NM State Aggies vs UMKC Roos Softball Game 1, 4-27-19

I feel like I’m about to start writing War & Peace.  I’m writing this with a much heavier heart than I thought I’d be.  I addressed the Kayla Green situation, which I really don’t know anything for sure about, in the preceding post.  There’s still plenty to talk about with this double header against UMKC and then some.

Today was hot, bright, and sunny.  It wasn’t terrible, but Ron brought an umbrella for the game.  I sat in his shade with a rally towel unfashionably under hat protecting my neck and ears.  Before the games, we went to What-a-burger and I did finally get my barbeque chicken strip sandwich.  (It was delicious.)  Being way early again, we went to PQ Treats and I had a very sensible cheesecake and cherry Frozen Tornado (as opposed to what I ordered last time which took me two days to finish). 

I was glad to be able to watch softball without any cross-scheduling with baseball at least.  I wasn’t ready to say “Goodbye” to the seniors, though.  Just to make it worse, this wasn’t going to be actual their final home game.  I wasn’t going to be able to attend the games against Texas Tech next week.  Further, the WAC Tournament wasn’t going to be here either this year (and I won’t get to see the WAC Girl again).  So, I wasn’t entirely enthusiastic (and this was before I found out Kayla wasn’t there). 

A great crowd came in for the game.  Some enterprising fans brought in collapsible pavilions and put them up at the top of the stands for shade.  Some kids had bubble guns, which caused occasional waves of bubbles to float through the crowd.  The Aggies were out playing hacky in the field.  They were wearing pink socks for SIDS awareness to support a former Aggie player’s organization.  (She’d lost a baby from it.)  The girls had a bit of a matador-look from the socks.  Alexis D'Ambrosio, catcher for the Roos, was rather eye-catching with her serious braids.  She was also dancing a lot on field to the music.  The Roos had a bunch of stickers on their helmets.  I think they were for good play, but I didn’t get a good look at them.

The Aggies clapped and sang along with the school fight song played before the game.  Senior Kennedy Johnson’s mom sang a stirring Anthem and finished with a “Go Aggies!”  Caity Szczesny did a cartwheel when introduced.  I was a bit confused by the starters’ introductions.  Pitcher Analise de la Roca was batting for herself.  KJ was in at DP.  Brandy Hernandez was in at left field, but not batting for herself. 

UMKC had a drum corps going in their dugout in the first.  Analise gave up a leadoff double and a walk, but got three flyouts for the inning.  Jeanelle Medina led off for the Aggies in the bottom and singled.  The centerfielder had trouble picking it up and Jeanelle went to second.  I was talking Danny behind homeplate at this time.  Kelsey Horton came up and was hit hard enough that I nearly felt it.  Ouch!  Victoria Castro singled them in next. 

Recounting the rest of the inning would be tedious.  Macy Hornosky pitched to all nine Aggies in the lineup, giving up seven runs, and only getting one out.  (There was also another error, which the official scorer didn’t acknowledge.)  DJ Cannon, the DP, came in in relief.  Wow, what a name!  The bubble kids started singing along to a cowboy rap song during the break.  I had never heard it before.  I’m such a boomer.  Madason Shaw (that’s the way she spells it) made a great play at third to finally end the inning.  7-0 Aggies.

Disaster occurred in second in front of me and Ron.  A fan’s umbrella malfunctioned and was destroyed.  Trust me, this was bad timing with that late afternoon sun beating down.  With the wind dying down a bit, DJ Cannon (I can’t get over how cool that name is) came up and hit a two-run homer.  She’s not very big, but DJ packs a punch.  7-2 Aggies.  The Aggies went down in order in the second.  Tori hit one foul that almost hit the third baseline camera man, who didn’t flinch.  Another foul went into the parking lot and a fan behind me reported that it hit a car.  Tori, your at bats need to be dangerous to the other team, not to the people watching.

Sydney Garcia led off the third with a monster solo home run for the Roos.  That might have been the biggest blast I’ve seen here, as the ball cleared the entire tree screen to right center.  7-3 Aggies, but I wasn’t worried yet.  The next batter walked.  On the following batter, Analise deflected the ball.  Jeanelle stayed with the ball, got it, and then dove to tap the base for the force.  There was an attempted steal after.  Catcher Nikki Butler’s throw seemed like it hit the batter’s helmet.  The runner advanced to third.  I’m still not sure how that wasn’t interference or a dead ball.  Madason Shaw made another great play at third to start the bottom.  KJ hit one hard, but to the deepest part of center and the park held it in. 

The kids were singing out Gangnam Style during the break.  This would bring up the topic of K-Pop later in the night.  I showed Ron some BTS and Blackpink at my apartment afterward.  I don’t think he knew what to make of the all hot-girl group, Blackpink.  He surprisingly liked BTS.  He thought they were catchy and talented and had an obvious appeal to 14 year-old girls.  Wow, these guys really must be good to appeal to me and Ron.   

Analise was taken out after throwing one ball to the opening batter of the fourth.  Ron thought she might have been dehydrated.  He had seen her gulping down water between innings.  Coach Rodolph didn’t even talk to her, she just went to the ump and Analise went straight to the dugout.  Chloe Rivas came in.  She got a groundout, but the next batter got a dribbler for an infield hit.  After a walk and a strikeout, a hit loaded the bases.  Bre Hunter came up and made a nice, easy slap stroke at a pitch.  It seemed like it should have been a single, but ended up being a line drive grand slam home run to left.  Suddenly, we were tied at seven. 

