Daytona 500 2017 and NM State Aggie Baseball

As if that title isn’t confusing enough, but it’s still not as confusing as the new NASCAR points rules and “Stage Racing.”  In Rally racing, they have stage racing where the teams go from one interesting course to another at an event.  In NASCAR, it just means breaking the race up into three segments, so that they can stop the race after each and put in a couple more commercial breaks and lengthen the time of the race.  I already covered this earlier, but now we get to see it in action.

Dad was coming over to watch the race, so I was going to have to at least pretend to be interested.  He had tried to read an article about the new rules and gave up halfway through, but he still wanted to watch it anyway.  He also got his new teeth in and was looking forward to having a pizza.  I hadn’t had one in a while either.  Papa John’s filled the bill with a large pepperoni, breadsticks, and a large chocolate cookie.  It was all very good and worth the wait. 

The Fox pre-race started with a nice, classy intro.  I wish “classy” would be the word they used as a guide for all their extraneous production material.  On that note, Chris Meyers got us started with a flashback of his Tom Brady interview at the Superbowl and the quip, “I should have given him back his jersey.  I didn’t know it was going to cause that much of a fuss.”  Jeff Gordon and the Waltrip brothers rounded out the pre-race crew.  Jeff has slotted into the TV analyst role pretty well and has been fairly insightful.  I had seen Jeff last month at the 24 Hours of Daytona race.  He was there driving and had Ingrid and the kids with him.  After seeing his black prototype ride for the race, the kids said that they thought he was now cool because he was driving the Batmobile.  During Jeff’s interview, his little girl Ella looked like she was yearning to get into a car and start driving. 

I missed most of the discussions while going out for the pizza.  I heard them talk about Carl Edwards’ sudden departure, though no mention of a possible political run was made.  Edwards’ departure has been overshadowed by talk of his replacement, Daniel Suarez.  The promo image had him in front of an American flag.  He’s actually Mexican and something of a racing hero there.  (There is, or at least was, a Mexican NASCAR series.)  There was an animated explanation of the new stage racing rules.  Even using cartoons, it still didn’t make any more sense. 

There was a remote shot of Texas Motor Speedway.  The infield was open for a Daytona viewing party on the track’s big screen.  What a good idea.  There was detailed explanation of how to play fantasy racing at an Internet betting site.  Another great idea.  Heavy betting is the only thing that will save the sport now.  Then the best idea of all was introduced: the Monster Energy Girls.  Frankly, the new series sponsor didn’t get a lot of mention during the coverage (until the end, but we’ll get to that).  I say that these new trophy girls should get non-stop exposure during the race by whatever means necessary.

Jeff got to drive the pace car, but not before Tony Stewart, also now retired, came over and gave him some good-natured trouble while Jeff was being interviewed.  The stands were sold out.  This may have more to do with the beautiful weather and last year’s remodeling than the new rules.  And with that, the green flag dropped and we were underway!

Though the drivers were out for points in the first half of the race, it still felt pretty perfunctory.  Dad and I were both nodding off, though this may have been food-induced narcolepsy.  During the commercials (dad liked the Uber-calling bank robbers one), I put in an earplug and tuned into the Sunday Aggie baseball game on the radio.  I had started listening to it before dad came over.  The weather was a little cold, but still reasonably nice to start off.  I rejoined the game in the bottom of the fourth.  The score was a shocking 14-0 Aggies over Mount St. Mary’s!  In the two minutes I was listening, they hit two home runs!  Well, given Friday’s 13-2 win and Saturday night’s 25-4 win, maybe this wasn’t entirely shocking, but still, “Wow!” 

Meanwhile back at Daytona, what was probably the critical moment of the race occurred.  In Stage two, Kyle Busch cut a tire while leading the pack of Toyota entries.  This took out many of the favored drivers, including Dale Jr, who was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.  The Toyota teams may be reconsidering their pack strategies after this.  The wreck red flagged the race for a short time, during which I flipped over to a college basketball game, which dad seemed to enjoy more.      

The winds had picked up here in the meantime, making it cold and nasty out.  I was sort of glad I wasn’t at the ballpark.  Then again, in the seventh, it was now 22-1 Aggies.  I heard two more home runs within a couple of minutes of listening.  Even having been there for the Saturday night game, this game would have still been impressive to watch in person.  I kept listening.  The broadcasters were openly wondering why the run-rule (which ends games that get out-of-control like this early) wasn’t in effect for non-conference games.  The final was 29-1 Aggies.  Five of the Aggie players were now, unsurprisingly, hitting over .400 after this weekend.  Amazingly with all that scoring, the game just went a bit over three hours.

The race was getting ugly.  Big wrecks were dragging out the race and had taken out the rest of the favorites, including Jimmie Johnson in the Stage three.  With 50 laps left, three-quarters of the field had some kind of damage.  Dad had to leave early, since the race was running late.  With 25 laps left, there were only 25 cars on track, 17 on the lead lap.  The new damaged car rule was having an effect. 

With all the wrecks and trying to account for the stage yellows, the fuel situation at the end of the race became an issue.  Most of cars in front that had stayed out for track position were now close to empty.  This somewhat forced the remaining contenders to all stay together in single file to conserve fuel.  Whoever was leading was getting the least conservation.  Chase Elliot, the polesitter, was out in front for most of final sprint, but he ran out with three laps left.  Martin Truex was briefly in the lead, before he ran out of gas.  After some jockeying, Kyle Larson was in front on the last lap, but he couldn’t make it.  Kurt Busch, who had earlier been tagged to run out on the last lap, powered right on across the finish line.

Now we have a bit controversy.  Series sponsor, Monster Energy, was also Kurt’s sponsor.  It looks a little suspicious, given that this was their first race as the series sponsor.  Regardless, Tony Gibson, Kurt’s crew chief, was so happy afterward, he was shaking during his interview.  Tony Stewart, at least had the satisfaction of winning Daytona as an owner.  Manufacturer-wise, Ford stealing Stewart-Haas from Chevrolet had just totally paid off.  Kurt Busch was all grateful happy in Victory Lane.  He made sure to thank his new wife on stage for “Making a man out of me.”  For a guy who’d had some embarrassingly public girlfriend troubles a couple of years ago, this may have been some redemption.  Speaking of that, Michael Waltrip, in his last race, managed to finish in the top 10 and unscathed.  And one of my favorites, AJ Allmendinger, finished a surprising third.    

Honestly, the race was not more interesting for having a couple of extra stops.  It probably dragged out the race a bit, that along with numerous field-clearing wrecks.  I don’t think quarter and halfway points lead to the additional wrecks at least.  It’s Daytona though, a race unto itself.  We won’t really see how this new format works until the following races.
         

NM State Aggies vs Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers Baseball 2-25-17

The last game for the Aggie baseball team I was at went pretty well at 20-7.  In the meantime, they’d had a terrible loss on Tuesday to Texas Tech, 1-16.  I got to listen to some of that at work.  Friday’s game against “The Mount” was a good bounce back at 13-2 Aggies.  So, it’s been all or nothing this week for the boys. 

Adam Young and Nolan Fox were clearly freezing last night doing the radio call.  It was the wind more than the temperature.  Today’s double header was going to be a bit cold, but just a little breezy.  I came prepared with a heavy coat and blanket.  Ron’s wife, for some reason, was okay with him being at the ballpark all afternoon and evening.  After a heavy, but good meal at Schlotzsky’s, we were pulling into the parking lot, well away from any potential foul balls and fighting off a desire to take a food-induced nap.  The lot had some class today.  Along with a couple of RV’s, there was a pretty yellow Porsche and a Subaru Impreza with a rally package.  I wonder who these belong to, hopefully boosters. 

This time, I grabbed both new baseball posters on the way in and didn’t wait like I did last time, when I missed getting them.  With the weather being a bit better, I was expecting a good crowd.  The fans came in a bit late, but filled in to an “okay” crowd.  Maybe, you need that bunting out to attract people.  There were a few attractive young women there, some of them in shorts and t-shirts and completely insane given the temperature.  Look for more girls to show when it’s warmer.  An attractive lady was sitting in front of us that seemed friendly, but she made friends with another fan next to her, not us.  Unhappily, I could see an unlucky Aggie player, Trey Stine, was also a spectator.  He was on crutches in the Aggie dugout and will have to wait until next year to play. 

