The Pagosa Springs High School Pirate baseball team moved to an 8-8 record on the season after going 1-2 over the last week, making the Pirates the No. 29 team in Colorado 3A baseball heading into the final two weeks of the season.
The playoff bracket is slated to be released May 11, with coach Ben Garcia noting the team is still trying to battle for the opportunity to play in the postseason.
“I know we’ve kind of put ourself in a position where ... we just need to win some games and make it to the tournament. We’re capable of playing one really good game, so anything can happen, ... but we’ve gotta get there. We’ve gotta finish up Saturday and Tuesday and try and get that taken care of.”
The Pirates will host what could be the final four games of their regular season over the next week, though Garcia noted he is trying to schedule another game to help fill the gap between the team’s current schedule and the beginning of playoffs.
The week’s action will begin with Saturday’s league doubleheader against the Bayfield Wolverines.
The Wolverines are 5-10 on the season and are the No. 42 team in 3A baseball.
“It’s a big game,” Garcia said, indicating the games could control the team’s destiny in terms of making the playoffs or not. “We’ve gotta come out and play our type of baseball and execute.”
He noted the team has set some team goals, which include to keep motivating each other, put the ball in play, score more than seven runs, and keep strikeouts and errors down.
“We’re set for a good two games,” the coach said. “We’ve just got to be able to finish the first game and carry it over to the second game.”
He added winning both could give the team good momentum heading into the postseason.
He added, “We don’t control destiny if we lose.”
The games will begin at 11 a.m.
On Tuesday, the Pirates will draw the season to a close with a doubleheader against the 2A Ignacio Bobcats.
Garcia noted the Pirates’ goals for the game are largely the same as against Bayfield.
“They’ve had a really good season this year,” Garcia said, noting the Bobcats are gearing up for their playoffs.
The Bobcats are 12-4 on the season and are the No. 21 team in 2A.
Garcia added the Pirates need to make routine plays and take advantage of playing at home, indicating he wants the team to send its seniors into the postseason on a high note during their last home game.
“If we play the way we’re capable, we should be OK,” Garcia said.
Action is set to begin at 3 p.m.
The Pirates’ first game of the last week resulted in a 10-0 loss to the Cedaredge Bruins on Friday, April 25.
The Bruins are the No. 6 team in 2A.
The Bruins picked up one run in the first inning, five in the second, two in the fourth and two in the fifth.
Garcia noted the Bruins have two pitchers who are “very good,” with the team’s No. 1 — who the Pirates faced — throwing upward of 90 mph with good command of his pitches.
Despite the strong pitching, Garcia indicated the Pirates had opportunities, such as when the team had the bases loaded in the third inning with no outs, but got picked off at third base.
Garcia called it a “great opportunity against a very good pitcher.”
The coach noted the two teams were alike in ways, but the Pirates made some errors.
He added the Pirates made some big errors after they weren’t able to score, which gave the Bruins the momentum back.
“Their pitcher had 12 strikeouts and he was dealin’ pretty well, he really was,” Garcia said. “He threw the ball well, good hitter, really a good ballplayer. So, they kind of depend on him. They’ve got a really good team. ... They were legit.”
Garcia indicated the Pirates would have had a good chance of logging a victory had they faced Cedaredge in a doubleheader, but they were unable to play a second game against the Bruins due to having a league doubleheader the following day.
The Bruins did what they needed to do and made some nice plays, the coach said.
“They were a better team, no doubt, for that day,” he said.
The Pirates had two hits in the matchup — one from Zach Pouyer and the other from Chris Young-Martinez.
Sebastian Gonzalez drew a walk, and Cooper Ralston reached after being hit by a pitch.
Charles Washburn started the game, with Kaeden Iguchi coming in in relief. The pair combined to allow 10 runs, three of which were earned, on eight hits and five walks while striking out three over five innings.
“Charles ... threw the ball well,” Garcia said.
The Pirates committed five errors, while Cedaredge committed one.
The next day, the Pirates welcomed the Centauri Falcons to town for a league doubleheader.
“The first game, again, we seemed to play very well. We played a very solid game. Defensively, we did some good things. Cooper was in command for the most part the whole game,” Garcia said, adding it was topped off by a grand slam from Sean Ryan.
The Pirates were victorious in the first game, winning 12-2 in five innings.
Centauri took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, but Pagosa countered with three runs in the bottom of the inning, two in the second, and one in the third to take a 6-1 lead.
Centauri brought one around in the top of the fourth, but Pagosa again countered, this time with two in the bottom of the fourth and a game-ending grand slam by Ryan in the fifth.
The Pirates tallied 11 hits in the matchup.
Young-Martinez had three hits in the matchup — all doubles — as well as a walk, a run scored and an RBI.
Ralston, Kyler Henderson and Angelo Medina each had two hits in the game. Ralston also had three RBIs and was hit by a pitch. Henderson, who hit a double, also drew a walk, scored three runs and had an RBI. Medina was hit by a pitch, scored a run and logged two RBIs.
Pouyer had a hit and three runs scored after reaching on errors three times.
Ryan’s hit came in the form of the grand slam, giving him a run scored and four RBIs. He also drew a walk.
Gonzalez and Washburn reached on fielder’s choices, and Noah Bellina drew a walk.
Kasen Limebrook scored three runs while serving as courtesy runner for the pitcher.
The second half of the doubleheader ended in favor of the Falcons, who won 8-4.
The Falcons put up three runs in the top of the first, with the Pirates fighting back to score two.
The Falcons put up two more in the second and on in the fourth, with Pagosa picking up a run in the fourth and another in the fifth, leaving the score at 6-4.
The Falcons brought around two more in the top of the sixth, giving them the 8-4 lead they would ultimately return home with.
Garcia noted the game was 4-2 for a long time, with the Pirates having a lot of opportunities, but that they left a lot of runners on base, including leaving the bases loaded.
He added that Centauri made some nice defensive plays in the game and threw out players in scoring position.
“Plays like that change the complexity of the game,” he said.
The Pirates logged eight hits in the game.
Gonzalez logged two hits, including a double, as well as a run scored and an RBI.
Wells and Henderson each hit a double, with Henderson also scoring a run and reaching on an error. Young-Martinez logged a hit, an RBI and a run scored. Angelo Medina had a hit and scored a run, and Ryan had a hit.
Richie, who reached on a fielder’s choice, logged an RBI.
Seven Pirates drew walks: Gonzalez, Iguchi, Richie, Pouyer, Medina, Young-Martinez and Ryan.
Ralston and Young-Martinez took the mound in the game, with Young-Martinez pitching 6.2 innings. The pair combined to allow eight runs, five earned, on nine hits and two walks while striking out seven.
Garcia noted Ralston started the game after he believed Ralston had fewer pitches in the first game than he ended up having, stating he wanted Ralston to continue with his good momentum.
“I wish I would have had that to do over,” he said, noting Young-Martinez pitched a good game, but that the Pirates were unable to get their momentum back.
The teams committed one error each in the game.
Garcia noted that the team averages 6.6 errors in games that it loses, compared to 2.3 or 2.4 in games they win.
He noted the Pirates also tend to win games where they strike out five or fewer times.
“We’ve gotta be able to put the ball in play and make them beat us from the standpoint of defense,” he said.
randi@pagosasun.com
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