Aggie Volleyball Crimson and White Scrimmage 8-16-25

Weird aside to begin with. I was with my dad at the hospital on Friday, where he was having a short procedure done. In the waiting room, two Aggie coaches with two players came in separately. I think they were there for a quick test on the players, who were from the Women’s Golf team and maybe the Men’s Tennis team. The golf player was this tall, pretty, well-built blonde that might have been from Eastern Europe. I briefly hoped she was a new Volleyball transfer when I first saw her. She would have been great at the net.

I also heard a podcast with Coach Jordan later that day. He said that there weren’t a lot of new transfers on the team. He’d concentrated on high school players and is hoping to create players for his system, rather than integrating and retraining college transfers. He wants his players to be trained to be better all-around in different aspects of the game. The couple of transfers he did pick up were from junior colleges, presumably more malleable than university transfers.

This sounds good, but when taken with Aggie Soccer’s recruiting along similar lines, I wonder if this is an institutional directive. Perhaps NMSU cannot compete for athletes looking for NIL money and isn’t even trying, at least outside of maybe Football and Men’s Basketball. On the other hand with Volleyball, Coach Jordan had done well with his transfers, but still couldn’t match WKU. He may be pursuing a strategy to make his team more like them.

This isn’t the venue for really blunt observations, but there’s an obvious difference between this team and last years’ team that makes them look a lot more like WKU than they were before. I will say that there are four players from Las Cruces, three more from New Mexico, one from El Paso, and only one foreign player, a Canadian freshman. This is like WKU’s regional recruiting. Will their strategy work here? I don’t know, but this likely isn’t a short term plan. Coach Jordan is planning on developing players from scratch, so we might not see good results for a couple of seasons.

One reason I wasn’t sure about going to Aggie Sports this year came after I saw the Volleyball schedule. There were no home tournaments on the schedule. This issue was not addressed on the podcast. A selling point of the Aggie Country Pass is getting those Volleyball and Softball tournaments, which are much more expensive if purchasing a day pass. In past years, they’d host two volleyball tournaments. Last year, there was only one. Even though the invites might not have been impressive most of the time, you still got a lot of volleyball and it was worth taking the day off for like three matches in a day. I’m concerned they couldn’t find a sponsor and/or didn’t have the money to bring anyone here.

To today’s Saturday Scrimmage, I ran into Aggie Weight Room manager, Ramey (?), in the stands and chatted with him briefly. (I’d met him and his family at Soccer on Thursday.) The first thing I noticed when looking over the team was that senior Ashley Herman was in a boot. Ramey said she’d been injured last month and was gone for the year. I had to stop myself from cursing. It’s not like this happened last season with Ryleigh Whitekettle. Coach Jordan seemed to be looking forward to her playing on the podcast. Likewise, he’d said veteran setter Bianca Perez would be out for half of the season, but there she was on court and . . . taking hitting practice? How long ago was this podcast recorded?

Peyton Castillo was finally able to play, though wearing a big leg brace like Bianca. I was happy I’d get to see Tess Fuqua and Jacqueline Corcoran, who were injured all last season. Tess had her leg wrapped up and her golden brown hair is now flat black. I don’t approve of the change, but I still like her. The Coach likes her, too. He glazed her specifically on the podcast for her leadership, which I saw myself last season (9-19-24).

Ashley wasn’t playing, but was still full of energy on the sidelines. She’d have the clipboard for tracking game plays. Honestly though, I thought I saw her wiping away some tears later in the match. I feel like crying about this, too.

Easy to notice were a couple of new skyscrapers on the team. Kate Sinclair is 6’4” and Zoe Ziegler is 6’6”. (The Coach said Zoe is his tallest player ever.) However, both of these girls are dangerously thin-looking. It seems almost unsafe for them to be playing out on court. (I’m remembering what happened to Megan Hart, though she certainly worked out well after her injury.)

I mentioned Assistant Coach Hertel was back when I ran into him in June (6-15-25).  Lia Mosher is also back as a coach, but she wasn’t here today. Also back as a coach is Chelsea Rose. She was on the staff a few years ago, but I didn’t know her name. She was a definite distraction on the sidelines (I won’t go into why) and still very much is. Our lovely, athletic young women shouldn’t be getting upstaged by a coach.

There was a great crowd for the Scrimmage in the Pan-Am Center. At least a couple of groups came in for the match. Ramey mentioned that there was a Football Scrimmage tonight, as well. If I had someone to go with, I might be interested. (There’s nothing on TV tonight.)

Set 1

Why did I take notes for this? It’s a mess and hard to figure out, since these girls all play for the same team. The program had plenty of space on it and I wish I’d marked off kills on it, but I didn’t think to until the third set. I’ll just give some impressions of the play, without really giving play-by-play.

Zoe got the first kill for the White basically towering over the net. Maggie Lightheart (our sweetheart) made a light tip kill to answer for the Crimson. Maggie seemed very confident and serious out on court. She wants to be a leader. Okay, I’m going to go ahead and retire calling her, “Our sweetheart,” based on that, but that doesn’t mean my feelings have changed for her. (“Darling,” “Angel,” and “Baby” are still on the table.)