Jeanelle singled and Kelsey doubled, but the Aggies didn’t score in the bottom of the fourth.  The kids in the crowd went crazy for the hat and shirt toss between innings.  Chloe gave up a leadoff double and then a single to start the fifth.  Analise, presumably rehydrated, came back in.  She walked her first batter to load the bases.  Mya Felder made a great play on a liner at third and almost doubled off the runner there.  Analise got a strikeout, but hit the next batter to drive in a run, 8-7 Roos.  Analise came back with a great strikeout.  She completely fooled the batter with a couple of offspeeds to leave the bases loaded.

Mya worked a walk to begin the bottom of the fifth.  Keala Brown pinch ran for her and stole second.  KJ singled her in to tie the score.  The centerfielder dropped a shallow flyball by Analise and nearly doubled off KJ, who was erased anyway by a fielder’s choice.  With two on, there’s Jeanelle again.  She slapped a double to drive in Analise and Sarai Mejia.  10-7 Aggies.

We’re not done yet.  Bre Hunter led off with a double in the sixth.  Samaria Diaz came in for the next batter.  She got an out, but loaded the bases on a single and a walk.  Nikki tried a pickoff throw to third that went into left field and Bre scored, 10-8.  Caity Szczesny came in as a defensive replacement this inning in left field.  I kind of have to question the coach here.  While Caity is taller, I doubt anyone, including the pitchers, have a stronger, more accurate arm than Brandy.  It was a close play at the plate.  Brandy would have got her.  A drunk fan was completely losing it behind us, but thankfully, Sam closed out the inning with a pair of strikeouts.

The drunk fan started hollering for the giveaways to be thrown to our side of the stands more.  He might have had a point there.  In the bottom of the sixth, after several close calls by other batters, Tori finally jacked one out to center for a solo shot.  Mya and KJ both doubled, which produced another run.  12-10 Aggies. 

The PA sang his song during the break, Pharrel’s Happy.  He was having a good time.  He did that last year during a game in the tournament.  Sam gave up a double and two singles in the seventh, which produced another run, but she actually struckout the side for the inning.

It took seven innings and three hours, but Aggies win 12-10!  Let’s hand it to Bre Hunter on the Roos for going 3 for 4 with 5 RBI’s and a grand slam home run.  For the Aggies, thank you, Samaria Diaz for nailing this one down with five strikeouts.  Offensively, Victoria Castro drove in three runs and a home run.  Kennedy Johnson, with a Senior Day start, went 3 for 4 with 3 RBI’s.  How about Jeanelle Medina?  Your leadoff hitter went 3 for 4 with 2 RBI’s.  She is excelling in that one slot.

On to Game 2.        

Missing: Kayla Green

If I was clever with Photoshop (or had access Photoshop) this post would start with a cheesy crop of this picture on a milk carton.  I’ll address this issue up front before getting to this weekend’s game coverage.  While it was Senior Day at the Softball Complex, we were short one senior.  We’ve apparently lost Kayla Green without being able to even say “Goodbye.”  I was with Ron at the double header.  Before Game 1 started, he nudged me and said Kayla wasn’t out with the team in practice.  Then I noticed that her number wasn’t sprayed out on the field with the other seniors’ numbers.  She wasn’t listed on the program and, finally, wasn’t present during team introductions.

After the game started, I went over and found Danny in the crowd.  He always seems very in-the-know when it comes to Aggie Sports.  He said he’d heard that Kayla had quit the team.  She was reportedly upset about Samaria Diaz being the number one pitcher on the team.  Looking over Kayla’s stats, of the team’s four pitchers, she was the worst by ERA.  She did have a winning record, though she’d taken a tough loss the last time I saw her (Game 1, 4-20-19).      

I’ve seen Kayla and Coach Rodolph have a run-in before a couple of years ago during a fall exhibition series (9-30-17 and 10-8-17).  Ron thought that Kayla seemed a bit standoffish with the rest of the team.  I’d met her once at a Women’s Basketball game (11-26-18).  She was working there and at other Aggie sports as part of her degree.  She seemed pretty nice.  She was also really sweet to a little girl before her last game.  

  

I find it incomprehensible that Kayla quit.  She was the preseason Pitcher of the Year for this year.  (I don’t understand these individual preseason awards to begin with, and given what’s happened, they’re obviously pointless and should go away.  All they do is put unnecessary pressure on the players.)  She’s been a major part of two WAC Tournament Championship teams.  I don’t know Kayla at all, but I’m sure that she’s a very competitive person to be playing at this level and this well.  If she was having a bad year, I could only imagine her either trying harder or accepting a relief role and doing her best.  She’d do whatever to win, because that’s what successful competitive people do.

If Kayla really did quit over something so petty, I’d be very disappointed in her.  I won’t forget contributions to the program in the past, though.  I’d also still respect Coach Rodolph tremendously, but she shouldn’t have let something like this happen.  I understand new freshman players sitting on the bench quitting, but not seniors who’ve been playing all season.  I don’t care if you have two other younger pitchers that you think are better and that Kayla is totally replaceable.  Good coaching is also managing player’s feelings.  Even if this story is true, there would have to be more to it.  This kind of slight wouldn’t be enough to get someone to quit this close to the end of the season.

Regardless of whatever happened, the end result is that the team is now minus one very experienced pitcher.  I don’t think the Aggies were going to be favored going into the tournament even with four pitchers.  Now they have an excuse for not winning.  Alternately, this incident brings the team together (or its addition by subtraction) and they rally for an unexpected victory.  Either way, this season’s been kind of spoiled for me now.  My expectations have been going down all season as the pitching, hitting, and fielding haven’t been as good as they seemed they would be before the season.  (All of the cross-scheduling with baseball also limited a lot of my viewing of the team at home.)

