Inaugural tourney trophy eludes Socorro

Claiming the trophy of the inaugural Socorro Baseball Tournament eluded the Warriors as Laguna took the championship game 4-1.

“We were disappointed that we didn’t win the tournament,” coach David White said of the Saturday game. “Our bats were not consistent with our Friday performance. We had our best hitting game in two years against Manual with 24 hits.”

Socorro reach the championship game by defeating Manual 26-4 on Friday and Santa Teresa 10-9 on Thursday.

In the hitting-fest, it was everybody hits and everybody scores for the Warriors.

After opening the game with a run by Kyle Haley in the first on a single by Castillo, Socorro romped in the second inning with 12 runs.

Anthony Maldonado and Kevin Haley singled to open the second. They scored on a single by Stephen Hall.

Moises Castillo and Gabe Vigil followed with triples, to drive in Hall and Castillo respectively.

In Maldonado’s second at-bat he singled, driving in Vigil.

The rally continued with Kevin Haley walking, Norbert Peralta, Aaron Rhodes, Hall and Kyle Haley each singling and then scoring.

The Warriors remained in charge in the third as Castillo and Kyle Wolf singled, and Joseph Santillanes sent them home on a two-RBI single.

Leo Baca followed with an RBI double to send in Santillanes. Baca crossed home plate on a Kevin Haley single.

Matt Torres walked to continue the rally and Rhodes reached on an error. A Wolf RBI triple cleared the bases and then scored on a Santillo single. Santillo added the last run of the inning on a Kevin Haley.

A two-run homer by Kyle Haley in the fourth secured the victory. The homer drove in Anthony Lukesh, who opened the at-bat with a double.

Castillo pitched a two-hitter while striking out nine and walking five.

On Saturday, the Warriors were unable to wake up their bats against Laguna.

“Their pitcher was outstanding. He is one of the top Double A pitchers. He’s got an 80 mph fastball,” White said of the Laguna hurler.

Socorro’s solo run came in the sixth when Kyle Haley walked and then scored on a Vigil sacrifice grounder.

“The victory came down to an error on our part in the third inning,” White said. “They had the bases loaded when a grounder took a bad hop and got by us.”

Santillanes worked the mound for the Warriors. He gave up four hits while striking out eight and walking four.

In the third place game, Manual rallied back from its 26-4 loss to Socorro to defeat Bernalillo 8-1.

Socorro opened district action against Bernalillo on Tuesday, scores were not available at press time.

The Warriors travel to Las Vegas Robertson on Saturday for a doubleheader starting at noon.