JC transfer, Katie Funk, tooled a block for her first kill. As per practice, though still listed as a setter, Bianca was out there hitting. Jacqueline aced twice on her serve. Mia Fox, who now looks short at only 6’2”, hammered a kill and made a block. Tess came up with a good serving run of four points (I think). Our presumed libero for the season, Makayla Martinez made a great dig.

Kate and Jac teamed up for a double stuff. Maggie added another kill and Jac got her first kill. Freshman and El Pasoan, Jaelynn Kahli, put in her first kill. Tess tooled a block for her first kill. Surprise, Kaylee Peterson, a defensive player, came in as a hitter. This was unexpected and she got a kill. Maggie made a nice effort on bad ball trying to dig it. She was going for a lot of balls in the backcourt.

Senior Rilen Garcia, the best story on the team, was in at setter and put in a dump shot. Between her, Nellie Reese, and Claudia Rossi, I don’t know how the position will filled. (Not to mention the three other girls listed as setters.) Kate made a kill. Okay, this is going to be a problem between Kate and Katie. They’re not at all the same, but it may take a couple of games to keep the names straight.

Maggie put in another kill off a nice set by Claudia. Oh, no! Zoe went hard into the press table. Don’t tell me we’re going to lose her already! She’s okay. She’s more resilient than she looks. Kate had another kill, or was it Katie? The teams tied at 22. Claudia went on a serving run. She got another ace and took it to set point. Jaelynn finished it for the Crimson with a kill, 25-22.

Set 2: Crimson 1, White 0

Zoe went over and apologized to the staff member at the press table when she knocked over his stuff. He was alright with it. Some of the players changed jerseys. Kaylee went to libero and Kate and Zoe were together on the White team as the Towers of Power. (We’ll workshop that name some more.)

Bianca started off with a kill. She’s serious about this position change. Tess added a couple more kills and teamed up with Katie for a block. Jac aced. Mia had a kill. There are two “Mia’s” on the team. The other is freshman setter, Mia Mendoza, who saw quite a bit of time later in the match. Bella Castro was in defensively and made a great off-court save. Katie and Bianca teamed up for a block. Tess made a tip kill.

White went up, 10-4, and Crimson called a timeout. Jac tooled a block out of the break. There was a mid-game poaching. Coach Hertel had Zoe change sides briefly. Jac and Bianca each had kills. Kate reached over and disrupted a set on the other side of the net. Jac and Jaelynn added kills, but Tess was on fire with three more kills. Finally, Maggie and Mia teamed up to stuff her.

I noticed Jack Nixon on the sidelines. He was standing and watching. Later, he greeted Coach Jordan and left. I don’t know what Jack’s going to do without a microphone in front of him this year. Maggie smashed a kill that produced thunder after it struck. Maggie added another kill, along with Bianca and Kate. Kaylee was digging the ball well this set. Jac put a kill between two blockers to get to set point. Tess made a touch kill to take the set for White. I missed writing down the final score. I think there was some question on the call that delayed the final outcome.

Set 3: Crimson 1, White 1

Tess, Peyton, and Las Cruces freshman Jazlyn Vasquez posed for a picture on the sidelines. Tess stuck her tongue out. Some players changed uniforms again. Bella came in a libero.

Jaelynn and Zoe teamed up for a block and Maggie had a touch kill, as Rilen reeled off four points on serve for Crimson to begin the set. Jac aced for the other side. Maybe a little fatigue was setting in. I missed the players, but a hitter completely whiffed on a set. Oops.

Zoe made an overpass kill. Kate had a kill and put White up, 9-8. Maggie aced and put Crimson back in front, 11-9. Jae and Jac had kills for White and it was tied at 11. Tess hit the middle of the net on a swing. She looked winded. Timeout Crimson. Kate had a kill and Tess came back with a tip kill. Mia M. made a quick set to Katie for a sudden kill. Very impressive. Blink and you missed it.

Jac with a tip kill. Maggie kaboom kill to tie it at 16. Bianca chipped in a kill. Kaylee was back in hitting and teamed up with Mia on a block. Zoe, Jac, Katie, and Peyton had kills, as White took the set, 25-20. Wait! Peyton was hitting? Yes, she was. I’m sure other volleyball players have changed positions on other teams, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen this on the Aggies. With six setters, I guess Coach Jordan was willing to experiment to keep everyone playing.

Set 4: White 2, Crimson 1

There was a Whataburger video between sets with various food items racing. It was cute. I wonder if this will be a new contest during the season. Peyton was signing some girls’ shirts on the sideline. Chelsea was now working on my end of the court, which I appreciated.

Kaylee began the set with a kill. Jae came back with a kill and teamed with Mia for a block. Maggie served an ace that hit the net in an odd way. A player on the other side got hit on the back by it. Coach Jordan facepalmed, but then laughed, while the reserves danced a doe-see-doe for the ace. Kate made a kill that bounced off a couple of defenders. Jac made a solo block and had a kill.

