There’s giving it all you’ve got. Friday afternoon, there was Gabe Archuleta.
In a game-time switch, Archuleta, penciled in as Ignacio’s center fielder, was instead given the start on the mound by head coach Isiah Valdez against Pine River Valley nemesis Bayfield. Despite being tagged for four runs right off the bat, the sophomore – normally IHS’ No. 2 catcher behind senior Phillip Quintana – settled in and allowed just two more scores during the next four innings before a triple-digit pitch count necessitated his removal from play.
That came after BHS’ Brendan Heydinger led off the guests’ sixth drawing a walk and the Wolverines hoping to pad their 6-3 advantage. But after leadoff man Micah Cornelia laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt advancing Heydinger to second base, Bobcat reliever Ambrose Valdez – originally slated to be IHS’ starting pitcher – got Dante Candelaria to pop up to shortstop Devante Montoya in shallow left-center and then Tavian Box to ground out to Montoya.
“Gabe’s a kid that’s always willing to step up, been huge all year,” said Isiah Valdez. “The kid’s a wall behind the dish, but we needed someone who was going to throw strikes and pitch to contact, and that’s what Gabe does.”
With no additional damage done, Archuleta led off the home half of the inning and after having tripled to deep right-center (driving home Valdez) in Ignacio’s fourth, he managed to hit hard back to the hill and not only hustle hard enough to press BHS pitcher Brandon Anderson into throwing off-line of first baseman Owen Eidem, but leg out the play to second base.
Bobcat Stoney White Thunder then kept the rally going as Eidem scooped up his grounder but elected to throw home – unsuccessfully, as Mendoza-Lechuga scored via the fielder’s choice.
Quintana then mashed a double to right-center, plating Dunbar and Montoya. Anderson (L; 2.2 IP, 2 H, 7 R, 2 BB, HB, 2 K) answered by getting Rylan Maez and Valdez to both bounce out to Eidem, but Marcus Maez rapped a double to left which scored Quintana (after White Thunder had scored via Valdez’s groundout).
Now suddenly leading 9-6, Archuleta came up again and proceeded to pound a ground-rule double over the fence in right-center, driving Marcus Maez home and triggering Ignacio’s biggest celebration until third baseman White Thunder started a 5-4-3 double play off Bayfield DH Cole Wagner’s bat in the top of the seventh.
BHS right fielder Sean Ryan then drew a walk, but catcher Isaac Forsythe followed with a grounder to White Thunder. With the ball arriving as quickly as it did, White Thunder had time to set his feet and throw a waist-high dart to Rylan Maez, who recorded the final out securing a 10-6 victory.
“They don’t know how to quit,” said Isiah Valdez. “We’ve got great leadership from our older guys, the young guys are all over the stat sheets – the bottom of our lineup has been on fire – and to beat Bayfield for the first time in … I don’t know how many years [since 2017], you know, that’s big for us moving forward.”
Archuleta (ND; 5 IP, 3 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 5 HB, 4 K) finished 2-4 with two runs and as many RBI. Quintana ended up 1-4 with a run and two batted in.
“We always lose to Bayfield,” said Marcus Maez (1-4, R, RBI). “But we thought we had a chance … and it showed. We’d scored a lot on Dove Creek and I think we just kept that energy going.”
Bayfield starting pitcher Austin Wilmer (ND; 3.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, ER, 2 BB, 6 K) went 1-3 with a two-RBI double, a walk and reached via two errors – allowing courtesy runner Tyler Harriman to score twice. Cornelia ended up 1-2 with a sacrifice fly and his sac-bunt, scored once and drove in one.
Defeated 10-0 and 10-2 at 4A Montrose the day before, the Wolverines slipped to 6-10 overall (3-1 3A Intermountain) and will next see action Monday at home versus Blanding, Utah, San Juan (14-5, 8-1 UHSAA 2A East). The Bobcats (7-4, 3-0 2A/1A San Juan Basin), meanwhile, immediately brought themselves and their gear over to a waiting bus bound for 2A/1A Southern Peaks-leading Trinidad and an 11 a.m. doubleheader Saturday against the Miners.
“We got down early – we’ve done that a little bit this year – but … we strapped in and fought, and we came back,” Isiah Valdez said. “It’s going to give us a fun ride to Trinidad. A long one, but fun.”
