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Atrisco Heritage Academy sophomore Jose Escobedo could be excused for his level of excitement Tuesday afternoon.
The young right-hander had just tossed scoreless eighth and ninth innings to propel the Jaguars to a marathon 3-2 victory over host Bernalillo.
“I got a little pumped up with that last strikeout,” Escobedo said with a smile.
AHA (5-4) picked up a critical win before district play begins. The conditions Tuesday were cold and windy, and the Jags were facing a solid Bernalillo team that has played well but dropped to just 2-7 on the season.
“That’s a ballgame for you right there,” Atrisco coach Anthony Lovato said. “Our pitchers gave us a chance. We were off at the (plate), but our pitching got the job done.”
Spartans coach Dominic Toledo didn’t take the loss too hard.
“I think they were a little bit more focused than we were,” Toledo said. “Our pitchers did a good job throwing a lot of strikes. They kept us in it.”
Escobedo led off the ninth with a single up the middle, but Andrew Lopez grounded into a double play. Miguel Vasquez then reached on a throwing error by third baseman Jonothan Lithgow, giving the Jaguars renewed life.
After Vasquez stole second base, Dominic Marquez smacked an opposite-field single into shallow right, scoring Vasquez.
Escobedo retired the first two batters he faced in the bottom of the ninth, but Donovan Aguilar drew a walk and Thomas Duran followed with a single to center field, putting runners at the corners.
Lovato elected to intentionally walk Clinton Reynolds, bringing up Forrest McCook, who was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts on the day.
It proved to be a wise move as Escobedo struck out McCook to end the game.
“I was pitching low and outside to make sure he didn’t pull anything,” Escobedo said. “I was trying to throw all I had out there.”
The Spartans had been held in check for almost the entire game by Jaguars starter Angelo Escarcega, who tossed six shutout innings before finally running into trouble in the seventh.
Bernalillo loaded the bases with two outs and Duran made Escarcega pay, lining a two-run single into right-center to tie the game and force extra innings.
“We’ve got to try and get better at moving runners over and base running,” Toledo said. “Those little things we could do could have made a huge difference in this game.”
Atrisco will play host to Volcano Vista today at 4 p.m.
— This article appeared on page 6 of the West Side Journal