Katie made an overpass kill to put White up, 9-7. I think there might have been a Roof call after that. Nobody was getting mad at the refs in this, though the up official did blitz a call in this set and had to correct himself. It’s the first match of the season for everyone.

Jae and Mia teamed for a block to tie it at 11. Peyton was back hitting again. After missing a couple of shots, the Coach immediately pulled her. She wiped away a few tears by the bench. Jac caught fire with three more kills for White. Jae and Mia made another block for Crimson. Jac added another kill off Tess, who was definitely flagging by this point.

Crimson got back in the set with a kill from Zoe, a Maggie fastball, an ace by Nellie, and Maggie tied it at 22 with another kill. This was followed by two dueling out serves and a net serve all in a row. The girls need to work on their serving under pressure. White was at match point, but Maggie tied it at 24 with a kill. Zoe and Bianca made a block to give Crimson the set, 26-24. I guess that ties it at 2 for the match. Crimson celebrated anyway.

Peyton looked miserable after the match. I hope she wasn’t playing to avoid getting cut from the team. A bunch of kids went down to the court for signatures. I looked around for Nellie figuring she’d go to her parents. I was looking for her mom and dad, Robin and Trey, when I came in. I was looking in the wrong place. I went to down to say, “Hi” to them. Nellie was wearing a big, happy smile, which I didn’t see when she was watching baseball. (Playing makes her happy.)

I assumed the young man with them was her ballplayer brother, Cooper. No, it was Cade Shumard, his roommate. Cooper was doing well, but was working out right now. “So you just brought in a reliever to replace him?” I said. Nellie said, “He’s also a replacement brother when Cooper irritates me.” I wish I’d found them earlier, so we could chat. I was embarrassed enough barraging in on a family gathering.

So, what’s my assessment of the team? I don’t know. We’re going to have to see them playing someone else and see who’s playing to get a sense of how well they’ll work together. I will throw out some observations about some players.

Maggie Lightheart, just from the sound, appears to be the hardest hitter on the team. She seems pretty mature out there and wants to be a leader. Claudia Rossi might be the best server, though a couple of other girls did serve well. Tess Fuqua and Jacqueline Corcoran, two virtual newcomers who were injured all last season, came out firing well. Jac’s name came up all over this recap. Tess did seem a bit fatigued as the match wore on. I hope that’s it and not her injury getting re-aggravated.

Bianca Perez was kind of shockingly effective as a hitter. Peyton Castillo and Kaylee Peterson were somewhat less effective, but could play it. Kaylee is still probably better as a defensive player. (All this to replace Ashley Herman on the court?) Finally, I was really impressed with transferee Katie Funk. She seemed to do everything well at the net and jumps well really well. (And I’m not sure how many times I credited her kills to Kate Sinclair above.) Jaelynn Kohli also looked good, especially for a freshman. She isn’t built like someone just out of high school.

Okay, that was fun and surprising. They’ll have their first match with an opponent ***next weekend.***

NM State Aggies vs Colorado College Tigers Soccer 8-14-25

Was this my first proper day off from work this year? Maybe. It was definitely the first Aggie game of the new season, Aggie Soccer versus Colorado College, so I took off for this evening game. I had somewhat agonized all summer about going back for more Aggie Sports. In the end, I had a few reasons to go and no reason not to other than I wasn’t really enthusiastic about it.

It was partly cloudy with rain in the area, but that thankfully kept the hot sun away until it went down. Otherwise, it was quite pleasant out. I went over to Chik-fil-a for dinner and it was great, but didn’t entirely go down well. I had internal consternation during the game, as well as from watching it.

At the Soccer Complex, I got to meet the biggest celebrity in Aggie Sports, Wave the Wonder Dog. He was a good dog. He licked me. This would be the highlight of the game for me. (This might be more foreshadowing about how the game would go.) Wave was there to hand out little statues of himself to fans buying Football season tickets. Marketing Director Nicole Sacks was there and I said, “Hi,” her. I told her I wasn’t signed up for those tickets, but I was going to get an Aggie Country Pass. She said I might be first somewhat wistfully. This doesn’t speak well for ticket sales.

(I had called the ticket office earlier. The guy there said, “Thanks for reminding me to take some.” I know they sold at least one more from seeing someone in the crowd with one.)

I saw some of Volleyball girls up front. I only recognized one of them. The rest must have been new. The team would camp out behind the north goal as usual. What was a change was that the scoreboard was no longer there. It had been moved off to the side at an angle. I guess it had taken one too many hits from being behind the goal.

I know the field was redone in the spring, but it currently looks terrible with yellow splotches everywhere. Meanwhile, next door Kill Hill is bright green from the summer rains and needs to be mowed. I checked out the Merch trailer and saw a new Wave t-shirt I’ll probably have to get on another day.