Going to see Aggie Softball was my second Women’s sports experience (2-14-6).  [Women’s Basketball was the first (1-23-16).]  Kayla was my instant favorite when she came into the circle late in the game.  This was one of her first appearances.  She was all smiles and just looked good out there in uniform pitching.  I liked the freckles, too.  It wasn’t a good outing, but I thought she’d improve, and I was right.  Frankly, this no-show for Senior Day is a terrible parting, however it happened.  Out of Brooke Salas, Aileen Galicia, Kelsey Horton, and Victoria Castro leaving this year, Kayla Green’s exit has been perhaps most hurtful. 

During Game 1, I noticed a girl in the crowd that looked like Kayla.  She was wearing big sunglasses, so it was sort of hard to tell.  Her hair was in a small bun, unlike the long ponytail style Kayla usually puts her magnificent hair in.  This girl watched the game with little reaction to on-field events and didn’t come back for Game 2 and the Senior Day ceremonies.  Maybe it was just wishful thinking on my part that it was her.      

NM State Aggies vs Sul Ross State Lobos Baseball 4-23-19

This game never happened, so don’t get too emotionally involved.  You were warned.  It was bright, blue skies and sunny in the morning.  However, the forecast was for a good chance of rain after noon.  On schedule, the temperature dropped at 12:00pm and clouds suddenly moved in.  I was still hopeful we’d get the game in when Ron picked me up for this 3:00pm game.  I’d already taken the day off and used AD Mario Moccia’s excuse note.

There was a smell of fresh cut grass in the air.  Yesterday’s rain had made the grassy football knoll green.  Inside the stadium, there was a Sul Ross State fan who had it figured out.  He had a collapsible lounger set up at the foot of the grandstand.  That is the way to see a ballgame.  The SRS team looked pretty sharp in their practice black tops with red trim.  For the game, they wore a UNM Lobo-like cherry and white uniform.  It was hard not to notice the height-difference between a couple of their catchers.  One looked about a foot taller than the other. 

I went to the bathroom.  When I came back, Ron told me I missed it.  Women’s Basketball team star, Brooke Salas was back and taking pictures of the field.  Crap.  I didn’t even really need to go.  This also totally preempted my big news that they’d put new paper towel dispensers in the bathroom.  I also noticed Jordan George from the Volleyball team there briefly working at the stadium.           

SRS is a DIII team and not a good one by their record, but they’d played the Aggies tough last year.  Their team huddled up on the first baseline with their arms around each others’ shoulders for a pregame pep talk.  (Nice picture moment, if only I had a camera.)  For the Aggies, they had a couple of bench players in.  Tristan Stacy was in for still-injured Logan Bottrell.  (Yet another Tristan on the team.)  Botts’ back is sore, but thankfully he isn’t injured to the point of being shutdown.  Last year’s game (4-17-18), featured three sets of brothers.  Catcher Braden Williams’ brother, Brenden, was starting today at second with Nick Gonzales moved to DH.   

With no official stats, there’s no correcting anything wrong on these scorecards.  It’s too bad.  Even with two batting around innings, I wasn’t doing too bad filling these out.  The Lobos had another error listed on the park scoreboard, but I don’t know when it happened even listening to the radio call for the game.  Yes, Adam Young was broadcasting here today.  I was surprised that a good crowd showed up for this weekday afternoon game against a non-name opponent with impending weather on the way.

First up, I liked the look of Wesley Moss for SRS leading off.  He looked like a ball player, but he was in DIII because he was my size (and MVP Jose Altuve’s).  Moss shook hands with catcher Jason Bush and the ump before starting his at bat.  Chris Barraza started for the Aggies and was very hittable.  He yielded hits to the first three batters, had a wild pitch, and two were driven in.  SRS may have shorted out their own inning with a bad caught stealing on a low pitch.  2-0 SRS.

The wind kicked up.  It was obviously raining to the north beyond the outfield.  Soft-throwing Kole Vedder hit Joey Ortiz with a slow curve to start the bottom of the first.  With a hit-and-run on, Joey scored on a single by Nick.  That was a good start as the Aggies batted around and scored five runs.  Brendan had a great two-out single to drive in two.  It was a grounder that rolled past the pitcher and the shortstop.  Stacy also singled in the inning.  5-2 Aggies.

I noticed a cool Brewers hoodie in the crowd, along with a Brooklyn Dodgers hat.  Oops, that’s not a Dodgers hat with that yellow “B.”  I’d find out later what it was.  My chest was getting a little tight.  The humidity must have been going up.  Barraza was on track for the second and had a 1-2-3 inning.      

Adam began an extended discussion on the Aggies’ national RPI rating as the team batted around again in the second.  The Aggies are leading the nation in several offensive categories and have a good record, but their rating is bad.  It’s well below other good teams in the WAC.  Missing that Nebraska series because of weather and losses to Northern Colorado and Utah Valley have hurt.       

On field, the Aggies scored seven runs on three hits.  The inning included two hit batters, two walks, and an error.  Brendan sac’d in a run and Stacy doubled.  (Ryan Acebedo in center did make a great diving play on the sac fly.)  They were making the most of this opportunity.  The big blow was Jason’s bases loaded clearing double.  It was a high fly ball that kept carrying in the wind to the wall.  The fielder couldn’t come up with it as it dropped beside him.  Two of the runners crossed the plate back-to-back as the ball came in to the infield.  Watch out, guys, that could have been a double tag out.  12-2 Aggies.