Game 1

The scoring didn’t start until the top of the second with a line drive homer by the Mounts.  (Hey, that’s what they call themselves for short.)  In the bottom of the third, their catcher mistakenly got the number of outs wrong after a strikeout.  Maybe it was because the umpire was making some dramatic calls on called strikes and strikeouts looking.  Too bad for them it wasn’t the last out, since the next hitter, Austin Botello, drove in the first Aggie run, trying the score.  The broken window challenge was on tap between innings.  A kid with a mitt and no arm gave it a shot, coming up empty. 

The Aggies flashed some leather in the top of the fourth.  Botello made a great play in deep right field near the line.  LJ Hatch followed that with a great snag on a grounder, deep in the hole, to throw out the runner at first.  Then, a hot shot foul straight back struck one of the hollow metal shade supports.  It rang loudly for several seconds afterward.  Between halves, I noticed Adam out talking to the radar gun guys.  No idea why.  Greg Popylisen would drive in a go-ahead run in the bottom with an infield hit.  2-1 Aggies. 

 

In the fifth, the Aggies scored a run off a couple of doubles.  At least, that’s the official scoring.  In reality, the Mount left fielder dropped a couple of fly balls.  It was ruled that the wind would have made those extraordinary catches, I guess.  With a home run and two multi-base non-errors, Mount left fielder, Zach Hostetter had an interesting game.  3-1 Aggies.  The top of the sixth was the third inning in a row that Aggie starter, Kyle Bradish, had allowed two batters on without allowing a score.  He ended his last inning of work by striking out pinch hitter, Damond Dixon, and stranding the runners again.  According to Nolan, Dixon doesn’t like using spoons.  Last night, we also found out that, as a child, one of the Mounts locked his mother out of the house so that he could eat a bowl of M&M’s.  With this level of opposition research, how could the Aggies lose?

The bottom of the sixth featured more questionable scoring.  A slow bouncer by Marcus Still went between second and short.  Somebody really should have caught that, but instead it bounced into shallow center.  And somebody really should have covered second afterward, as Still went ahead and took the extra unguarded base.  All this was ruled a double.  And this all happened after a great diving catch by Dixon on a popped up bunt, basically negating it.  Popylisen actually faked an attempt to steal home, but the inning ended on a strikeout and without any scoring.

In seventh, with Andy Frakes on the mound, the Mounts finally cashed in on having two runners on.  3-2 Aggies.  This didn’t last, as the Aggies manage to plate a run without a hit after a bases loaded walk.  4-2 Aggies.  Not to be out done, the Mount did the same in the top of the eighth, getting a run without a hit.  Not to say it was without hard effort, as one of their players took a rubber pellet in the eye from the artificial infield surface.  4-3 Aggies.  The Aggies weren’t done and scored two more runs in the bottom.  Still actually managed to beat out a sacrifice bunt and get to first in the inning. 

Ruger Rodriguez came in for the ninth and struck out the side in an overpowering fashion.  He’s really starting to impress me.  Our final was Aggies 6, Mountaineers 3.  Bradish had a good, gritty game, giving up one run over six innings.  I’d pick Botello as my offensive player.  Dan Hetzel and, catcher, Jason Bush also had good games.   The Mountaineers played a pretty good game.  The two outfield miscues probably cost them.  By using their Game two starter as a reliever here, they at least slowed down the Aggie offense and gave themselves a chance in this game, but it would come back to haunt them in the next game.

Game one took about three hours, which isn’t bad by college standards.  Unfortunately, it was three hours out in the cold.  My fingers and nose were numb.  Ron wasn’t doing much better.  We spent the intermission in his car, warming up.  I took my blanket and heavy jacket, and Ron took his light jacket back inside.  We took separate bathroom breaks.  I saw the team in the dugout while waiting and smiled and gave them a thumbs up.  One of the catchers did the same back.  I suddenly also noticed that there were stadium seats outside the men’s bathroom.    That seemed unnecessary. 

We ran into a bolting Adam Young on his way to the bathroom.  If you’re talking for three hours, you probably need to drink quite a bit.  Then you’re in an open pressbox, getting the cold full on.  Also, there’s not enough time between innings to go from the pressbox to the bathrooms.  Bottom line, Adam and Nolan likely have iron bladders.  I picked up a welcome hot chocolate and a small popcorn, which I offered to Ron.  Back at the seats, I put down the blanket and sat on it.  My rear end, at least, was warm for the rest of the game.  The announced temperature was 61.  Ron said it felt more like 31. 

Game 2

The crowd had thinned out.  Aggie fans and Mount fans were about equal in number.  In the first, the Mount fans and the Aggie dugout were actually competing with each other in cheering.  The players on the field were certainly playing with some purpose in the cold.  In what felt like a blink of an eye, the Mountaineers scored two runs and then the inning was over.  I looked over at Ron to get the popcorn back and found him with the cup upended over his mouth, finishing it.  Good thing I wasn’t hungry.

The cheering competition ended in the bottom of the first.  Take a look at my sloppy scorecard.  I’m not going to try and recap all those runs.  The Aggies scored 25 runs in the game.  They scored in six of their eight innings and batted around in two of them.  All of the starters scored and got a hit.  Okay, so the game was basically over after the second.  That established, I’ll just bring up the interesting events during the innings. 

The sun was going down in the bottom of the first, and Adam mentioned the lovely sunset lighting of Las Cruces’ Organ Mountains in the background of the stadium.  Austin Botello cranked a monster home run to center right afterward.  Nolan Fox chipped in, “That ball may have hit the Organs.”  Also adding to the scenery, some large flocks of birds circled around the trees beyond the outfield.  There’s more to life than baseball.  Not much more admittedly. 

The new ump seemed to have a bigger strikezone.  Not a bad idea in the cold.  LJ Hatch initiated a double play to end the top of the second.  Marcus Still again beat out an infield single trying to advance a runner in the bottom of the second.  Sacrificing in this inning would not be necessary.  I couldn’t even figure out the Mount pitcher lines after what happened next.  The Game two scheduled starter was used in long relief in Game one.  Trey McGough just didn’t seem ready to start this one.  He was pulled in this inning after starting off with a walk and three straight hits.  Josh Little was brought in, throwing between 59 and 72 mph, a soft-tosser.  By and large, the Aggies weren’t hitting him hard, just often.  There was some good base running too with Brent Sakurai scoring from first on a single as he was off with the pitch.  By the time the smoke had cleared, nine runs had crossed the plate.  “13-2 was the same score as on Friday, but that was after nine innings!” exclaimed Nolan.

From here it was an endurance contest, mostly for the crowd.  An Aggie basketball game started during the game, and I began flipping between them.  Little did I know that I was draining the battery on my radio in a rapid manner by doing so.   That’s what I get for sports infidelity.  Between innings, they ran the broken window challenge again.  This time the little kid had a legit pro wind up and won a hat.  By the fourth, about half of the Mount fans had had enough and left.  Concurrently with that, their team started putting in their reserves.  Mitch Sprignoli came in and rapped an RBI single to the cheers of the remaining fans and the dugout.  He must be well-liked.

About 10 minutes into the basketball game, the score was 16-6 Aggies, pretty close to what it was at the ballpark.  The Aggie baseball team would score three more runs in the fourth, though the inning ended on an unassisted double play by the Mount first baseman.  There were kids running up and down the aisles for foul balls in this game.  Two little girls came up with a couple of balls and carried them around with big smiles.  If you can believe it, in spite of the six runs, the Aggies weren’t trying to run up the score in the bottom of the fifth.  Coach Green kept holding up runners at third, but the guys kept getting hits.  That must have been a good problem for the coach.  The guys in the booth start looking up school records for runs and hits. 

In the sixth, our female PA (I should really find out who these people are) took the inning off.  She must have gotten tired from calling all those at bats.  Meanwhile in the second half of the basketball game, Jack Nixon declared that, “The mustard is off the hot dog,” as the Aggies were up by 20.  The women were also announced to have won their basketball game on the road.  (All I needed was a softball update to complete my Saturday sports.) 

In the seventh, Vaughn Parker II for the Mount was injured diving for a foul ball well away from the field.  It was a great effort.  The Aggie dugout applauded him as he came off.  I finally lost power on the radio in the 9^th, right before both games ended.  Austin Bryan finished the game on the mound for the Aggies.  He’d had a very rough outing against Texas Tech and the team cheered him on from the dugout with every out.  Our Game two final, Aggies 25?!, Mountaineers 4.       