Terrible rap music was playing for the warmups, as usual. Rachel Haan was out on the field looking physically impressive. I’d finally get to see her play after she’d sat out last season. Unfortunately, Sydnee Johnson, one of the fastest girls on the team, was in a boot on the sidelines. Xitlaly Hernandez was back with the team, but now as a Graduate Assistant. From watching the game, Meredith Scott appears to be the team captain. She looks a lot more confident out there playing. It’s great to see. Sigh. I’m still missing Mya Hammack (10-13-24), though. What I also didn’t see was any interesting-looking new players. (More foreshadowing.)

It was a good crowd for a game against a school I’d never heard of. The Colorado College Tigers are in the Mountain West, so I assume they’re pretty good. Actually, from looking at their website, I think this is their only team in the conference. Their other programs, like Basketball, look to be Division II. I saw a young man in the crowd with a classic Jeff Gordon t-shirt. If I’d sat by him, I would have asked about it. Some guys from the Football team were out of the weight room and were watching from the hill. Some guys from the Baseball team might have been there, too.

Our goalie, Valerie Guha, seemed to have her own cheering section during player introductions. The team was wearing black with white stripes on the side. For our Anthem, we had three kneelers. (As if I wasn’t getting enough heartburn from dinner.) A new Pistol Pete walked by to hype up the crowd. He’d come in front of the crowd periodically during the game to lead cheers. He’s an enthusiastic fellow. They got the right guy. Also enthusiastic was our backup goalie, Karolanne Lafortune. In the huddle, she was jumping up and down in excitement. (Be careful. We only have two goalies on the roster.)

First Half

It felt like a bad start with CC easily keeping it in the Aggie end for most of the first half. They had an early corner and Val had to make a dive save on the shot. The Aggies had a couple of unforced turnovers. The Aggies got a corner kick with 37’ minutes left in the half. Defender Marlee Cavitt stripped an attacker on a breakaway. She got elbowed to the ground for the effort. Meredith later also got pushed to the ground. The Tigers were playing rough and the Aggies weren’t really handing it back to them.

The Aggies did take the offensive. 33’ new freshman Tessa O’Neill fed Meredith for a good attack chance. 31’ Marlee connected with Meredith for a header that just missed. But on a counter right after with just a couple of Tiger attackers, Kendall Memoly was alone in front of the Aggie goal. Val made a dive for the ball, but it was just out-of-reach. 0-1 CC.

The Tigers weren’t done. 24’ Val had to stop a point blank shot. The Aggies weren’t done either. 21’ Tessa found Meredith unguarded in front of the net. Goooooal! (I think I was the only one there with a cowbell to ring. Did everyone else forget theirs?) 1-1. The Aggies began doing some subbing. I won’t say that’s the cause, but there was Kendall again with the ball. 19’ she fired it through a crowd in front of the Aggie goal and found the net. 1-2 CC.

The Tigers pressed. 14’ it was nearly a crossing shot for an easy tap in that thankfully got kicked away. 12’ Mya Gonzales blocked a shot in front of the goal. 5’ the Aggies had a long possession in the CC end. They patiently made a bunch of passes, but never got a shot off and turned it over.

The guys behind me were doing commentary and criticism for the play on the field. They’ve sat behind me before. After a few bad kicks, one of the guys wanted to offer to be an assistant coach to help. I’m not sure if one of the guys was involved with one the players, but he mentioned he saw one of the girls was on an app giving a bad rating to her ex-boyfriend. I know this is probably more interesting than the game, but that’s all I heard.

4’ Mya made a great fakeout of a defender in front of the stands. Always do those kind of plays in front of the crowd if you want some appreciation for them. The commentary guys started going after the ball girls. “They’re not putting in in any effort. It’s not like you’re working at Walmart. Just run and get the damn ball.”

2’ Kendall took an unexpected ball off her head in front of the Aggie goal. She went down, but play continued. Val had fall on another shot before time expired. 1-2 CC.

Second Half

There was a Dizzy kick contest with a couple of little kids during halftime. They weren’t dizzy enough to make it entertaining. 43’ minutes left in the game, Bianca Chacon got a free kick at the top of the CC box. It was deflected away. (Bianca was injured last year. She came back as a graduate student this year.) A couple of minutes later, Charlotte Strabel on the Tigers was injured and had to be helped off. I didn’t see what happened to her.

The Tigers were back on the attack. 37’ Jena Johannes blocked a shot with her head. 33’ finally! Rachel came in and I got to see her play. I’d been waiting a year for this. She kicked the ball to Bianca for a shot. Tiger Goalie Regan Wallace had to fall on it. 30’ Milana Eyrich (Millie) passed to Rachel on a breakaway. She was well-guarded, but got off a kick that went wide.

28’ a player squared up and kicked one right into the stands . . . at me! I was holding something in both hands, but managed to deflect it. My hand was numb for a minute, but nothing like last season when I jammed a finger deflecting a ball. Like I mentioned above, a player took a deflected ball to the head and went down. The girls kick that ball really hard. (Another Tiger may have been taken out of the game for concussion protocols, but I didn’t see what caused it.)