Mario arrived in the third.  He was met by Brooke by the entrance as she was taking more pictures of the field.  They got their picture taken together.  A player’s girlfriend also showed up, pointing at her watch to her friends.  She didn’t mean to be late.  I noticed that the umps weren’t granting time to batters.  It seemed like they wanted to move the game along because of the impending weather.  There was a run rule in place for this game with an eye towards cutting it short.  I think they may have been just hoping to make the game official after four-and-a-half.  The lights were on and light raindrops were falling off and on.

The SRS Lobos still wanted to win though.  This was probably the biggest game on their schedule for the season.  Barraza didn’t make it out of the third.  Two walks, a single, a double, along with a sacrifice when Mitchell Allen came in, brought in four runs.  12-6 Aggies.  That run rule win just got harder.

I think there were two kids in the crowd.  Intern Emerson found both of them for the “I scream” contest.  The little girl let off an impressive squeal and won ice cream coupons.  Both her and her brother both managed to recover fouls during the game too, so it was a successful outing for them.  The sun came out briefly and the wind died down, but I don’t think we were fooled.  The Aggies went down in order in the bottom of the third after a really questionable caught stealing call.  I got the impression the Aggies and the umps were really rushing here.

Sure enough, the wind and the overcast came back.  Allen gave up a homer in the fourth to make it 12-7.  He gave up a single next, but caught the runner trying to steal second.  On the last batter, the ump took hard foul off his leg.  Coach Green and the trainer ran out to him as he hopped around.  After the shock wore off, the ump laughed it off and resumed his station to a round of applause.  Raindrops were again falling in the bottom.  Stacy singled, but the other Aggie batters went down quick.

Chris Jefferson came in for the fifth.  He got a ground out.  The next batter got on from an error by Eric Mingus at third.  Jefferson then got a strikeout, when Coach Green came out on to the field.  This seemed ominous.  The field was cleared and PA Alexia told the crowd that the game was under a lightning delay and told the fans to leave the stands.  Sigh.  The game was one out away from being official.  I never heard the thunder, so it couldn’t have been that close.  The score, for what it’s worth for a canceled game, was 12-7 Aggies.

As fans left, they were greeted at the entrance with the curious sight of Emerson in the Dino Dash inflatable T-Rex costume waving goodbye to the crowd.  I’m guessing there was going to be race between innings.  Oh, I was cheated.  How cruel. 

I found Ron outside.  The wind was blowing away from his usual spot for getting fouls, so I was surprised he didn’t come back to his seat.  Actually, he’d been in the Diamond Club area, where the wind was blowing to.  Nobody was restricting that area today.  Adam had mentioned there were people there, and I’d seen someone there duck as a foul whizzed through.  That was Ron.  He’d collected several balls.

With 20 minutes for the delay, we went down the street to get pizza.  I didn’t get enough and cheated myself.  As we came back to the parking lot, there was more lightning, which extended the delay.  SRS players were hanging out in the parking lot.  They had a five-hour bus trip waiting for them, so this delay really sucked for them.   Adam came back on the radio with occasional updates. 

Eventually, we went back into the stadium.  We met the fan with what I thought was a Brooklyn hat.  His name is Michael.  The hat was actually a team hat from Tristen Carranza’s high school.  He was a nice fellow.  Ron took me back around to show me the Diamond Club.  He took a peek into the Aggie clubhouse on the way.  The team was there watching baseball on a big screen TV.  There’s also pool table inside with crimson felt.  The club area was . . . ahem . . . not a showplace.  Let’s just move along. 

Finally, after more frequent lightning and closer thunder, the stadium lights turned off.  After what was about a two-hour delay, they finally cancelled the game.  This meant that it never happened.  That might be good for the Aggies’ RPI, because unless they run ruled this game in the seventh, it was going to probably hurt their rating after giving up seven runs.  We were already driving down the street for ice cream when the announcement came and the rain finally arrived.  I was a bit sorry I’d taken the day off, but Ron was actually depressed.  He’d been looking forward to this specific game for some weekday afternoon baseball.  Oh, well.  It was better than no baseball.

Baseball Journal April 16-20, 2019

4-16-19

Welcome to Santa Ana Star Field in Albuquerque, where the Aggies would be playing the Lobos in baseball.  Actually, I’m glad I wasn’t there for the game.  Their facilities there, while they have a commanding view of the Albuquerque skyline, are just metal bleachers.  It makes me grateful for our park.  Adam Young, broadcasting the game, had to sit in the stands, since there wasn’t room in the pressbox.  (There was also an obnoxious fan nearby cheering.  I guess every team has one.)  The Lobos recently apparently used to play at Isotopes Park, but moved back to a stadium on university grounds.  

Again, I did a terrible job with my notes and being able to listen to the game.  Late in the game, when I was able to listen, I ended up watching the Lobo’s video coverage and their announcer.  I wanted to see what the opposition said about our team for a change.  The guy there was very impressed with our lineup.  The Aggies had built up a 7-2 lead in the fifth, but by the seventh, the Lobos had tied it.  In the bottom of eighth, literally, Keaton Graf came in and got hit on the backside on a comebacker.  The Lobos loaded the bases and took the lead on a fielder’s choice, 8-7.

Logan Ehnes came up big with a single to drive in Nick Gonzales to tie the score again.  However also on the play, Tristen Carranza should have also scored, but made contact with the third base coach, Terry Davis, and was ruled out.  The umps conferred before making a decision.  Coach Green argued the call until he was ejected. 

If there was one thing this game didn’t need, it was extra innings.  Thankfully, it only went to the tenth, but the game still went over five hours!  In the top, Logan Bottrell and Nick got on.  Tristan Peterson, who was wearing the Golden Sombrero with four strikeouts in four at bats, worked a walk to load the bases.  Carranza was hit next to drive in a run.  Ehnes then hit a grounder hard enough that it bounced off the shortstop for a hard luck error.  The centerfielder bobbled it and two runs scored.  11-8 Aggies.