Ron felt sorry for the other team, but I thought the Mountaineers played pretty well in the field in this game, and they didn’t get shut out.  Their pitching was just not there for this game, perhaps because of the sudden spot start, and the Aggies tee’d off on it.  For the Aggies, Matt McHugh gave up four runs in five innings, but had nine strikeouts with only one walk.  Offensively, Austin Botello went five for six with four runs and four RBI’s.  His bat was so hot, it glowed.  With 29 total hits, obviously the rest of the team had a pretty good night too.

Our attendance was announced at 680, including a couple of popsicles, which were me and Ron.  The running time was a surprising three hours and 12 minutes.  I’ve seen much lower scoring in longer games.  No team batting records were broken tonight.  Myself and Adam disputed the official scoring.  The scorer had the team at 26 hits, which was wrong.  They also had the Mount with two errors, but I never saw anything like an error on the field.  The basketball team won 86-53.  That game let out at the same time, leading to some traffic getting out of the university.  We were off to What-a-Burger, as the team had won (twice) and handed out coupons.

 

NM State Aggies vs Tennessee Volunteers Softball 2-20-17

I’m not sure how many people in town are interested in the Aggie Softball team, but I’m sure that those who are all had this date circled on their calendars.  Tennessee is pretty much a big time opponent in any sport.  Having them show here in Las Cruces will get people excited.  I was excited.  Unfortunately, bad signs were flashing in front of me well before the game started.

I wasn’t sure what to do with my day off while waiting for the game.  That got taken care of thanks to a domestic dispute in apartment above mine, which involved the police and for some reason, me.  Nobody was harmed and some good may even come of it, but it wrecked the day for me.  I should get another day off to make up for this.  I was supposed to go get dinner with Ron before the game.  That time came and went.  I finally called him an hour before the game.  “Ooops.  I forgot.  I’ll be right there,” he said in a hurry.

Once at the ball field, we couldn’t get tickets because their computer was down.  With the Tennessee fans standing there with us, this was embarrassing for the university, like the shot clocks not working at the women’s basketball game for ESPN3 on Saturday.  After about 10 minutes, they were able to work around it.  We even got tickets at a discount, since it should have cost more for a tournament game.  (I lost the ticket stub, so no image of that this time.)

After the delay and close to game time, I skipped the concession.  Ron got a couple of hot dogs.  I picked up a program instead.  And there it was.  The full schedule of the tournament was printed there.  I couldn’t find a full schedule online.  If I’d had this, I might have made different plans.  The full tournament pass was only $12.  I might have even re-thought going to see the Sunday baseball game if I’d known that Tennessee was playing Oregon State at the same time.  Guys, next time, put the full schedule up somewhere please.

It was a beautiful evening at least.  There was a bit of a nip in the air, but it wasn’t as bad being at the Sunday baseball game.  The really pleasant surprise was the crowd.  The Opening Day attendance was really good.  This was even better.  There were quite a few Tennessee fans there.  There were some girls from area high school softball teams, including one from El Paso.  It felt like there was a palatable buzz in the air.  On radio, Adam Young was not there.  The long time voice of Las Cruces sports, Jack Nixon, was calling the game with Nolan Fox.  Adam would have probably been there, but he was in transit to Lubbock to call the baseball game there Tuesday.  

The radio pre-game call was no comfort in the ominous warnings department.  Tennessee’s team is nationally ranked at #15, and this squad is currently 9-0.  Their starter this evening, Caylan Arnold, had not given up an earned run this year.  They were in their familiar bright day-glo orange tops, as many of their fans in the stands were also in team colors.  The Aggies were in their new black and gray away uniforms, though they were the home team.  They’re nice-looking, (vaguely “Logan’s Run” Sandman-ish) but probably need a little crimson trim to look properly Aggie.      

As the starters were announced for the game, I was a bit surprised.  Seniors Misty Hoohuli and Haley Nakamura were out.  Freshmen Caity Szczesny and Jeanelle Medina were in.  Likewise, sophomore and local girl, Alexis Maynez, was replaced by freshman Kaitlyn Rubio behind the plate.  I thought Alexis was the regular catcher, but I may have been mistaken.  On the field, once again, Kelsey Horton was at second instead of first, where Fahren Glackin was instead positioned.

My game got off to a good start as I got all the positions and numbers down while the lineups were announced.  Ron’s nemesis, the old man, was there getting his pipes warmed up for a long evening of loudly encouraging the girls.  A nice looking lady sat down in front of me with her husband.  She would turn out to be the second-loudest cheerer in the crowd.  For the ceremonial first pitch, I found out that the Troy Cox Classic, as this tournament was officially called, was actually named in honor of someone.  I had assumed it was a corporate sponsorship.  A relative of the deceased person did a fast-pitch wind up and tossed an impressive hard strike into the catcher’s mitt to start the game.

To be honest, these are most brutal scorecards I’ve ever added up.  I mean, even the Sunday baseball game, where Bryant gave up 20 runs, they least scored 7.  The Aggie offense was overpowered by Tennessee’s pitching, and the Vol’s had no trouble hitting Aggie pitching.  As soon as the Volunteers had gotten over the 8 run rule, they politely called off the dogs and put in the reserves.  Lastly, even the Aggie’s fielding was helping them out with three errors and poor decisions and plays not made.  There’s your summary.  As much as I don’t want to, let’s go into the details.

My favorite out there, Kayla Green, is having a problem pitching first innings this season from what I’ve seen.  I think she’s given up first inning runs in every start so far.  I couldn’t tell you the reason, if there is one.  She looked good taking out the first two batters, but a couple hits, a walk, and a double put three up for Tennessee just as quick.  Kayla gave up another walk before getting a grounder to end the inning.  The Volunteers have some really good hitters, and Kayla seemed stunned by their proficiency.  0-3 Tennessee.

Things at least started well for Aggie hitting, as Rachel Rodriguez led off with a single.  The Aggie dugout started singing for Fahren Glackin, up next, but she struck out.  Kelsey Horton was not intimidated in her at bat and pounded a double.  Rachel was held at third on the hit.  I’m not going to say this was the critical moment of the game, because Tennessee was probably going to win regardless, but even at the time, that was a bad stop sign.  Rachel is one of the fastest runners on the team and the ball wasn’t that close to the infield.  It was going to require a good throw to put her out.  You’re already down three to a good team, and getting the first score of the year on Arnold, might have rattled her.  Instead, the rest of the side struck out, stranding both runners.

We won’t know if Kayla was going to settle in for the rest of the game, as the second inning started off with an error.  Then there was another error two batters later.  Good fielding actually took out both runners later, but a couple of hits drove in another run.  0-4 Tennessee.  The Aggies went down in order in their half.

The third inning went to pieces for the Aggies.  Kayla wasn’t just hittable, she was losing the strike zone with a walk, a lightly hit batter, and a wild pitch.  A passed ball and Fahren dropping a foul ball really didn’t help.  After three more runs, Coach Rodolph went directly to the umpire to make changes.  Kayla wandered off out of the circle into the dugout by herself.  I wish I could have given her a hug.

The team’s other starter, freshman Samaria Diaz, entered the game.  “Sam,” as I’m going to nickname her, unfortunately didn’t have any better luck.  The main damage was done on a two RBI double that went over the head of left fielder, Amy Bergeson.  You know the team is having defensive troubles when the normally automatic Amy misjudges a looping fly ball.  And to make it worse, Sam took one off her pitching hand on a grounder by the next batter.  She was okay on a couple of practice pitches, but walked the next two batters.  Kayla had to come back out to finish the inning.  0-9 Volunteers.

If you can believe it, the crowd was still there and they were into it.  Jeanelle Medina started off the inning with a strikeout, but up next, Rachel would get a hit and a stolen base and take third on a bad throw by the catcher.  Fahren would strike out.  Kelsey took one of the angriest at bats I’ve ever seen in person.  She was swinging hard for the fences, but it turned into another strikeout to end the inning.

To start the fourth, Jack and Nolan had a discussion about Nolan’s hometown of Los Alamos.  You can tell it’s a blowout.  The lady next to Ron asked him if the run rule was in effect.  If I respected Tennessee’s playing abilities, in this inning, I respected them as competitors.  With little further to prove, their coach subbed out several of their regulars.  Even their fans were generally quiet during the game.  Aggie fans, though, kept cheering their girls’ efforts.  Jeanelle made a great pick in front of the circle and throw to first for an out.  The crowd erupted for her.  Local girl Brandy Hernandez was put in to play left field and caught a fly ball to cheers of the fans.