26’ Rachel charged downfield on a breakaway, but lost the ball to a defender. She came out shortly after that. Well, she’s raw, no doubt, but she’s got a big leg. I hope Rachel learns quick, because I think she’ll be a real asset to the team. The Aggies got a corner right after. The Tigers were hopping mad about the call. Bianca kicked a popup shot that went over the goal.

23’ Jena hooked a breakaway attacker before she entered the Aggie box and received a yellow card. It was a free kick at the top of the box by Kendall. 19’ Val stopped it. On the counter, Millie took a long pass for a breakaway attempt. The defender back to confront her managed to break it up. Back the other way, Val made a dive and stopped a shot by Finley Schoenbeck. 18’ Millie was downfield on another long breakaway, but it was broken up again.

A little kid down in front timidly started a “Let’s go, Aggies!” chant. A moment later, the crowd picked it and sang along. 13’ the Aggies got another corner. They only managed a weak header on goal that was caught. A couple of minutes later, Ariana Ellison broke up a Tiger attack.

9’ the Aggies got into the Tiger box. Meredith was only able to make an awkward kick with the side of her foot while being swarmed by defenders. Right after, Bianca took a running shot that was blocked. A minute later, the Aggies had a corner, but didn’t get off an attack. 5’ save of the match by Val with a flying one-hand block off a CC corner. The Aggies made their last attack with 1:30’ left. Wallace pushed the ball out of the box. Time expired. Tigers win, 2-1.

I forgot to write down stats off the scoreboard at the end of the game. (It’s early in the season. Cut me some slack.) From seeing it earlier, CC pretty much dominated in shots and corners. The Aggies might have made it closer from their attacks in the second half. Tiger Kendall Memoly gets an easy Gameball for scoring a brace of goals. Meredith Scott gets one for her goal. Valerie Guha gets a Gameball for working hard to keep the score close.

I was wondering who Coach Baarts would bring in out of the transfer portal to replace some of his graduated star players. I’m not sure he found any big transfers. Volleyball may be in the same boat and I wonder if this is an institutional issue.  (More on this later.)  Though most of the team are multi-year returners, it seemed like they were almost starting over from scratch. This seems like a regression. Maybe they weren’t taking their opponent seriously or just had first game jitters. They did play GCU in an exhibition last week. I don’t know how that went.

Meredith seems like she’s ready to be a star and has players who can feed her the ball, but the Aggies need another scoring option or need to be much better defensively. It’s too bad Sydnee is out, because she could be that option. Again, if Rachel can play more and better, she could be an offensive threat.

I can’t judge the team accurately from one game though, especially since I didn’t know anything about the competition. We’ll see the Soccer girls again this weekend.  Maybe we’ll get a better picture then.

Baseball Journal August 2025 Part 3

8-7-25

Tonight’s MLB.TV Free Game was the Reds at the Pirates.    Paul Skenes was pitching for the Bucs and Ke’Bryan Hayes facing his old team after being traded.    I looked over the Pirates lineup.    Three guys were hitting under .200 with nobody close to .300.    Aggie great, Nick Gonzales, was the top hitter at .279.    That’s swell, but I’m sure Nick wishes that he had some more teammates hitting better.

In the first, the Reds got a couple of runners on.    Nick turned a nice double play to end the inning.    The broadcasters were questioning the small crowd size in Pittsburgh and were hoping that it wouldn’t be too much of a letdown for the Reds from playing in front of a full house in Chicago against the Cubs.    They were also asking why Pirate Brian Reynolds was having such a bad year.    They concluded that it was from playing on a last place team year after year.    I didn’t realize at the time I was listening to the Reds’ broadcasters!    Harsh!   

Regardless, Reynolds somehow heard them and cranked out a solo shot.    After three walks, Jared Triolo singled in two runs and it was, 3-0 Pirates.    Reds’ starter, Brady Singer, was already over 30 pitches.    I went over to the Pirates’ broadcast for the rest of the game, but I didn’t hear the regular play-by-play guy, who has the great catch phrases.    (I keep forgetting his name.)   

In the top of the third, Hayes came up to bat.    He was given a nice hand by the crowd.    The video board played a montage of his decade as a Pirate.    What a classy move!    Hayes tipped his helmet to the crowd and did something he’d been wanting to do since last year: take an at bat against Paul Skenes.    He singled.    Nick nearly turned another tricky DP, but the ball was dropped at first.   

There was some bonus coverage with the White Sox at the Mariners in the 11-th.    The M’s walked off the Sox.    New (and returning) Mariner, Eugenio Suarez, slid in just ahead of a tag at home on a swallow single, 4-3.

In the bottom of the third, a foul line drive nearly took out the dugout reporter.    He made no effort to try and protect his very attractive blonde assistant, which the other broadcasters gave him a hard time over.    In the fourth, the Pirates added a run and chased Singer from the mound, 4-0.    In the fifth, Andrew McCutchen thrown out at home trying to score on a swallow single.    On close up replay, he might have snuck his hand in first.

Skenes finished the sixth.    It was a terrible game for him.    He gave up seven hits for the first time in his career (his 47-th start).    No runs, 8 strikeouts, and no walks, but a disappointing game.    (He’d given up a three-run homer in a preceding game and the broadcasters were shocked.)   

