Two-year veteran sophomore Gavin Maloney got the start against Ruidoso in a pre-season scrimmage.
Karen Boehler
NMMI Sports Press
Soph second baseman Frank Marchi shows excellent two-hand form while fielding a ground ball.
With only one starting senior graduated off last year’s Colt baseball team — a squad that made it to the state tournament — this year’s NMMI crew will be senior heavy and looking to make some noise.
“We’ve got a great crew back,” said coach Charlie Ward. “We expect to compete if our pitching comes through. I expect our seniors to represent; to act like leaders and understand the game better and compete. We hope to be in the thick of things come district when it’s time.”
Not a senior but a sophomore will be the ace of the pitching squad this year. Gavin Maloney, who’s been on the varsity since he was an eighth grader — will take to the mound early and often.
Behind him, at least early in the season, is a mix of Colts.
Ryan Dement hits an RBI triple in the scrimmage vs. Ruidoso, bringing in teammate Ian Curnutt for the Colt run.
“It looks like pitching by committee in one game,” Ward said.
Eli Aguilar, a senior who plays first and third as well as throwing, had a strong effort in the NMMI scrimmage vs. Ruidoso and Roswell March 2nd.
“He pitched real well in the scrimmage, so we’re looking for better things from him, knowing he competed and threw strikes,” the coach said.
Others who should see action on the mound include seniors Mateo Fierro, Peter DeGroot and possibly Jake Guerrero, as well as sophomores Frank Marchi and Connor Roe. Junior Michel Hinojos will be in the mix, but Ward said an elbow injury will keep him from throwing for about a month.
Dugout is all smiles after Dement’s triple.
Guerrero has been with the Colts for two years, and will be the starting catcher. DeGroot is a four-year player at shortstop; Ian Curnutt a senior first and third baseman; Fierro a pitcher/outfielder; Francisco Galvez the starting center fielder; and Danny Jaramillo a senior returner at first base.
Senior Jack Tingwall is out early with a broken hand, but Ward hopes to have him back by district. Senior Ryan Dement played for the varsity last year while seniors Nick Valentine and Chris Matthews; sophomore Francisco Rivera; and freshman Jasper Best all saw most of their time with the NMMI junior varsity.
New to the Colts is Daniel Sanchez. The Taos resident came in in January to the basketball team, and Ward has high hopes for him.
Between half-innings, NMMI catcher Jake Guerrero makes the practice throw down to second.
“We like him. We think he’s going to help us in the infield,” the coach said.
With the season ready to start Saturday — the junior varsity opened Tuesday in Portales — Ward said the scrimmage gave him a chance to evaluate the team.
“I wanted to see kids compete,” he said. “Throw strikes. At times, we showed positive things and at times it did get ugly, but that’s a scrimmage. So I’m not worried. We’re just trying to give a lot of kids a chance to compete, and find out who’s ready to play at a high level, and we found out some of them are not ready.”
The Colts have been working on their hitting mostly in cages, and Ward likes a lot of what he’s seeing.
“We’ve been hitting really well for the past month,” he said. “We’re really pleased. We probably hit some balls harder than we have in a scrimmage since I’ve been a part of NMMI. We’ve got a long way to go with any situation hitting: two-strike, curve ball, but that’s going to come, because that was our first live hitting at 60 feet. We did one run and hit, executed. Did a poor steal execution, but will go over things at practice so can correct those mistakes.”
As far as fielding, Ward said NMMI looked good in the scrimmage, and hopes to not do what they did last year: let errors compound into big innings.
“I hope we don’t give up those big seven spots, eight spots or whatever because it’s all done with two outs with mistakes,” he said. “If you make a mistake, a good team can find a way to overcome it and make it minimal, one or two runs, then you’re in the ballgame still.”
And, playing on the newly-turfed infield, Ward said his players have few excuses for mistakes. He is excited about the new field and with the Broncos on the road, the Colts have had “several good practices” prior to opening day.
All four District 4AAAA teams made it to the playoffs last season, and Ward is thinking at least three will again this year. He calls Portales “the team to beat. They lost some seniors, but they’ve got good pitching back and coach Dusty Nusser does a good job with his team.”
Ruidoso went to the state title game in 2015, falling to Sandia Prep, so they’ll be in the mix as well.
“They’re always loaded with athletes,” he said. “They always compete. They lost a lot of seniors, but coach (Gilbert) Alvarado will always get them prepared.”
East Mountain is the only question mark, with several graduated seniors, but Ward expects the Colts to be right in the mix. They’ll get ready with a tough preseason that includes two tournaments that the Colts won last year: the Hal Bogle Invitational in Dexter and the Roswell Sertoma – Colt Classic at home.
“That’s going to be our ultimate goal again,” Ward said. “We want to try to win the Dexter and repeat and we want to try to repeat ours.”
But it won’t be easy. The Colts are pitted against 3A state runner up Lordsburg in the opening game in Dexter, and could face such tough teams as Dexter, Mesilla Valley, Tucumcari, Loving, Pecos and Texico. The 22nd annual Colt Classic doesn’t get any easier, with Dexter, Hatch Valley, Texico, Tularosa, Santa Rosa, Capitan and Gateway Christian in the mix.
Despite what will be solid competition, Ward is ready for the season to get under way.
“We’ve very excited. Very proud to be a part of the NMMI school and staff with this program,” he said. “We’re looking forward to being a part of this facility and the Colt Classic that we run.”
