The Bobcats got hot late in Game 1, but it wasn’t enough. Come Game 2, nobody could prevent the onslaught.
After losing 6-5 in the first game of a doubleheader at Nucla, the Ignacio High School baseball team exploded for seven doubles and two home runs on the way to a 25-10 run-rule victory in the second game.
The win pushed Ignacio’s overall record to 11-4 and 6-1 in the Class 2A District 2 standings. It’s an impressive turnaround for head coach Robert Miller’s team. In his second season leading the Bobcats, the team has already far surpassed the 6-13 overall record from last year.
Austin McCaw hit a home run in each game Saturday, going back-to-back with Tucker Ward in Game 2. Ignacio trailed 5-0 through five innings in Saturday’s opener before rallying with five runs the final three innings before leaving Juanito Medina stranded at third base to end the game.
But the Bobcats rarely stranded a runner in Game 2. Oddly enough, the game was scoreless through two innings before the offensive outburst.
Batting eighth in the lineup, Kai Roubideaux hit three times in the third inning. He led off with a single and doubled in his second trip to the plate. That inning, Ignacio scored 14 times, thanks largely to three consecutive doubles by McCaw, Medina and Zach Weinreich. The Bobcats went on to score three runs in the fourth, one if the fifth and another seven in the sixth to ice it.
Nucla (7-10, 3-2) answered with one run in the third and eight runs in the fourth to prevent a run rule. One more run in the fifth was the rest of Nucla’s damage.
Ward earned the win on the mound in Game 2. He was effectively wild, as he plunked five batters. He walked two and struck out four. He allowed six hits and was charged with three earned runs.
Medina finished the game on the mound, as he pitched 2 2/3 innings and gave up three hits, three earned runs after walking one and striking out three. He also hit one batter with a pitch.
Ignacio was on fire up-and-down the lineup. Anthony Manzanares was robbed on a diving catch in center field in his first at-bat, but finished 5-for-6 with four runs scored and one run batted in.
Pardo followed by going 4-for-6 with a pair of RBIs and a run scored. Ward scored three times and had three RBIs with his home run.
McCaw raked all day, as he finished 4-for-5 with a walk, four runs scored, two RBIs. He was a triple shy of the cycle in Game 2 after going 2-for-4 with a solo homer in the opener.
Medina finished 3-for-4 with two doubles. He also walked one and was plunked with a pitch. He had one RBI and scored twice.
Weinreich was 4-for-6 as the designated hitter in Game 2 after pitching Game 1. He scored three times and had five RBIs with two doubles.
Andrew Martinez was 1-for-1 and scored twice. Marcus Chatman was 0-for-2 and had an RBI on a fielder’s choice. He crossed home plate three times after courtesy running for Pardo earlier in the game. Roubideaux finished 2-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs.
IHS will return to the road next Saturday for a doubleheader with Dolores. Two wins would give the Bobcats a league championship.
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