In the bottom of the sixth, Nick singled and Oneil Cruz’s fielder’s choice brought in another run, 5-0.    The Pirates’ broadcast ran an ad for suites.    They seemed to be targeting common fans with this.    (Meaning, they’re having trouble selling them to rich fans.)    To cap the evening, Henry Davis hit a two-run homer in the seventh to make it, 7-0, which was the final.    “Raise the Jolly Rodger!    Pirates win!”    (I had to say it, since the broadcaster wasn’t there to say it.)    This was a blowout and I wasn’t listening to the broadcaster I wanted to, but I was really enjoying the game and happy to see the Pirates do well tonight.

It was 4-2 Comets when I tuned in in the third inning of their game with the Chihuahuas.    The pups loaded the bases this inning and a wild pitch brought in a run.    After a walk reloaded the bases and a change of pitchers, Rodolpho Duran cranked out a grand slam on his first pitch to make it, 7-4.    The Chihuahuas scored two more runs score to make it 9-4 in a 12-batter, 5 walk inning.   

Again, work interrupted my listening.    The top of the seventh ended on catcher Luis Campusano picking off a runner at second on a walk.    Broadcaster Tim Hagerty commented on the rarity of that play.    I missed whatever caused it, but the benches emptied in the top of the ninth.    I think it was on a hit by pitch.    There was no fighting, but the benches were warned.    The Chihuahuas won their sixth in a row, 11-5.    After these three games, I can see the Comets being pretty frustrated.

8-8-25

The Chihuahuas were playing the OKC Comets again tonight.    Pups’ starter, Jackson Wolf, had issues in the first.    He loaded the bases with no outs, but managed to get out of it with only a sac run.    Catcher Rodolpho Duran threw out a runner at second.    In the bottom, Nate Mondou singled in two runs to give the Chihuahuas a 2-1 lead.    Oddly, both teams lost all of their challenges in the first inning.    The home plate ump was doing a pretty good job.   

The Comets retook the lead in the second on two-run homer.    Tim Locastro came back and tied it on solo shot. Yonathan Perlaza doubled in another run for the lead, 4-3 Chihuahuas.    The Comets had two solo homers in the top of the third, 5-4 Comets.    The balls were flying out.    The bottom of the third was first scoreless inning.

The Comets homered again in the fourth with a low line drive that was barely fair.    Esteury Ruiz, a former Chihuahua, followed that with a 400’ shot.    Wolf came out, but another run scored to make it, 8-4 Comets.    It’s not over, yet.    In the bottom, Tyler Wade singled in two runs.    A Will Wagner bunt single and a walk loaded the bases with nobody out.    The pups only got one run off of a Fielder’s Choice.    8-7 Comets.

The Comets scored again in the fifth, 9-7, and the second scoreless inning of the game was in the bottom.    Another run was added by both teams to make it, 10-8 Comets.    In the bottom of the ninth, Mason McCoy homered to close it to only a one-run lead.    The Chihuahuas loaded the bases with two outs.    The crowd was into it, as you might imagine.    Clay Dungan hit a line drive into the corner that was just foul.    He finally fouled out to end the game, 10-9 Comets.    What a barrage!    Just glancing at the box score, the Comets kept the Chihuahuas in the game thanks to 12 walks.

I was very busy at work and later in the night, I was listening to a very interesting political talk show.    Something had to give and that was the MLB.TV Free Game.    The Red Sox were at the Padres in a great matchup, but what turned out to be a lousy blowout.    I didn’t pay much attention to the 10-2 Red Sox win.    I did see in the eighth that Fernando Tatis Jr. took a dive on a pitch at his head.    I wonder if that’ll have repercussions for the rest of the series.   

8-9-25

Dad and I went over to Subway to get lunch.    We split a foot-long Chicken Bacon Ranch sub.    It was filling, but kind of tasteless.    It was nothing like Domino’s version of the sandwich.    We watched the NASCAR Xfinity race from Watkins Glen this afternoon.    It was a road race where a Talladega “Big One” broke out in the late stages and took out a bunch of cars.    I’d never seen that before.    19-year old Connor Zilisch mostly dominated the race, but had to come from behind twice to win it.    That was fun, though the wreck clean up took a while.

   

Dad wasn’t pleased with the delay, either.    He had somewhere he wanted to go.    I chose to go back home after the race, since it was late in the afternoon.    I was in time for the Rangers playing the Phillies on the radio.    It was Josh Hamilton Day there, as he was inducted into the Rangers’ Hall of Fame.    The broadcasters spoke glowingly about him during the game.   

               

The Rangers scored a run in the first and that held up until the seventh.    Starter Jacob deGrom held the Phillies down until then, but gave up a two-run double.    He came out and a reliever gave up another run to make it, 3-1 Phillies.    In the eighth, Corey Seager hit a solo shot to make it, 3-2.

Meanwhile, I was peeking in on the Chihuahuas against the OKC Comets.    In the first, knuckleballer Matt Waldron was again having issues.    He gave up four runs and didn’t come back out for the second.    4-0 Comets.

