated hitter Wade Dunbar drew a walk to load the bases for Archuleta, who did not disappoint.
Denied a hit in the bottom of the third by a Mendoza-Lechuga diving catch, Joe still ended up 2 for 3 with three RBIs. Earning the win on the hill, Salas scattered eight hits in six innings of work, allowing one earned run (three total), walking one and striking out four.
Quintana allowed six runs on seven hits over six innings for the Bobcats, walking three and striking out three.
Ignacio will begin San Juan Basin League play Friday at home against Nucla.
