Video: Runner jumps catcher to score run
See a wild play from a California game.La Cueva (Albuquerque) vaulted 13 places in Monday's state baseball rankings by stunning the No. 1 and 5 teams last week.
During the Sal Puentes Invitational, the Bears knocked off No. 1 Carlsbad 4-1 and routed No. 5 Cleveland (Rio Rancho) 11-2. However, they lost a tight 9-7 decision to Clovis, which moved from No. 19 to 14, in the wind-blown title match after leading by a 5-0 margin.
Junior righthander
Jonathan Stroman used his fastball exclusively to set down previously unbeaten Carlsbad, retiring the last 19 batters. Carlsbad also contributed five errors in the crucial fifth and sixth innings. They earned the rout of Cleveland with 12 hits, including a pair of bases-loaded doubles by
Justin Stagner and
Stone Romero.
That leaves the Bears, who have a 6-5 overall record, sitting at No. 18 after being in the 31st position prior to the previous ranking. The rankings are updated twice weekly, on Mondays and Thursdays.
For more on the upward movers in the most recent rankings, read on after the list. And
click here to view the New Mexico Computer Rankings presented by the Army National Guard.
Biggest jumps in the New Mexico baseball computer rankings
Connor Mang, Los Alamos
File photo by John Denne
+13 (31 to 18)
Farmington +10 (42 to 32)
Hope Christian (Albuquerque) +7 (26 to 19)
New Mexico Military Institute (Roswell) +6 (37 to 31)
Clovis +5 (19 to 14)
Los Alamos +5 (38 to 33)
Farmington, despite having just a 4-8 record, has moved up 10 places to No. 32 after posting a 2-3 record during the 113-team Coach Bob Invitational in Phoenix. The Scorpions defeated Arcadia (Phoenix) 5-1 and Willow Canyon (Surprise, Ariz.) 14-2. Two of their losses were by a single run.
Coach Sean Trotter was ecstatic but conceded, "Any victory for us could be (termed) an upset. I thought our kids played exceptionally well - they are fighters. I felt that we turned the corner last week."
Hope Christian, now 6-4, moved up seven positions to No. 19, paced by senior left-handed pitcher-slugger
Joe Standley, who is hitting a lusty .677 with four home runs and 19 RBIs. Glenn Copeland calls Standley, a New Mexico State University signee, one of the best hitters he ever has coached.
The Huskies routed Robertson (Las Vegas) 17-1 in six innings for a big victory, but a 3-2 loss to a good Rio Grande team finished on the bizarre side. The winning run scored on a walk-off strikeout. Copeland explained "Our kids thought it (the pitch) hit the batter's back foot. It kicked in a crazy direction and the runner scored from second base."