I think there were giveaways every inning, including t-shirts and towels thrown into the enthusiastic crowd.  The husband of the lady in front of me polished off his third beer in an hour and a half.  He was having a good time.  There was some giggling behind me about the old man’s constant cheering, but everyone was still into the game.  Kayla surrendered a single to start the fifth.  Once again, as on Opening Day, her and Fahren exchanged gloves and positions.  Caity Szczensny in right field made the next two outs on fly balls and the best play of the game, as she threw out the runner trying to tag up and take second.  That ended the inning to thunderous applause and cheers.

The Onate high school softball team in attendance gave Brandy a big cheer when she came up to bat.  That was the last outburst as the game ended on the rule run with the end of the fifth.  Our final, Aggies 0, Volunteers 9.  The girls all quickly lined up and shook hands, and the Aggie girls went to the circle and said, “Thank you,” to the crowd.                

My player of the game is Rachel Rodriguez.  She went two for two with a stolen base.  That’s as good as I can find, but even then, I have Rachel with an error.  The two freshman, Caity and Jeanelle, looked good fielding today.  Tennessee just looked good all around.  I wish they’d spaced out scoring their runs, so that we could have gotten a full seven innings.  My real hero for this game is actually the fans.  That was one of the best Aggie crowds I’ve ever been a part of.  I can’t remember ever seeing fans cheer more when their team was giving them so little to cheer about.  It was a tough game to watch, but also kind of awesome to be there for.  I hope the crowd at least picked the girls up a bit.        

Okay, now for my questions and suggestions.  While Caity and Jeanelle did a good job in field, why were the more experienced Misty and Haley not taking the at bats instead for this game?  The freshman should be pinch hitting and working as defensive replacements.  If they work their way into the regular lineup, that’s fine, but not before then.  Why was Alexis not catching?  I like the way she works behind the plate.  I don’t think you were missing anything on offense and it would have been better to have put the hometown girl in.

This experiment with Kelsey at second needs to end.  In addition to an error, she had some other problems there that didn’t show up on the scorecard.  Put her back at first, her natural position.  With the pitching staff being anchored by a sophomore and a freshman, have Fahren concentrate on her pitching to be able to back up Kayla and Sam more.  No more putting Kayla at first either.  Have her concentrate on pitching too.  Alternately, trade Kelsey to the baseball team for Brent Sakurai.  You’ll get a better second baseman with some power.  (And he’ll mesh well with the island girls on the team.)  Kelsey can play first for the baseball team and hit third, helping to protect Dan Hetzel.

The girls are on their way to a tough tournament, in which any success isn’t guaranteed.  I’m remembering the women’s basketball team losing a hard one to Arizona and then losing all four tournament games in Las Vegas soon after.  They’ve done pretty well since (undefeated in conference).  Hopefully, this game and the ones to come here in the early season will be the same kind of learning experience for the softball team.

NM State Aggies vs Bryant Bulldogs Baseball 2-19-17

Aggie baseball didn’t get off to a good start this season.  They lost their first two games.  I listened to the Friday night game and heard a bit of Nolan Fox flying solo, calling the first game of a double header on Saturday.  I had some opportunity to go to the second baseball game after going to the women’s basketball game in the afternoon, but after I got dropped off back home, I had no desire to go back out.  Sorry, Aggie athletics. 

I feel like that was a good decision.  It got cold and windy and the whole double header went from 2:00 in the afternoon to 10:00 at night.  I’m not an iron man like broadcaster, Adam Young, who went from calling the basketball game to calling that second baseball game.  Also, I got to hear the Aggie men’s basketball game where they gave up over 100 points, but still won. 

I did get to hear what may be the weird play of the season for baseball.  A Bryant Bulldog player hit what would have been a game-tying three-run homer, except he passed the first base runner, as both were watching the ball go out.  Here’s the reason you listen to the radio broadcast, even when you’re at the ballgame, because nobody in the stands likely figured out what happened.  The batter was ruled out (3 unassisted) and credited with a single and two RBI’s.  That lost run was the difference in the 9^th as Ruger Rodriguez came in with the bases loaded and one out and the Aggies up by a run.  He shut the door.  The Aggies won 4-3.  Ouch.  What do you say to the team as a coach in that situation?         

The weather forecast was never promising for Sunday, but the sun was playing peek-a-boo enough to make you think that it might be a nice day anyway.  It was in the 50’s with a breeze.  Not wanting to miss all of the Opening Weekend, I layered up and took a windbreaker in case the predicted rain showed up.  There were a couple of buses in front of the softball stadium.  I wish somebody at the university would have published the full schedule for the softball tournament and not just the Aggies’ games.  I guess I could have went to the guest teams’ websites and reconstructed it, but with baseball and basketball, I wasn’t going to be seeing the other games anyway.  Still, I was interested in the other games since getting one ticket for the day could get you into several games. 

The baseball parking lot had a few RV’s parked there.  This was one goal of the coach, Brian Green.  He wants tailgaters at home games.  You know what Sundays at the park means: $1 hot dogs.  From what I saw during the game, they sold plenty.  With that discount, I went ahead and tried something new with it: corn in a cup.  It’s corn in a cup, obviously, but with melted cheese on top.  It’s good too.   

I was hoping to talk to Adam Young at some point and ran right into him after getting my lunch.  He still remembers me.  (I’m guessing sports broadcasters have to be pretty good with names and faces.)  I wanted to tell him that I’d enjoyed his commenting on the volleyball and basketball this season.  I was especially impressed with his volleyball call, and he confirmed that is a very hard sport to broadcast.  I also found out that Kaylee Neal was doing an internship with the basketball team, somewhat clearing up that mystery.  I actually got to tell him something about the basketball, relating the story of Brooke and the brave trumpet player, which he’d missed while being focused on production.  I probably could have chatted for a while about various sports, but one of us needed to get up to the radio booth.

You could tell it was Opening Weekend since the bunting was out and a big crowd came for the game.  There were families and individuals like myself.  Some smart people brought blankets with them.  There were plenty of young attractive women, as usual.  I didn’t see lovely Megan Hart from the volleyball team, who’s not hard to spot at 6’5”, but I think I saw a couple other members of the team.  (I was too shy to talk to them.)  The softball team wasn’t there on their day off, but maybe they were watching their next opponent at the softball field.  (Which I now realize may mean I passed up an opportunity to sit with them there.  Damn.)  The trees behind the outfield wall seemed a bit more filled in, but I could still see the orange of the Tennessee softball team at the softball stadium facing the ballpark.  It’s too bad Ron wasn’t able to come.  I don’t think his nemesis, the loud old man, was there.  I didn’t see Ron’s “niece” either.  He would have missed her.     

There’s a new Diamond Club section along the left field line.  They took down the pavilions that were out there, which I’m thinking they regretted in the third inning.  We’ll get to that.  Also new is the female PA for the ballpark.  She did a good, well-spoken, enthusiastic job for the game.  I don’t know if she meant to, but her Aggie player at-bat introductions sounded more flirtatious than excited.  The guys probably liked it.  For the anthem, the Aggie players stood along the third base line.  After the music finished, they waited three beats and then all left as one unit.  It looked good.  They formed a circle and let out a cheer before the game started.  Play ball!

Marcel Renteria took the mound for the Aggies.  He has his own cheering section in the stands, likely consisting of his parents.  I figured Bryant would come in angry after last night’s loss.  Their second batter of the game blasted a home run.  The wind was blowing out for most of the game.  Balls in the air had a tendency to float and carry in the outfield all day.  In the second, they doubled in another run.  2-0 Bryant. 

Then the bottom of the second happened.  This was one of those times I was happy to see my scorecard destroyed and confused as the Aggies sent 12 men to the plate.  They scored 8 runs on, get this, on two hits.  In order for this to happen the Bulldogs had to give up five walks, one hit by pitch, an error, a passed ball, and a wild pitch.  Bryant pretty much pounded the self-destruct button, but credit Dan Hetzel for the big blow, a three-run home run.  He’d be pleased to know the girls behind me liked him even before the home run.  (They made some comment about “Hetzel’s Pretzels.”  I don’t know what they were referring to.  I’m just going to leave it at that.)  8-2 Aggies. 

What’s amazing is that the only other hit, which started the scoring, was an easy Brent Sakurai fly ball that the left fielder completely lost in the sky.  That was the biggest mistake of the inning and it wasn’t even an error.  I can’t be too critical though.  I lost just about every ball that fouled back.  It was a difficult sky, alternating between heavy clouds and sunlight constantly.           