In the bottom, with Graf still pitching, the Lobos managed to load the bases with two outs.  The Aggies had a couple of good defensive plays.  Nick made an over-the-shoulder running catch in foul ground.  Ehnes made a running catch in right to end the game.  Aggies win 11-8!  The Lobos’ TV coverage ended the moment Ehnes squeezed the ball.  I had to get the postgame back on the radio.  That was six wins in a row over the Lobos.  That’s never happened before.  The team posted a great Twitter video of them celebrating on the bus in uniform.

4-17-19

It wasn’t the nicest day outside for a game, but I was pleased to listen to some day baseball with the Chihuahuas this morning.  They were playing the Tacoma Rainiers in front of a crowd of mostly kids.  The gusty wind was a good deal of the story.  

The pups went down 7-2 about halfway through the game, as the ball was flying out for the Rainiers.  It turned in the eighth, as the Chihuahuas exploded for six runs, including three homers.  The crowd went wild as they took the lead.  However in the ninth, the Rainiers, down to their last strike, homered and retook the lead, 10-9.  The drama wasn’t over.  The Chihuahuas were also down to their last strike, when Ty France belted his second home run of the game with a runner on to win it 11-10. 

France was great player last year and he’s picked up right where he left off.  He’s currently blocked from coming up to the majors at first or third, so today he played second and did well there.  The game started early enough and finished quickly enough that I think the kids there got to see the whole thing.  Also, with a home Internet connection (at least for the moment), I was able to get on to MLB.TV and catch a bit of a Brewers game and hear Bob Uecker.  Actually, I was only able to listen, with the video being too choppy, but it was still great to hear him. 

4-18-19

The Aggies played Utah Valley tonight.  But, it was a baseball game and, therefore didn’t involve Basia Query, so I didn’t care.  Actually, I made an effort to listen to the whole game and take notes.  Regrettably, this wasn’t the most interesting game to finally try to do a good job of recapping.  Coach Green would also be listening to the game, as he served a two-suspension for getting ejected in Albuquerque.  In the pregame, he had no apologies and no regrets.  As I found out during Saturday’s game, the reason he’d gotten so hot was because the umps reversed a no-call that none of them actually saw.  How do you make a call that you didn’t actually see?

Just to cut to the chase, the Aggies won 14-0 on a run rule in the seventh.  Brock Whittlesey, working mostly out of the stretch for the game, went the distance, only giving up four hits.  Oddly for the Aggie offense, nine of the 14 runs were scored singularly.  Finally in the top of the seventh, Joey Ortiz doubled in two runs and Tristen Carranza hit a three-run homer, as part of a seven-run inning.  Carranza’s homer was also the only one of the game.

Adam Young, on the radio call, was impressed with the stadium as it is an Angels’ Rookie league facility after the college season.  It’s very deep to center, but reasonably short in the corners.  There was a small crowd there, which was surprising, since I wonder what else there is to do in Orem, Utah.  There was a decent Aggie contingent that piped up whenever the team made a good play.

What else?  I noticed in this game over the PA and with the Lobo announcer earlier in the week, they pronounced Logan Ehnes’ name differently than Adam.  Also, Joey is announced as “Joseph” on the road.  One of the UVU players has the same walkup music as Nick Gonzales, which was a bit disconcerting.  More troublingly, Logan Bottrell came out of the game.  His back has been bothering him ever since he was injured.  That’d be a bad loss for the team if he’s not able to go everyday.

I’m not going to cover the games, but in addition to listening to most of this game, I caught the end of four other ball games.  They were pretty close, too.  I saw the end of two games on the MLB Network, one on MLB.TV, and heard the Chihuahuas over of the radio.  I might be just bragging here instead of reporting, but this was the first time this season I’ve really been able to watch multiple games in a day.  I enjoyed it.

4-19-19

I started off this Aggie Baseball game while sitting at an Aggie Softball game with Ron.  We were both listening over the radio.  Given a pretty exciting softball game, it was hard to listen at times, but not too hard follow along.  A mutual co-worker sat down by us after the game started.  Ron kept him up to date on the baseball scoring.  Softball finished about 2/3 the way through the baseball game.  Ron and I went back to my apartment and finished listening to the game while watching some Twitch.

The coverage started with a choir singing the Anthem, which was pretty cool.  There was a bigger crowd today for this game in Orem versus Utah Valley.  There were families there for an Easter Egg hunt before the game.  How pastoral.  Then the carnage started. 

Both teams scored one in the first with an unearned run.  By the third, the Aggies had accumulated their third error.  The score was 6-1 UVU, and starter, Justin Dehn, was out.  The Aggies started a comeback.  Noah Haupt drove in a run in the fourth.  In the fifth, Nick Gonzales drove in a run on a fielder’s choice and then Tristan Peterson hit a two-run homer to make it 6-5.  All of those runs in the inning were unearned.

The Aggies tied it in the seventh with a Tristen Carranza triple, as the centerfielder lost the ball in the lights.  But, the carnage continued.  Error #4 for the Aggies on third out scored two unearned runs to put UVU back up 8-6.  The Aggies came back again in the eighth.  Nick doubled in a run, and TC sac’d in the tying run.  Logan Ehnes gave the Aggies a lead on a fielder’s choice RBI.  9-8 Aggies.

Unfortunately, Aggie pitching just couldn’t stop the Wolverines.  UVU tied it with a homer in the bottom of the eighth and left the bases loaded.  In the bottom of the ninth, a probably overworked Keaton Graf came in and loaded the bases with no outs.  A single brought in the winning run.  10-9 Utah Valley.  Well, that was disappointing, especially after listening for four hours and 15 minutes.  Your brutal stats of the game:  UVU 3 errors, NM State 5 errors.

