Hawks rally past Eagles in extras

Andre Vigil and Josh Day, from left, celebrate with Daniel Herrera (7) after Herrera hit a game-tying home run in the seventh inning of Volcano Vista’s win over Eldorado Thursday. (greg sorber/journal)

“We’re in most of our games,” Hawks coach Kevin Andersh said. “We just have not been getting clutch hits with guys in scoring position.”

On Thursday, Volcano Vista trended in the opposite direction.

Daniel Herrera’s two-out, two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh forced extra innings, and Cameron Fite’s two-out RBI single in the bottom of the eighth was the game-winner as the Hawks rallied for a 9-8 win over visiting Eldorado.

The Eagles (4-7) led 8-2 in the fourth inning before Volcano Vista (7-6) roared back.

“Now we’ve proven to ourselves that we can come back and a win a ballgame,” said Herrera. “I think we have the talent, we just have to believe in ourselves.”

The Hawks began the season with great promise, as much as anyone in Class 5A. But while other contenders like Carlsbad, Sandia and Rio Rancho have flourished, Volcano Vista has underachieved a bit.

But a closer examination of the Hawks reveals that they’ve just been unable to close strong against good teams. Sandia, which is 12-1, has a pair of one-run victories over the Hawks. So does Piedra Vista, last year’s 4A state champion. And Volcano lost twice to La Cueva.

On Thursday, Volcano Vista led 2-0 early on Andre Vigil’s RBI double and Jacob Garcia’s RBI single.

Eldorado was trailing 2-1 entering the top half of the fourth when the Hawks imploded.

Pitchers Cody Trujillo and Brian Fox combined to walk four Eldorado batters and hit two others — three of those occured with the bases loaded.

Austin Beck’s two-run double and Ambrose Romero’s two-RBI single capped a seven-run outburst and Eldorado led 8-2. What made this particular rally so odd was that the Eagles did it all with two outs. After the first two were retired, 10 consecutive batters reached base.

The Hawks countered with four runs in the bottom half — three on Brock Sullivan’s bases-clearing, three-run double to left center. Vigil drove in Sullivan with a single.

The Hawks were still down 8-6 in the bottom of the seventh. But Herrera turned on a fastball from reliever Tanner Schafer and drove it over the left-field fence, also scoring Dylan Dudley.

Volcano Vista meets Carlsbad at 10 a.m. today — at Eldorado. On Tuesday, the Hawks blanked Valley 8-0 as Fite pitched a complete-game two-hitter. Sullivan, Fite and Vigil all had two hits.

— This article appeared on page 06 of the Albuquerque Journal