La Cueva Again Can’t Top Matadors

No. 1 La Cueva was just the remedy to cure the ills of the Sandia Matadors.

The fourth-ranked Matadors started the prep baseball season 10-0 and rocketed to a No. 1 ranking before a recent stretch of three losses in five games. In those three losses, Sandia scored a combined three runs.

But the Matadors regained some of their early-season form Wednesday, never trailing in a 7-4 road victory over the Bears in a District 2-5A opener.

“We got our legs back under us,” Sandia coach John Gunther said. “We started conditioning a lot more. We were really sluggish in our losses.”

There was a shutout loss to Volcano Vista, a 2-1 setback to Rio Rancho and a 3-2 defeat at Cleveland, all in the past two weeks.

But behind senior right-hander Taylor Duree – backed by fantastic defense – Sandia (13-3) appears to have its second wind.

Oddly enough, it was La Cueva (14-2) that appeared lethargic and uninterested most of the way. Sandia has now handed the Bears both their losses, including a previous meeting in the metro semifinals.

“I thought we were going through the motions a little bit, expecting to win,” La Cueva coach Gerard Pineda said. “We had a bad day of practice (on Tuesday), and I could see this coming.”

Sandia staked Duree (2-1) to a 2-0 lead in the second, as Marvin Ortiz clubbed a two-run home run to center off La Cueva starter Grayson Pratt (4-1).

Jake Todd’s RBI single in the bottom half, along with a wild pitch from Duree, allowed the Bears to tie the game 2-2.

But Sandia scored four runs in the top of the third, as the first five batters reached safely. Craig Coffman and Josh Gonzales had consecutive RBI singles for the Matadors. A double play scored a run, as did a Pratt wild pitch.

Duree’s last start saw him get battered around a bit against Volcano Vista. He went five innings for the win.

“After a big loss like Volcano Vista, you have to come out and not let the other team get in your head,” Duree. “It helps when you’ve got Derek Blaisuis in the outfield making every play he could possible make.”

Blaisuis had two diving catches Wednesday, both against Tyler Straub.

“I’ll be a pitcher’s best friend,” Blaisuis said. “We’ve got a defense behind him that’s gonna get everything.”

La Cueva’s last, best chance to get back into the game came in the sixth, when the Bears loaded the bases trailing 7-4. Left-hander Carson Schneider relieved Duree and struck out Austin Grier to end the threat.
— This article appeared on page D2 of the Albuquerque Journal