4-20-19

I started listening to this noon game before going to Aggie Softball in the late afternoon.  Of course, the Aggie Baseball game couldn’t finish inside of four hours, so I took the game with me on the radio.  It finished right before the softball double header started.  Coach Green was back for this game.  However, Logan Bottrell was out.  His back injury actually goes back to last year.  It sounded like a good, enthusiastic crowd there in Orem for this game against Utah Valley.

The Utah Valley starter, Walker Ramsey, did not have a good record and had a .700+ BA against.  In the first, he hit Logan Ehnes, a guy he played with in junior college.  He also hit Eric Mingus to drive in a run with the bases loaded.  Unfortunately, Chance Hroch was very hittable in the bottom.  The Wolverines had three hits and drove in a run to make it 1-1 after one.  One of the UVU guys has Mariah Carey’s Heartbreaker as his walkup music.  Yeah, I question that too. 

Freshman Daniel Head came up in the second.  Adam Young, on the broadcast, said Daniel put on a show during batting practice.  Adam was surprised he didn’t have a home run in a game.  Nick Gonzales drove in a run.  Tristen Carranza hit a two-run homer to the deepest part of the park, 427’, which was called a “no-doubter.”  Ramsey hit Ehnes again.  Adam assured us that there’s no bad blood between them.  5-1 Aggies.

In the bottom, the UVU coach tried to argue that Nick didn’t touch the bag turning a play.  If this call was overturned, Adam guaranteed Coach Green was going to get ejected again.  Thankfully, the call stood.  Hroch picked off a runner from first to end the inning.  In the third, a fielder’s choice scored a run for UVU.  A bases loaded single drove in two more.  Catcher Jason Bush went down on the next batter after getting hit in his “lower area” blocking a ball.  A single then tied the score, 5-5.  Hroch came out of the game.

The Aggies came back in the fourth.  Three walks loaded the bases for the Aggies and Utah Valley brought in a new pitcher.  Mingus drove in two with a single.  Kevin Jimenez brought in another run on a fielder’s choice.  He dove into first to try and avoid the out.  A balk brought in another run to make it 9-5 Aggies.  The Wolverines brought in a run on a sac in the fifth.  They sac’d in another after a Joey Ortiz error at short.  9-7 Aggies.  In the sixth, Jimenez singled in another run.  Mingus took home on an error and a play at the plate.  Daniel drove in a run, 12-7 Aggies. 

Adam had complained that the crowd was too quiet.  They would have plenty to cheer about as the Aggies couldn’t put the Wolverines away.  UVU scored two in the sixth.  They scored again in the eighth.  Joey had another error.  In the ninth, they got a solo home run to make it 12-11.  Keaton Graf had to come in to close it out for the win.  That got way too interesting in the end.    

NM State Aggies vs GCU Lopes Softball Game 2 4-20-19

Continued from Game 1

“The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.”  From taking a whole 30 seconds to search this phrase on the Internet, I’m not sure who said it first, but it worked well as the intro for a rap song played during the break.  But let me tell you what will also piss you off: the concessions here at the Aggie Softball Complex. 

I went down to the food stand during the double header intermission between the Aggies and GCU.  I came away with a nuclear hot hot dog.  It was like the nice lady there had pulled it straight out of the devil’s sna . . . ahem . . . Anyway, by the time it had cooled, the bun was revealed to be stale and inedible.  At least the soda and popcorn were okay.  Please NMSU, get better food if you want more of my money.  I think more people might come to evening games, if they could get a dinner meal at the park.  Consider inviting a couple of food trucks to sit outside the stadium. 

Thankfully, we were back to softball in short order.  A family with a couple of little boys sat down in front of me and Danny.  The dad gave the boys an Aggie foam finger, which they proceeded to hit each other with.  I always wondered what those things were good for.  On field, the Aggie lineup was the same, but Shelby Shultes was now catching and Nikki Butler was the DP.  Analise de la Roca was in to pitch.  She worked a quick first, thanks to a double play and a strikeout.  In the bottom, Victoria Castro singled.  The wind was still blowing here in the late afternoon.  This was evident as the GCU first baseman dropped a popup on the infield that blew away from her, which allowed Nikki to reach.  Unfortunately, a strikeout ended the inning.

Here was one way to get the crowd moving.  Between innings, the PA announced that the staff had hidden Easter Eggs around the stadium.  People finding them could exchange them for an Aggie beer stein.  The crowd was suddenly up and scrambling looking under the benches.  I was waiting for fights to breakout, but the staff had done too good a job of hiding the eggs.  I think only two out of eight eggs were found during that break.  “It’s okay folks.  We’ll be here all night.  Keep looking,” said the PA.

Analise gave up a hit in the second, but no problems.  A gorgeous girl from the Swim and Dive team came down the stands and threw out t-shirts to the crowd.  I looked her up.  She’s swimmer Grace Laporte.  I’m really regretting not going to the swim meet a couple of months ago.  (I could have sat with the Volleyball girls there, too.)  The Ruidoso High School Softball team was still there, and they were screaming for the shirts. 

Mya Felder and Kayla Bowen really battled in their at bats in the second.  Kayla worked a walk, but Brandy Hernandez was out next for batting out of the box.  Analise allowed a leadoff hit, but closed out the third.  Between frames, the crowd was entertained by the two little boys doing the Chicken Dance to a Country song over the PA.  Regardless, the top of the Aggie order went down in order in the bottom of the third.