Of course, all this took quite a while to play out.  The Bulldogs went through three pitchers in the inning, along with many catcher and coach visits to the mound.  The fans were into the game, but given the weather conditions, they weren’t happy with all the delays.  The Bryant fans got on the ump for the strike zone.  The Aggie fans wanted the ump to pick up the pace of play. 

An ominous rain cloud rolled overhead to start the third.  Men’s basketball coach, Paul Weir, and his family made an appearance.  His little toddler son motored around all over the place.  I thought I recognized him, but wasn’t sure until Adam and Nolan mentioned it.  I was looking for an opportunity to say, “Hi coach, nice win last night,” but they left after a half inning.  As the temperature dropped and the skies became more threatening, I don’t blame him.  A little PA recognition wouldn’t have been a bad idea when he came in, especially with team coming off a win. 

In the bottom of the inning, the Aggies tacked on another run.  9-2 Aggies.  The Bulldogs made another pitching change.  “How many pitchers do you guys have?” I heard from the crowd.  I didn’t record things right on the scorecard with their pitchers at the time.  I gave up trying to reconstruct it.  The cold was making my nose drip, but I refused to use my new Aggie hoodie to wipe with.  Suddenly, there’s sprinkles and my scorecard was getting wet.  I quickly put on my windbreaker to protect the hoodie. 

Gasp!  OMG!  OMG!  Can it be?  Ashley Ford, women’s basketball assistant coach/goddess, is in the house.  This is it!  This is my moment.  My chance has come!  She walked up the stairs and went directly into the pressbox.  I didn’t see her for the rest of the game. 

Well.

That was disappointing.

Sigh.  Back to baseball.

A nice double play finished off the top of the inning.  The rain went back to sprinkles, as the cloud had moved on.  I started hearing loud music and announcements.  The game at the softball field had started.  I could see Tennessee players, but never saw their opponents.  Were they wearing camouflage?  I could even hear the girls cheering at times during their game. 

The Aggies batted around again in the bottom of the fourth.  They were aided by two hit batters, three walks, a wild pitch, and an error.  Two hits drove in five runs, including a two-run shot by Mason Fishback.  The Bulldogs had to burn another pitcher.  14-2 Aggies.   

“Stacy’s mom has got it going on!”  This came on at my game during the break.  I hope that song becomes a ballpark staple.  Okay, by this point the game had been pretty much decided, but that didn’t mean the scoring stopped.  The Bulldogs tacked on a run in the fifth.  In the sixth, I knew the Aggie trivia question, but not being anywhere near the press box, I had no chance at getting the prize.  The Aggies put up two more runs with passed balls, a wild pitch, and a walk again aiding them.  Bieber’s “Sorry” played over at the softball field to end our inning.  16-3 Aggies.

Oooh, I saw a gentleman wearing a retro Brewers hat.  It looked completely sweet.  By the seventh, a parade of one-inning relievers appeared for both sides for the rest of the game.  The most effective of the Aggie relievers was Chris Butcher with a no drama 9^th inning, though there was a great catch by a fan in the Diamond Club.  The others gave up four runs, including a three-run homer.  More walks and an error gave the Aggies two runs in the seventh.  In the eighth, the Aggies finally got an honest inning of scoring with three hits, including a Brent Sakuri two-run homer.  Our final was Aggies 20, Bulldogs 7.  That would have been a good game for the Aggie football team on the road.

Several of the Bryant Bulldogs had a good game hitting, but the pitching and defense were so bad today, it didn’t matter.  My defensive player of the game for the Aggies was Marcel Renteria.  He went six innings, giving up three runs in the win.  Given the wind blowing out, it was a good outing.  Marcel certainly showed what he was made of in the third.  After two easy outs, an error and passed ball put two runners on.  He got a strikeout to end the inning without allowing a run.  There’s several choices for offensive player, but I’m picking Brent Sakurai.  He scored four times, drove in three runs, and hit a home run.  We’re waiting to see what his mom sends from Hawaii to give the team good luck this year.

          

The game ran in a nice tidy three hours, 40 minutes.  This was one brutal four game series, likely running over 15 hours total.  You know it was bad when the broadcasters were lamenting this game wasn’t subject to a run rule or a curfew.  I couldn’t hold it any longer and ran to the bathroom in the eighth.  On the way back, I noticed the baseball posters got rained on.  Then they got picked up before the end of the game, so I should have gotten them when I came in.  I thought I’d read that there was an autograph session after this game, but that didn’t happen to my knowledge.  I was tired and had a bit of exposure by the end, but God help me, I was still was happy to be back at the ballpark.               

NM State Aggies vs UTRGV Vaqueros Women’s Basketball 2-18-17

With three Aggie sporting events going on today, I picked this one.  Free tickets from work helped to make that decision, but I really did want to see these girls live one more time this season.  This was their last home game and Senior Day and my last opportunity to wear my “Back to Back WAC Champions” t-shirt.  Ron was happy to see the girls again, and I got an extra ticket for him.  After a delicious meal at Aggie sponsor, What-a-Burger, we were at the Pan-Am Center early for the game.  The arena filled in well at probably around 1,200.  It was a Pack the Pan-Am event, but way short of last years’ 5,000+.  I’m not entirely sure they were even offering discounted tickets.  In any case, given that the university had already hit up local businesses last month for a similar event, this was likely the best that could be expected.

As we came in, I looked over at the band section.  The brave trumpet player from the last game was now playing away from the group, up in the rafters, as per the restraining order.  He’s still my hero.  In fact, inspired, I brought in my own signs for Aggie assistant coaches, Ashley Ford and Blanche Alverson, diagramming my intentions with words and pictures.  (These were immediately confiscated at the door.)  I saw these two and Kaylee Neal in conference before the game at the benches.  They all looked very glamorous and elegant.  I’m still dying to know what volleyball player Kaylee was doing working for the basketball team.         

The court was empty when we got there, but soon there was a profound howling noise coming from the tunnel to the locker rooms.  The lights went out, and a camera view on the video board showed the team coming in doing a war dance, reminding me a bit of New Zealand’s All-Blacks rugby team pre-game ritual.  Below us, I could see Adam Young getting ready to do the TV broadcast.  He was doing the baseball season opening game yesterday, and he’d be doing the second half of a double header tonight.  On Sunday, there’s another baseball game and then a softball game on Monday.  If Adam likes calling a bunch of different sports all at once, he must be enjoying himself this weekend. 

In a bit of a surprise for me, the seniors on the team were honored before the game.  (The ceremonies I’ve seen in other sports were done after the game.)  Brandee Walton, Tamera William, Tyler Ellis, Brianna Freeman, and Moriah “Mo” Mack were all brought out with a video and friends and family, and presented with a mounted jersey.  The anthem started right afterward.  The players on both teams stood at attention on court, interlocking arms with their teammates.  I noticed two little boys standing by the band with their arms around each other, looking up at the flag in a Norman Rockwell-like moment. 

The Aggies introduced their starters.  Brooke Salas waved to Pistol Pete as she came out.  By this point, Ron was complaining about standing up and down for all this.  I reminded him, he should also remain standing until the opposing team scores, which would turn out to be about three minutes into the quarter.  This game was again supposedly on ESPN3, which I’m still skeptical of.  Like last time, there were again problems.  This time, the shot clocks weren’t working.  They’d come back on here and there during the quarter, before they finally gave up on them.  Later, I noticed another shot clock on the floor near the band, which is what the teams had to use for this game.  The girls on the benches would start shouting out a 10 second countdown when it came up.  This was an embarrassing problem for a national broadcast.

Things were a bit confusing to start off the first quarter with the faulty shot clocks.  The referees weren’t helping, as they were calling plenty of tacky fouls.  Both teams pressed up court and played up tempo when they could.  The Vaqueros managed to spread the scoring around.  The Aggies came out mostly cold.  Tamara had two travelling calls against her, and her and Brooke would finish the quarter with zero total points.  Mo, on the other hand, was on a mission for her last home game.  She scored 10 points in 10 minutes.  Brandee Walton was brought into the quarter late.  I was glad to see her playing.  It was 18-18 after one quarter.

There were a couple of disturbing announcements.  One, a ticket-holder number was announced for a $10,000 half court shot.  I did not check my ticket.  It wasn’t going to be worth the embarrassment.  Two, the volleyball team was cryptically announced to be playing at the softball field this afternoon.  I may have made the wrong choice here.  I would have liked to have seen that.  (The Aggie PA voice is great.  These things happen to the best of them.)  And with this, we began quarter number two.  

