La Junta sweeps Pueblo West
Friday's La Junta summer baseball team's doubleheader at 22nd Street Field featured a first game where the Tigers came from behind to win. La Junta led from start to finish in the nightcap as it swept Pueblo West by scores of 4-2 and 6-3.
"It's an experience," said LJ coach Justin Weber. "It got my heart going a little bit in the first game. But they hit the ball and came back. The pitching was good in both games."
First game
After a scoreless first inning, Pueblo West scored the first run of the first game in the top of the second. Isaiah Avila led off with a walk and he took second on Keegan Ruiz's groundout. Avila advanced to third on a passed ball and he scored on Connor Farnsworth's groundout.
The Cyclones scored another run in the fourth. Deandre Gonzales was hit by a pitch, Avila walked and Ruiz was also hit to load the bases. Farnsworth was also plucked to drive home Gonzales and give Pueblo West a 2-0 lead.
The Tigers scored all of their runs in the bottom of the sixth. Javier Alvidrez got a leadoff double and he went to third on Dyson Oquist's single. Alvidrez came home on Joseph Martinez's single, and Oquist scored on Hayden Honey's groundout to tie the score at 2-2.
Zack Archuleta, who was courtesy-running for Martinez advanced to second as Kain DiRezza grounded out and Archuleta scored the go-ahead run as Cody Schrock was safe on an error.
Schrock went to second on the play and he came home on Jay Paolucci's single.
The Cyclones went down in order in the top of the seventh to end the game.
Jon Nuschy went the distance as the Tigers' pitcher and he allowed two runs and one hit. He struck out eight, walked three and he hit four batters.
Avila was Pueblo West's starting pitcher, but he did not figure in the decision. He allowed no runs and two hits through five innings and he had three strikeouts and no walks.
Isaac Sloan finished the game and he took the loss. He gave up four runs and four hits while striking out none and walking none.
La Junta had six hits in the opener and it was led on offense by Alvidrez, who went 2-3 with two doubles and Paolucci, who went 2-3 with one RBI. The other hits were singles by Oquist and Joseph Martinez.
Ty Garcia accounted for the Cyclones' only hit of the first game.
Second game
La Junta was the visiting team on the scoreboard in the second game and the Tigers struck for two runs in the top of the first. Oquist led off the game by drawing a walk. He took second on a balk, advanced to third in Pablo Martinez's groundout and Oquist came home on Joseph Martinez's single.
Nuschy singled and after Joseph Martinez stole third, he scored on Schrock's base hit to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead.
La Junta put two more runs on the board in the second. Paolucci started the inning with a walk and he went to second on Austin Bayes' groundout. Paolucci took third on a wild pitch and he was driven home on Riley Romero's single.
Oquist and Alvidrez both got base hits to load the bases and Romero scored on Pablo Martinez's sacrifice fly to extend the Tigers' lead to 4-0.
La Junta added a run in the fourth. Oquist reached first base on a fielder's choice and he stole both second and third. He came home on Alvidrez's groundout for a 5-0 advantage.
Pueblo West scored twice in the bottom of the fourth. Garcia led off with a single and Avila was safe on a fielder's choice. Garcia came home on Dillon Claspell's base hit and Avila scored on a wild pitch to cut the La Junta lead to 5-2.
The Tigers got another run in the fifth. Joseph Martinez got a leadoff single and after going to second on Nuschy's groundout, he went to third as Schrock got on first on an error. Joseph Martinez scored on DiRezza's single for a 6-2 advantage.
The Cyclones responded with a run in the bottom of the fifth. Tanner Molespini was hit by a pitch to start the inning and Marc Masters was also hit to give Pueblo West runners at first and second. Garcia singled home Molespini to reduce the lead to 6-3.
Pueblo West put runners on base in the sixth but were unable to score them. The Cyclones also had a runner on first in the seventh, but once again, could not bring him home.
DiRezza was the Tigers' starting pitcher and he received the win. He gave up three runs and two hits while striking out five, walking two and hitting four.
Pablo Martinez pitched the final inning and allowed no runs and one hit. He had two strikeouts and no walks.
Zack Harriman started for Pueblo West and he took the loss. He surrendered four runs and six hits and he struck out two and walked two.
Dain Rojas relieved Harriman and he allowed one run and one hit. He accounted for one strikeout and two walks.
Josh Aragon finished the game for the Cyclones and he gave up one run and four hits. He struck out one and walked none.
The Tigers had 11 hits and they were led by Oquist, who went 2-3, DiRezza, who went 2-3 with one RBI and Joseph Martinez, who went 2-4 with one RBI.
The remaining hits were singles by Nuschy, Schrock, Romero, Alvidrez and Pablo Martinez.
Pueblo West was led by Garcia, who was 2-3 with one RBI. Claspell, Avila, Farnsworth and Molespini had the other hits.
Tigers play Pueblo County today
La Junta will host a doubleheader with Pueblo County today. The first game begins at 3 p.m. at 22nd Street field.
"I'm sure Pueblo County will be pretty good," Weber said. "They were good last year and I'm sure they'll have a couple of older guys. So we'll see what we can do."
La Junta 4, Pueblo West 2
P. West 010 100 0 — 2 1 5
La Junta 000 004 x — 4 6 1
Avila, Sloan (6, L) and Ruiz. Nuschy (W) and J. Martinez.
La Junta 6, Pueblo West 3
La Junta 220 110 0 — 6 11 0
P. West 000 210 0 — 3 6 1
DiRezza (W), P. Martinez (7) and Alvidrez. Harriman (L), Rojas (3), Aragon (5) and Farnsworth.