Kalei Atkinson and Tayelin Grays from the Women’s Basketball team came in.  Kalei was rocking some seriously long turquoise nails that she probably can’t wear during the season.  To start the fourth, there was another of those weird softball plays where someone is called out with no explanation.  My notes and the official scoring don’t entirely make sense, but a Lopes runner was called out for leaving too early.  KB finished the inning with a great diving play on foul ball.  Nobody saw it because it was un-viewable from the stands, but she got a big round of applause.  The play was posted later on Twitter and it was great.

The Aggies went down in order in the bottom of the fourth.  Grace came back out and tossed out some backpacks.  That was a highlight.  I finally noticed a co-worker, Chuck, sitting on the other side of the stands.  I noticed him when a foul ball came right at him.  He made an attempt at it, but it bounced from his hands into his face.  I went over and talked to him between innings.  Chuck was okay, but kind of unhappy that his old baseball reflexes didn’t let him catch that ball.  I ended up being over there without my scorecard for the top of the fifth.  I was pretty fortunate that Analise pitched a quick and easy to remember inning. 

Well, I guess nobody’s going to score in this game.  We’re going to have a nil-nil tie.  “Not so fast,” said KB, “I’m having a good game here.”  With that, Kayla wrapped a home run around the left field pole.  Keala Brown, pinch running for Mya, was on base, so it was 2-0 Aggies just like that.  The crowd roared for her.  GCU’s offense got going in the top of the sixth with a pair of infield hits.  Coach Rodolph took Analise out at that point and brought in Samaria Diaz.  Sam hit the first batter to load the bases.  She gave up a flyball to right which should have scored a run, but the runner left early and was called out.  (This was via the official scoring; I didn’t figure that out at the park.)  Sam closed out the inning without damage.

On to the bottom of the sixth.  The ump nearly got hit on the head by a popup at the plate.  Attractive Lopes catcher, Kaileigh Holland, apologized to him.  Tori doubled to start the inning.  Next, Nikki hit a light pole with a foul, so she was locked in.  Her hitting a homer was not a surprise at that point, although it was a line drive to left center.  4-0 Aggies.  This brought on a pitching change for the Lopes.  The ump then got hit on a foul tip.  The ball had his name on it today.  The Aggies got two singles, but a double play pretty much killed the inning. 

In the seventh, Maddie Dowdle nailed the on deck hitter with a foul or a coach.  She was mortified either way and put her hand to mouth in shock.  Shelby, catching, took a hard liner to her facemask.  She was okay, but the coach and Sam came over to her to see if she was alright.  This was most of the drama in the inning, as Samaria struckout the side.  The crowd was clapping and pounding on the bleachers for the final strike.

Aggies win 4-0!  With so many thumpers in the Aggie lineup, it’s really hard to keep them from scoring.  For this game, Analise de la Roca and Samaria Diaz did a great job of keeping GCU down until their own bats could come around.  This was the best I’ve seen Analise pitch.  Gameballs to Kayla Bowen and Nikki Butler for being right there to hammer a couple of mistakes.  Ryan Denhart, pitching for GCU, didn’t make many. 

Unlike when I’m with Ron for a game, I just went straight home afterward.  No fast food review this time.  Still, I had a good time at the park with a couple of good games between two good teams.   

NM State Aggies vs GCU Lopes Softball Game 1 4-20-19

It was hot and breezy to start this double header at the Softball Complex against GCU.  The two conditions sort of canceled each other out, so it was okay.  Ron had a family gathering this evening and couldn’t come.  I sat by fellow fan Danny behind home plate.  He was in a good mood as we chatted about the team.  They were giving out Aggie visors at the entrance.  I didn’t really want one, but the pretty girl handing them out kind of insisted.  I meant to try to give it away during the game, but wasn’t able to and had to find someone at work to take it.  I actually have too many giveaways in my possession at this point.

It’s too bad Ron couldn’t make it.  Those two GCU players he liked were playing in the game, Kaileigh Holland at catcher and Gianna Nicoletti in the outfield.  I didn’t see my favorite adorable redhead, Lexy Coons, when teams were introduced and was worried for her.  (She’s listed on the program as “Lexy,” which is probably what she goes by, but she’s “Alexa” in the official scoring.  This, and the spelling of Kaileigh’s name [Kay-lee], caused me some editing problems.)  The GCU girls danced a jig before the game.

It was another great crowd for the game.  Aggie Softball has acquired some fans this season.  (There are also two players from Las Cruces on the team.)  The Ruidoso High School Softball team was in attendance in team shirts.  I’m not sure if they were here in Las Cruces playing a tournament or not.  The hair and makeup on some of these girls was spot on, so they didn’t just come here right after playing.  The PA thanked them for coming between innings during the game, and they did stay for both games.  A few kids were out with the Aggie girls during introductions.  Kayla Green was having fun with a little girl before they ran out to circle.  It was so cute.   

Kayla worked an efficient first with a strikeout.  Yessie Morrison gave up a hit to Kelsey Horton, but also had a quick inning.  Yessie made an impressive nonchalant catch of a comeback liner by Jeanelle Medina.  Kaileigh Holland came up first in the second and hit a home run that hit the top of the wall.  Would Ron have cheered if he’d been there?  Kaileigh is rail-thin for a softball player, much less a catcher.  She has a good arm though and could hit.  There was a double next and then a ground out.  Maddie Dowdle hit a grounder to third.  Mya Felder deflected it.  Jeanelle was able to field it, but had no play and another run scored.  2-0 GCU.