Mo was still putting on a show.  She made a great, leaping steal on an inbound to start the quarter.  She did pick up two quick fouls four minutes in that tempered her play afterward.  For all the fouls in the game, neither team shot particularly well at the free throw line.  Brooke and Tamara were there to pick the team up with a pair of three’s.  Tamara’s three was likely after the shot clock buzzer, but it was never reviewed or questioned.  There was another travelling call, this one on Tyler.  I don’t know if the Aggies were playing sloppy or if it was the officiating.  Brooke turned it up late with a coast-to-coast layup.  Gia Pack came in and got a steal.  Her shot down court missed, but Brooke picked up the rebound and the score.  Gia finished off the half with a three at the buzzer.  39-30 Aggies at the half.

The half time show featured a little girl dance troop.  I missed it, going to the bathroom.  I could hear the crowd cheering for them, so I assume they did a good job.  The $10k half court challenge was a bad, granny shot miss.  Ron suggested that he should have done an overhand throw at it, but I doubt that would have made any difference.  There wasn’t even a consolation prize.  I’m glad that wasn’t me out there.  I could see Pete across the court, playing with Brianna’s large graduation doll, while hanging out in the boosters’ section.

I should mention that Vaquero bench was their own cheering section.  They kept it up for most of the game and were good and loud.  I compliment them on their spirit.  They have a pretty international cast with girls from Turkey, Iceland, and Australia.  One of the girls from Turkey (there were two) had an actual last name of “Turk.”  The girl from Iceland had a ten-syllable last name that the PA was clearly straining on.   The opposing coach wore in a black suit with a black turtleneck and white-soled tennis shoes.  He looked like he should be reading poetry in a beatnik bar.  UTRGV has an interesting team.      

The third quarter started off with an early three by Brooke.  Unfortunately, she picked up her third foul right after and came out for the quarter.  The Aggies didn’t miss a beat.  The team got three threes before the Vaqueros even scored, driving up the score to 48-30.  There was an injury on the Vaquero timeout after that run.  I missed it, but one of the cheerleaders fell out on the court.  She stayed out and kept performing, but looked pretty unsteady for the rest of the game.  What a trooper. 

Later in the quarter, Tamara got my play of the game.  She drove the lane, made a beautiful between the legs dribble, pulled up and hit a jumper.  There was a foul on the shot away from the ball.  The Aggies got the ball back and fed it right back to her, where Tamara drained a three.  Five points on one trip down court.  During a break, Pistol Pete played air guitar in front of us.  With two minutes left, the Aggies had a less successful trip where they made five shots, got four rebounds, and ended up with zero points for the effort.  Tamara made a turnover on a bad pass.  Later, Gia was given a foul on defense which had the crowd up in arms over the questionable call.  But at the end of the quarter, it was 66-48 with the Aggies hitting seven three-pointers.           

Brooke came back in to start the fourth.  Brandee also came in and frankly had a bad appearance.  The coach called her over for a talk after a foul.  She was almost certainly trying too hard.  Moriah’s day wasn’t done.  She made a great assist to Brianna under the basket.  The girl from Iceland fouled out to the great relief of the PA.  Tamara, always hustling on defense, got a steal, but missed a contested layup.  The ball immediately went back to the Vaquero end, and there was Tamera, almost getting another steal under their basket. 

A lady behind us was really into the game.  There was no radio call for this game, but it was almost like having it anyway with her commentary.  Zaire Williams, who’d been going nuts with five three-pointers in the game, also had a great pass down court to Brianna, again under the basket.  Brianna Freeman went out with a bang in her final home game, with 12 points in the fourth quarter.   

With the game well in hand in the last two minutes, Coach Trakh put all five seniors out on court together.  On the next stoppage, they all came off together to a standing ovation.  I got choked up at the time.  I’m even choked up now just writing about it.  The final was Aggies 87, Vaqueros 67.  The Aggies are 11-0 in conference play with three games left to play.  With five players in double digits, my player of the game is whole team.  Nicely done.

Me and Ron hung around for a while after the game.  The senior girls got their picture taken on court with Pete.  Four of them were all smiles, getting flowers and having pictures taken with fans and family.  Brandee, God bless her, was crying her eyes out.  I felt so bad for her.  She really seems like a tremendous person.  After Brandee graduates, the university really needs to hire her to do community relations and PR.  She’ll double ticket sales, just on her sweet personality alone.  On that note, I’m going to miss Tamara’s hard work on court and her adorable, ever-present smile.  And for next season, I hope Brooke can pick up where Moriah has left off in her steady leadership.  These girls have really made it easy to root for the team this season.  I’ve really enjoyed coming out to see them. 

Some kids were out taking shots out on court.  Ron’s little Aggie “niece” was out there.  She can dribble well and dropped in a three.  Hey, coach!  Lock her up now with a commitment.  Meanwhile, the actual players didn’t want to leave the court.  Eventually, Coach Trakh had to repeatedly call them to get them to come off.  He left with Brooke next to him as they went up the stairs out of the arena.  Members of the band where also leaving across the section from them.  I think I saw the coach say something to them.  I couldn’t hear it, but I’ll guess, “Stay away from my blonde!”

NM State Aggies vs GCU Lopes Women’s Basketball 2-12-17

The weather today still wasn’t as bad as forecast, at least until later in the day.  (It’s actually raining as I write this in the evening.)  I could have conceivably tried going to the softball game before going to the basketball game, but since I was going with Ron, I had to choose.  Just as well, during the radio broadcast, it was mentioned that the softball team lost 11-3.  I’m wondering who the third starter is for the team.  Anyway, after a great meal at Schlotzsky's (I even thanked the chef), we were at the Pan-Center. 

We sat opposite of the benches at mid-court.  I was a bit closer than previous games.  At first, it looked kind of sparse inside, but that was only because of the basketball game I saw last night between the men’s teams from these schools.  Grand Canyon doesn’t have a big arena, but they totally packed it and handed out white shirts to everyone.  For the Aggie guys, it was a close first half.  They built up a 10-point lead in the second, and then completely collapsed, giving up 19 straight points in a bad loss. 

In any case, it was a really good crowd for the women, announced at 1,741.  Many of the fans were little girls in cheerleader outfits.  They’d figure into the halftime show.  The Aggie players were in pink sweatshirts with pink headbands for the game for a low-key cancer awareness event, except for Brooke Salas.  She wasn’t wearing the headband.  Don’t know what that’s about.  It wouldn’t have looked good on her anyway.  The Sundancers were also in pink.  I pointed out Blanche Alverson and Ashley Ford, my Aggie assistant coach crushes, to Ron, as well as pointing out some of the other players.  Volleyball player, Kaylee Neal, was again on the Aggie bench, this time in a very nice skirt and blouse.  I’m still wondering why she’s there.            

Ron was worried right out of the gate.  He noted that the Aggie girls weren’t hitting anything in shoot-around, while the Grand Canyon girls were.  I had seen the Aggies play these girls via a Youtube broadcast, and they handled them pretty well on their home court.  The Lopes huddled up in an enthusiastic circle when their practice was over.  I could see Adam Young and Nolan Fox across the court with radio call standing for the anthem before the game.  Hey Adam!  Where were you yesterday when I needed your play-by-play for the softball?  I couldn’t score anything right.  We lost the radio call right before this game started.  I could see Adam furiously working with some cables before the broadcast came back.  Karma.  Actually Adam had some interesting comments during the game about the NCAA switching women’s basketball to four quarters, instead two halves.  Given today’s attendance, he also suggested that NMSU should schedule more Sunday games.       

In the first quarter, the Lopes did indeed come out shooting well, and the Aggies were flat.  The Aggie defense picked up eventually and the Lopes’ shooting cooled off a bit.  There were two great steals on inbounds passes by Brooke and Moriah (“Mo”) Mack that turned into points.  However, it was 18-21 GCU after 10 minutes.

Between quarters, Pistol Pete was working the crowd of little cheerleaders behind the north goal.  For the second quarter, the Aggie girls still weren’t shooting well and also started getting sloppy.  They were down as many as 10 in the quarter.  Coach Mark Trakh was groaning on the bench with his head in his hands after a couple of turnovers in a row.  The Aggie defense was still there though.  After stifling the Lopes on a long possession, the Brooke got a fast break down the court and dished a great pass to Brianna Freeman under the basket for a bucket.  By halftime, it was still an unpromising 28-37 Lopes. 