The one-run Rangers game went to the ninth.    Bzzzzzz!    The station powered down for the evening.    I tried the Amarillo affiliate, but it wasn’t dark enough yet for them to power up.    I flipped over to the Chihuahuas game for good.    They had also powered down, but were still listenable.    The game, however, wasn’t.    I tuned in just as the Comets doubled in three more runs in the fourth.    It would be 8-0 when the inning ended.    During this time, broadcaster Tim Hagerty gave the final of the Rangers game, 3-2 Phillies.       

I tuned into the Dallas Cowboys preseason game radio broadcast off-and-on briefly during the Rangers’ game.    (It was on TV on a local station I don’t get.)    I swear every time it was a play with a flag thrown.    If there was ever a game where all of the plays were called back on penalties would anyone notice?    I didn’t get much out of listening to this one other than the Cowboys’ defense was apparently lacking.   

It was 11-0 Comets by the fifth.    Slightly desperate, I tried KOA out of Denver for the Rockies game, hoping it hadn’t finished yet.    They were doing a Broncos’ preseason game.    I kept listening to the Chihuahuas.    They managed a few runs, including Will Wagner’s first Chihuahuas’ home run (400+’), but they lost, 11-3.    Oddly, like yesterday, there were 12 walks, but this time it was the Chihuahuas issuing the free passes.    I could only feel for the fans in El Paso.    The game was taking forever (three-and-a-half hours), their team was losing badly, and the likely large Saturday crowd was waiting for fireworks and there were storms in the area. 

Baseball Journal August 2025 Part 2

8-4-25

Tonight’s MLB.TV Free Game was the Orioles at the Phillies.    It’s the bottom of the AL East versus the top of the NL East.    The fans in Philly got what they came for early: Bryce Harper homered in the first.    Hey!    Where’s Kyle Bradish?    Where’s our Aggie star pitcher turned Oriole star pitcher?  [Answer: He’s rehabbing in the minor leagues and having some problems.]   

In the second, the O’s struck back.    Tyler O’Neill hit a massive two-run homer.    It took a big throw from a fan in the stands to send the ball back to the field.    2-1 O’s.    Harrison Bader was traded to the Phils at the Deadline.    He came up in the bottom still looking for his first hit with them.    The lavender accents on his protective gear were a bold choice.

Though trailing in the third, the Phillies’ announcers were throwing dirt on the Orioles’ season.    They were saying that this was a good time for them to try out their top minor leaguers to see what they have to either keep or trade.    I can’t argue with that.    They’ve been criticized for holding on to their prospects too long.    The announcers also obsessed over an adorable little girl in a dress in the stands with a birthday button.    I guess you can get a button at the gate there if it’s your birthday.    Jordan Westburg homered to add to the O’s lead, 3-1.

Well, enough for letting them hope.    In the bottom of the third, Kyle Schwarber cranked a 427’ third deck two-run homer that woke the crowd up.    We were tied at 3.    The Phanatic was dancing in the aisle.    The broadcasters had been talking about Schwarber’s home runs this season.    He’s close to Cal Raleigh’s total in Seattle.

Whoa!    Here we go!    They had a segment with the gorgeous blonde field reporter, Taryn, who was talking to a local sub owner that works across from the park and sells at the stadium.    They were showing off an even more incredible-looking meatball sub.    The broadcasters showed off their awesome sandwiches in the booth.    This was all right before my oatmeal and yogurt dinner.    The Philly fans booed, of course.    “We don’t like pretty girls and good food!    Get back to the game!    Boooo!”

There was a long review in the bottom of the sixth.    The Philly broadcasters thought that JT Realmuto was out for sure at first and that Gunnar Henderson had made a great play to get him.    The runner was ruled safe.    Why do we bother with these reviews?    O’s starter, Cade Povich, was relieved after the play.    Bader came up with two on and blasted one out for his first Philly hit.    That’s how to get on Philly Fan’s good side (momentarily, at least)    6-3 Phillies.   

Catcher Adely Rutschman was earning his spot having to block a three wild pitches in the dirt from the new reliever.    It wasn’t over yet.    The Phillies drove in another run and then there was a walk to load the bases.    The O’s had to bring in another pitcher.    Schwarber was back up and hammered a grand slam!    11-3 Phillies.    That was 8 runs all with 2 outs.    By the bottom of the seventh, the Phillies started putting in their bench.    Even then, they had back-to-back solo shots in the eighth.    The broadcasters were discussing disco for some reason.    The older guy didn’t understand it.    Phillies win, 13-3.

I was really interested in the Yankees at the Rangers.    Lacking any other coverage, I checked out the game on Gameday.    (Hey!    What happened to Jake Burger?)    [Answer: He’s injured.]    This was probably the game of the night.    The Yankees took an early 3-0 lead.    The Rangers came back in the second with 4 runs.   