Shelby Shultes, who’d done so well yesterday, earned a start today as the DP.  She worked a walk to start the bottom of the second.  She was sacrificed over, but there was another groundout following that.  Local player, Casie Roberto, came up next and jacked one out to left center.  The crowd was completely jacked too.  This was her first college home run.  The score was tied at 2.  Brandy Hernandez followed that with a blooper over third base.  Sierra Smith at short dove for it in a good effort.  Brandy was left stranded to end the inning.

Nikki Butler, catching, got hit on a foul to start the third.  The ump gave her a moment and walked the ball out to Kayla and chatted with her.  Kelsey came over and patted Nikki on the helmet and they all shared a laugh.  Laughing off these minor hurts is part of the job as a catcher or ump.

Kayla walked Shea Smith, the second batter of the inning.  Savannah Tourville singled down the third base line.  Shea thought about taking third as Brandy came up with the ball.  Brandy held the ball for a second and dared her to try.  The Lopes had scouted her potent throwing arm.  Unfortunately, Brandy needed another six inches in height on the next batter, as Kaylee Dietrich doubled just beyond her reach and drove in two, 4-2 GCU. 

Kayla got a strikeout next.  A guy in the stands actually called out, “Changeup!” before the final pitch, but it didn’t help.  Lilly Bishop singled up the middle next.  Kaileigh tried to come in and score, but Victoria Castro threw her out from center.  Nikki got Kaileigh in a bear hug as she came into the plate.  (I’m sure Ron would have been jealous.)

A girl with the Ruidoso team got a prize for the pocket contest.  The whole team was into the giveaways.  The Aggies went down with a double play in the bottom of the third.  Kayla gave up a leadoff single to start the fourth, but no damage was done.  Kayla Bowen was swinging in anger in her at bat in the bottom.  She hammered one to center, but the wind blew it back in.  Mya, who’d walked in front of her, was doubled off to end the inning.

Kayla was nicked on the ankle on a hard liner up the middle to start the fifth.  It didn’t seem that bad when it happened, but Coach Rodolph and the trainer came out to look at her.  Kayla took a couple of practice pitches and seemed okay, but came out anyway.  It’s hard to speculate, but she did seem to be walking okay later in Game 2 (she wasn’t playing).  Maybe her ankle was numb after the hit, or they thought it would swell up. 

Chloe Rivas came in to pitch and started off with a strikeout.  There was a foul ball that dropped in nearby us.  It hit a spot that was just vacated by a girl that was sitting there.  (Those things are like yellow cannonballs.)  Chloe allowed a single to Kaileigh next.  Dietrich then hit a high foul over third base.  Brandy made a great play by the fence and then threw out Shea Smith at the plate.  Except the ump called her safe.  Let me put it to you this way, Shea got up and argued before she realized the call was “Safe.”  She thought she was going to be called out.  The crowd was all over the ump, “Go back to calling high school games!”  The Ruidoso girls said, “We don’t want him!”  (Just kidding.)  5-2 GCU.

Beautiful Megan Hart and Kiley Tonge from the Volleyball team came in.  They were all smiles chatting with a booster.  (I need to be a booster.)  Casie walked to start the bottom of the fifth.  Keala Brown ran for her and Brandy moved her up to second.  Kennedy Johnson pinch hit and singled Keala in.  Jeanelle reentered the game and stole second, where Tori drove her in with a double.  5-4 GCU.

Mya made a good play on a popup by the dugout on the first batter of the sixth.  However, the ball grazed the roof and was ruled foul.  On the next pitch, Mya deflected a grounder, but Jeanelle stayed with it and threw out the runner from deep in the hole.  I was questioning before if she could play short, but I’m not anymore.  Chloe finished off the inning.

Ah, there’s my cute redhead.  Lexy Coons came in to pitch the bottom of the sixth.  I was not rooting for her.  (I was hoping to run into her afterward and console her after a bad outing.)  She has an odd rocking motion when pitching and works up some of her own infield chatter.  Dietrich went in to catch, but Kaileigh stayed in the game.  Looking at the official scoring, seven players changed positions for the Lopes.  I’m not going to bother trying to figure that out on my scorecard.  Lexy pitched an in-order inning.

Between innings, it was announced that the Aggie Women’s Golf team had won this afternoon for their fifth WAC Championship in six years.  They are really good.  The first GCU batter of the seventh was called out for hitting outside of the box.  Shea singled next.  Savannah hit a Texas Leaguer between right field and second.  KB seemed unsure about taking it and had to dive at it and dropped it.  Samaria Diaz came in right after to pitch.  She gave up two walks, which forced in a run, but got the next two batters.  6-4 GCU. 

Lexy got the first two outs of Aggie seventh.  Kennedi Sorensen came in to pinch hit and, down to her last strike, doubled.  This got the crowd into it.  Sarai Mejia came in to pinch run.  Kelsey came up and was also got down to her last strike.  She took a close pitch that got an “Oooh,” out of the crowd.  She worked a walk on a full count.  Sarai stole third on the walk.  Tori came up and was down to her last strike too.  She hit the ball off the end of her bat and grounded out to end the game.  GCU won 6-4.

Myself, and perhaps the other Aggie fans, would have felt worse about the lost, but it was against a good team.  The Aggies fought it out to the end and the game was pretty entertaining regardless.  Kaileigh Holland had a good game hitting for GCU going 3 for 3 with 2 RBI’s and a home run.  Lexy Coons might have gotten a little rattled at the end, but pitched two scoreless innings for the save.  (They’re both pretty, too, but that has nothing to do with my objective analysis.)  Kennedy Johnson for the Aggies gets a gameball for her pinch hit, RBI single in the fifth.  I thought Chloe Rivas did a good job in her two and 1/3 innings of relief.

On to Game 2.