The GCU was shooting 45% for half and out-rebounding the Aggies.  Specifically, Marina Laramie was killing the Aggies with 16 points.  I remembered her from watching the Aggies playing the Lopes last month.  It’s easy to pick out a large 6’2” redhead on the court.  Coach Trakh had countered with his own 6’2” player, Tyler Ellis, off the bench against her.  Jessica Gajewski was also lighting it up for the Lopes with 10 points.  Brie Mobley had 11 with four coming from free throws.  Mo had 10 to lead the Aggies, with Tyler and Brianna chipping in six each.  The rest of the Aggies were pretty quiet in scoring.  Brooke in particular didn’t have her shooting touch. 

For halftime, the little girl cheerleaders came out and filled up the entire court.  They were the Razzle Dazzles.  A couple of the Sundancers were working with them from the sidelines.  After the performance, they mostly left, leaving a sizable hole in the crowd.  Meanwhile, I noticed and pointed out the little girl that Ron gets a kick out of seeing at various events playing ball on the sidelines.  She’s everywhere for the Aggies.

With the start of the third quarter, things started getting physical with the girls.  Adam and Nolan agreed that the refs were “letting them play.”  The light refereeing was not to the coach’s tastes however, as Coach Trakh and Blanche were both up in arms and screaming after one particular no-call.  The Aggies came out for this quarter in a high-pressure defense.  They were in a full-court press and trapping on every possession. 

If the set offense shooting wasn’t there for the Aggies, their defense was creating opportunities.  Mo was a steal machine and converting it points in this quarter.  Memorably on one particular play, Brooke got a block and tossed it down court.  The pass was intercepted, but Moriah picked the player’s pocket immediately and threw it to Tamara William for an open three.  The big D strategy worked.  Finally, the Aggies got the lead, 49-47 to end the quarter.             

If the third quarter was physical, the fourth was downright rough.  A person at work, who’s a big basketball fan, mentioned that he hated officiating girls’ games.  He said there’d be scratching and hair-pulling on court.  This was not that bad, but as I said to Ron at one point, “This is like a men’s game.”  The refs finally started calling physical fouls, but by now, the crowd wasn’t having any of this change of heart.  Brooke was called for a charge early on that got the fans all over the officials. 

Tyler Ellis completely sold out in this quarter and left everything out on the court.  There in the paint, she finished off a point after the team had gotten two rebounds on a possession and then on consecutive plays, she hit the deck, fighting for the ball at both ends of the court.  As the Aggies started to pull away, the Lopes went to their own pressure defense, but it was too late.  All they could do was do was put Brooke and Tamara, two of the best free throw shooters in the conference, on the line.  Our hard won final score was Aggies 67, Lopes 60.  The game was not without injury.  Zelor Massaaquoi went down late with a knee injury.  She got a nice round of applause when she came off, and when she attempted to come back out on court.  Thankfully, the coaches didn’t put her back in the game limping.                

Marina Laramie was the runaway high-scorer for the game with 26 for the Lopes.  The Aggies never really stopped her, even double-teaming her for most of the second half, but did slow her down.  Moreover, they did shutdown everyone else.  Okay, I miscounted somewhere on the Lopes’ scoring.  I thought I was doing such a good job today too.  Damn it.  Scoring all the bench points, Tyler Ellis, is our Aggie player of the game.  Not only did she anchor the Aggie defense in the middle, Tyler’s emotions on court after making plays fired up the crowd and the team.  Let’s hear it for shooting free throws too.  Brooke and Tamara essentially iced the game with 10 points from the charity stripe in the 4^th.      

Okay, forget all this.  The play of the game occurred in the stands late in the fourth, with game more or less in hand.  There in the band section, several members were holding up signs which collectively read, “Brooke stole my (heart symbol)” and an arrow pointing at a trumpet player at the end of the line.  After the game and with a good deal of jazzing from her teammates, Brooke received a bouquet from her erstwhile suitor.  She even got her picture taken with him by the official Aggie game photographer.  Frankly, I’m doubting this young man was actually her boyfriend (nor is he likely going to be), but for that well-coordinated, nuts-up play, he has my and the crowd’s admiration.      

       

NM State Aggies vs UTSA Roadrunners Softball 2-11-17 Game Two

Game One Recap

For night-cap, the wind picked up, making note-taking more an exercise in keeping a hold of my papers than writing.  My gift popcorn got spilled down the aisle.  The temperature also started dropping, and I regretted not getting my pullover from my truck during the intermission.  The crowd thinned out considerably.  The two cute female security guards didn’t have much to guard while roaming around the park.  Last years’ catcher, Tatum Reedy was at the scorer’s table along with another girl, who seemed familiar.  These softball girls really look different out of uniform, so I don’t know if it was somebody else from last years’ team.   

There was a little girl doing play-by-play behind me for awhile, but that didn’t help my scorekeeping.  The little boy in front of me finally settled down to eat his nachos, which had been out in the sun for over two hours by this point.  I lost my appetite for the rest of the night.  He taunted the opposition and encouraged the home team with a voice that vaguely reminded me of Urkle from Family Matters.  He was also wearing a hat that was the same style as my own, except in desert camo colors.  So much for having a custom hat.

The Aggie Game Two starter was Samaria Diaz, a new freshman player.  I had seen her in a couple of exhibition games in the fall and was impressed with her.  She seems to have a fairly easy, relaxed attitude out in the circle.  Samaria has a nice smile, which strangely seems to come out on ball calls by the ump.  Right now, she seems to be working on an off-speed pitch, that’s not quite there yet.  She needs to be able to throw it for strikes more consistently.  Anyway, Samaria’s pleasant to watch work.

Also for Game Two, freshmen, Caity Szczesny (there’s a spellcheck word for you, I’m looking right at it and it took me four tries to type it correctly) and Jeanelle Medina, were in the starting lineup.  This paid off dividends immediately in the first inning.  Caity tripled in two runs and Jeanelle knocked her in right after.  The Aggies led 3-0 after one frame.  The PA suddenly gave the usual end of inning stats that you usually get at a ball game that help you with the scoring.  Unfortunately, this is the only time this happened over the course of the double header.  Thankfully, the scoring in this game would be more straightforward than Game One. 

In the 3^rd, Lindsey Stewart knocked in Angelica Nino for the Roadrunners.  Caity made a great dive at the ball from second, but it just got through.  3-1 Aggies.  The defense picked up in the 4^th with Brandy Hernandez making a great catch, high and deep in left field, and Jeanelle following that with a great catch on a liner at third.  In the top of the 5^th, the Roadrunners had a serious threat going with two runners who got on via tough balls that the fielders just missed making spectacular plays on.  Samaria, un-rattled, quietly closed out the inning.

In the bottom of the frame, Brandy got a nice round of applause as she came up, being a local girl.  Misty Hoohuli, next, reached on an error.  Kelsey Horton drove her in with a powerful double to right field.  The fielder just missed it.  I wonder if the wind was playing with those balls to the outfield.  4-1 Aggies.  During the game, I’m noticing Kayla Green in the Aggie dugout.  She seems to always be standing when inside and having fun with the other girls outside the dugout between innings.  She seems like a bundle of energy.       

By the 6^th, much of the remaining crowd was deserting.  The PA told the crowd to get up and dance.  On his way out, the nacho kid started dancing for Tatum at the scorer’s table.  Presumably, he was on his way to the hospital to have his stomach pumped.  Freshman Destiny Blueford pinch hit for Freshman catcher Shelby Shultes in the 6^th.  I mention this mostly because she got on in a painful fashion, as her grounder to short bounced up and hit the girl in the face.  No harm done, I think.  In the 7^th things got interesting as, with two outs, two runners got on with a pair of dinks that just went  past the infield.  Again un-rattled, Samaria struck out the final batter looking to end the game.  Aggies win 4-1.

First, let’s give it up to Lindsey Stewart for going 4 for 4 with an RBI in a losing cause for the Roadrunners.  On the Aggie side, Kelsey again showed some muscle going 2 for 3 with an RBI on a deep double.  The two freshmen infielders had a great game with Caity going 2 for 3 and 2 RBI’s, and Jeanelle also driving in a run.  Are they going to impress enough to start at their positions this season is the question.  Samaria went the distance and never looked labored out there.  Her delivery is apparently as easy on her as her demeanor appears to be.  There were runners on in six out of the seven innings, but she scattered her 7 hits and 2 walks, only allowing 1 run.  Looking good so far.  And whatever the scoring was for errors for the Roadrunners, the Aggies didn’t have any for two games, so good team effort there.