The Yanks retook the lead on a Giancarlo Stanton two-run homer in the fourth.    Down, 5-4, pinch hitter Joc Pederson came up in the bottom of the ninth and led off with a solo homer to tie it.    Danny Coulombe worked a scoreless top of the tenth.    In the bottom, with Corey Seager on and two outs, Wyatt Langford was intentionally walked to get to Josh Jung.    Josh walked it off with a three-run homer for an 8-5 Ranger win.    This was the same guy that Ranger fans were booing off the team in June.    I guess he took it as constructive criticism. 

8-5-25

The Chihuahuas were starting a series against the OKC Comets tonight.    The Voice of the UTEP Miners, Jon Teicher, came on the air briefly chuckling.    He somehow got caught on Tim Hagerty’s mic, the Voice of the Chihuahuas.    Teich was the official scorer for the game.    He’s a man of many skills.   

Chihuahuas’ starter, Matt Waldron, was having issues in the first with his knuckleball in the 100+ degree heat.    (It might not work as well in hot weather.)    Two runs came in, but the inning ended on a double play.    The pups bite back in the bottom.    They scored, loaded the bases, and got another run on a single.    A runner was thrown out at the plate to end the inning.    2-2.   

Tim reported that players were asking him about how the playoffs work.    They’re eager to get in.    That’s encouraging.    Waldron was out after four more runs scored in the second, 6-2 Comets.    After this point, I was probably busy with work and wasn’t able to follow the game.    When I was able to start paying attention again, it was 7-6 Comets in the sixth.    The Chihuahuas loaded the bases, but the Comets turned a DP to get out of it.    The Chihuahuas’ manager and a player argued the close call to no avail.

In the bottom of the ninth, a double and then a walk brought up Mason McCoy for a bunt attempt.    It was mishandled in the field and thrown away.    The tying run scored.    The bases were intentionally loaded with no outs and infield came in.    A sac fly won it for the pups, 8-7.    It wasn’t my imagination; the game was dragging with 17 combined walks.    With a loss by Tacoma, the Chihuahuas were now a game-and-a-half out of first.    Will Wagner, who is a new Chihuahua via trade, made his home debut with 3 hits and a two-run triple.   

The MLB.TV Free Game was a blowout by the Mariners against the White Sox.    The M’s were up, 8-1 in the eighth.    It was raining at T-Mobile Stadium in Seattle.    They had the roof open during a light shower.  The cameras caught a little boy with his shirt off jumping up and down in the rain.    The M’s won, 8-3, as the Sox got a couple of solo home runs in the ninth.    I didn’t see or hear any of the game, but I noted that the Rangers beat the Yankees, 2-0.    Rowdy Tellez singled in two runs in the eighth.    Nathan Eovaldi pitched 8 innings and gave up only 1 hit.    The Yankees have lost five in a row.

8-6-25

I didn’t quite get what I wanted today with baseball, but I got something better instead.    There were two day games on the schedule, annoyingly at about the same time.    I was looking forward to hearing the Rangers and the Yankees series finale to see if the Rangers would sweep.    The local affiliate chose not to broadcast the game, though.    Maybe it’s just as well, as the Yankees won, 3-2, as I found out later.   

At least I could just concentrate on one game: the OKC Comets versus the Chihuahuas.    They started off with a cool electric guitar Anthem.    What wasn’t cool was the temperature.    It was 98-degrees and would only go up as the game progressed.    It didn’t seem to be a school day game.    (I’m not sure school is even in session in El Paso yet.)    The reported attendance was over 5,000, which was pretty good for a scorching weekday day game.

The Comets began the scoring in the second with a pair of runs for the Comets.    In the fifth, Jose Ramos hit a 460’ homer that hit Scottish Rite building next door to make it, 3-0 Comets.    In the top of the seventh, a three-run double cleared a bases loaded situation to make it, 6-0 Comets.    By this point, I’m pretty unhappy that I’m not listening the Rangers’ game.

In the bottom of the seventh, Rodolpho Duran hit a 431’ two-run homer for the pups.    I didn’t hear much from the crowd on that one.    In the bottom of the eighth, the pups loaded the bases with two outs.  The pitcher and the batter were both changed out.    The new Comet hurler, Edgardo Luis Henriquez, was touching 104mph, but not accurately.   Two wild pitches brought in all three baserunners.    The second one was on a ball four and two runners came in on it.    The next batter singled a runner to third and Will Wagner drove in the tying run.    You could hear the crowd in this inning.    It was 6-6 going into the ninth.

Ron Marinaccio locked down the top of the ninth.    The Chihuahuas loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth with a single and two walks and one out.    Tim Locastro walked it off with a single.    Chihuahuas win, 7-6!    What a game!

No Free Game tonight, but a couple of interesting games to note.    Cleveland was a 4-1 winner over the Mets, but lost out on no-hitter in the ninth on a home run by Juan Soto.  This game was mentioned during the Chihuahuas’ game, as Austin Hedges was the Indians’ catcher today and was a former pups’ catcher.    Meanwhile in Colorado, the Blue Jays beat the Rockies, 20-1.    I hope it was at least a nice evening in Denver for the game.