I was glad for a fairly quick end to the game, because the temperature had dropped with nightfall.  If the wind had kept blowing, I would have been freezing.  I had no trouble getting out the university and getting home.  However, the enormous crowd that was coming for the WWE show was backed up severely trying to get in.  If I had any thoughts of getting a ticket to see if Sasha Banks was here, they were completely dashed.  But, I was more than content with the softball entertainment I’d gotten for Opening Day.   

NM State Aggies vs UTSA Roadrunners Softball 2-11-17

Ah, Opening Day.  I had this day marked on my calendar.  I had also been nervously monitoring a progressively deteriorating weather forecast during the week for the weekend.  Thankfully, somebody up there wanted to watch the games too and a bright, sunny day instead materialized.  It was so warm out, I even decided to forgo wearing a jacket.  I was still halfway convinced the weather would turn immediately after I purchased a ticket though. 

As I drove past the Pan-Am Center, I saw a couple of trailers for the WWE show that night.  That show had bumped the women’s basketball game to Sunday, thus also eliminating the conflict with the softball.  I don’t generally watch pre-scripted athletic entertainment, except for the NFL, but I admit to a huge crush on female wrestler, Sasha Banks.  Since there was little chance I was going to the show, I didn’t really see if she was going to be there or not.  (Okay, since I brought it up, no, I don’t think the Superbowl and the Patriots’ dramatic comeback was staged . . . entirely.  The NFL wanted the game to be more competitive after halftime, but they certainly didn’t want them to win.  The commissioner must have been puking on himself before handing that MVP award to Brady.) 

I drove into the softball parking lot with Justin Bieber’s “Sorry” playing over the PA.  I’ve heard it so often at these events, it’s like the unofficial Aggie theme song.  There was an RV flying a UTSA flag there, and I saw some other Roadrunner fans outside.  Inside, I picked up a poster with the friendly, smiling faces of Haley Nakamura and Misty Hoohuli, two island girls from Hawaii and the team’s only seniors.  Designated bomber, Kelsey Horton, was on the schedule card.  I think I met her handing out programs at a football game.  It was hot enough that I swallowed my pride and bought a $3 water bottle at the concession stand, which hasn’t changed, but has changed its orientation for some reason.           

The PA gave an extremely quick read through both teams’ rosters.  The starters were introduced and lined up along the foul lines.  From where I was sitting, the Roadrunners were right in front of me with their backs turned.  During the anthem, they all had their thumbs up and pinky fingers out behind their backs.  Everybody seems to have a different ritual.  I can’t help myself and have to mention this.  Taylor Oberg on that team was really got my attention and every time she came up to the plate as well.

The honor of the Opening Day start went to Kayla Green, one my favorite Aggies.  I just love watching her pitch.  Kayla seemed to be working from a new pitching motion.  I seem to remember her using two different windups last season.  This one seems a bit more simplified.  Sometimes, she seemed to get out of whack with a more complicated wind up and this may be trying to correct that.  Kayla’s got a lot of power in that slim frame of hers, but it’s a matter of getting it under control.  I never noticed her using that jaw-dropping offspeed from last year today either.  It seemed more like a slow slider this time.  We’ll see if that offspeed makes a comeback in later in the season.  Local girl, Alexis Maynez completed the battery behind the plate.  I like her positive chatter back there.

     

Okay, I had some problems figuring out how to score plays in this game.  The short newspaper account of the game and I agreed on the number of Aggie hits, but there seems to be some issues over how some of the other batters got on, whether as a fielder’s choice and an error advancing the runners, or just an error all the way.  I’d defer to the paper, but I’m pretty sure they got Kelsey’s line wrong for Game One, so I’m questioning their scoring.  Where’s Adam Young’s radio call when I need him?

Things started in an unpromising fashion.  In the top of the 1^st, a triple and a double promptly scored a run for the Roadrunners.  0-1 Roadrunners.  In the bottom of the frame, a double play pop up, essentially ended a bases loaded threat by the Aggies.    In the 2^nd, the Aggies again had the bases loaded, but a pair of weak grounders led to a couple of easy plays at the plate to end that. 

In the 3^rd, I spotted Miranda Cosgrove in the crowd.  Yes, ICarly herself was there watching the game.  I could have been wrong and maybe it was just a girl who may have been copying her look, but I really should have tried to get her autograph anyway.  Also in the crowd, I more definitely spot Megan Hart and Tatyana Battle from the Aggie Volleyball team.  There were even other good-looking girls in the stands.  These girls usually just come out for the baseball.  I saw a girl in a UTEP softball shirt.  I wonder if she was a scout.  Some members of the baseball team also came by.  I’ve seen the softball team at the baseball park, but this is the first time I’ve seen the guys at the softball field.  I’m sure the girls would be pleased to know they came.    

In the bottom of the 3^rd, the Aggies once again loaded the bases, but came away with nothing.  Pinch hitting in the inning was my new favorite player name: Caity Szczesny.  That’s Kate-e Sez-nee, just like its spelled.  In the top of the 4^th, the senior citizen fans around me, not having much to complain about with the umpires, started heckling each other.  Kayla dropped in a good offspeed for a strikeout, and Victoria Castro in centerfield made a great catch to end the inning.  Meanwhile, a kid in front of me has left his nachos untouched and out in the sun for an hour.  It’s now a disgusting, cheesy mess.  I may never eat nachos again.  More fans enter the stands, but a bunch of pretty girls sitting next to me leave, so I consider it a net loss in attendance.    

The UTSA fans behind me were still feeling pretty good by this point, but they shouldn’t have been.  After allowing a couple of hits, Kayla was steadily mowing down Roadrunner batters, and regardless of how it’s written on the scorecard, they weren’t helping themselves in the field, giving the Aggies extra runners and bases.  The bottom of the 4^th was where their luck ran out.  Misty singled and stole second.  Rachel Rodriguez drove her in to tie the score at 1-1 and stole second.  The USTA fans got upset either about ump’s call on the steal and/or about the count to the batter.  Amy Bergeson got on (error/fielder’s choice?).  The Roadrunners wanted nothing to do with Kelsey Horton in this situation and intentionally walked her.  At this point, I have trouble reconstructing the inning.  Sorry.  No doubt the Roadrunners had trouble figuring out what happened as well, but when the dust settled the Aggies were up 7-1.  The standout plays were Haley Nakamura’s two RBI double, and Amy sliding into the catcher and knocking the ball loose to score.  Awesome.    

The 5^th started with Kayla issuing a walk.  Coach Rodolph came out to make a change.  What happened next though completely surprised me.  Kayla and Fahren Glackin at first base changed places.  I’ve seen Fahren pitch, but Kayla going to first was a complete shock.  Kayla does field her position well in the circle, but it was still so strange to see.  If there’s an autograph session, I’m going to have to ask her about this and if she can hit.  (All pitchers think they can hit.)  Fahren had no trouble finishing off the inning, especially as Kelsey, who was also playing at an odd position for her at second instead of first, made a great catch on a liner to end it.  Kelsey wasn’t done.  In the bottom of the inning, an unnatural quiet fell over the crowd as she came to bat.  Everyone could almost sense what was about to happen.  And then the boom, a towering homer flew over the wall to left center.  We may be expecting big things from Kelsey for the rest of the season.    

The PA started playing the Macrena between innings.  The baseball and volleyball players made some attempt at it.  The 6^th started with a bunt hit for the Roadrunners.  Fahren and Kayla exchanged places again.  I’m sure this was done just to deprive me of seeing Kayla taking an at bat.  This was a good call though.  Next batter, Fahren made a great grab on a high bouncer on the line and stepped on the bag for the out.  Kayla managed to fool the last batter of the inning on an offspeed that actually sent the batter spinning around on the swing. 

A nice lady gave me her popcorn before she left the game in the 6^th.  No need to visit the concessions now.  Before the top of the inning ended, another lady in front of me asked if the mercy rule was in effect.  I shrugged.  Fahren took a walk to start the bottom of the frame and was replaced by freshman Jeanelle Medina on the bases.  (I think.  I tend to forget to mark all the substitutions down, because I don’t understand softball substitution rules.)  Jeanelle stole second and third and then scored on a wild pitch.  Now at 9-1 Aggies, the game suddenly ended.  “Now we know,” I said to the lady in front of me. 

Because of the ambiguities of the scorecard, I’m just going to go with what I’m sure of for players of the game.  Kelsey Horton’s home run was awesome.  She’s my offense player.  Kayla looked good pitching and is apparently more versatile than I thought out in the field.  She’s my defensive player.  I went to find some shade between games and helplessly attempted to figure out my scorecard.

        

Game Two Recap