Julie is lame part 4 - Baseball 2014

And now it's my annual post about Chad's most recent and final (boo hoo!) baseball season.  But what a way to go out.

Here they are, the 2014 Varsity Bears Baseball team ranked #1 in the state of New Mexico and #24 in the United States.  Love them!   Both their coaches and their principal commented on what a pleasure it was for them to not only know that these boys would always give 110% on the field but that they would always make good choices off the field as well.  They just are really good boys who would do just about anything for each other, for their coaches and for their school.  Cheesy I know, but true. :)

Do your eyes deceive you or is that Chad Smith with a bat in his hand?  I know. I know.  But it's true. Chad actually got three at bats this year.  It was awesome.  He got one hit, grounded out once and got walked once, so he ended the season with a .500 batting average.  Ha!  His friend Trey who is also a PO (pitcher only) got one at bat, hit a triple and probably has the highest batting average in the state.  At least I don't know anyone else who batted 1000.  So fun!

This is the high five after their last district game.  They were undefeated in district play and actually ten runned their opponents in all but one game.  They were amazing.  They only lost three games all season, two of them to Volcano Vista (Chad's only two losses of the season : ( ).  Their second game against Volcano Vista was their last predistrict game and they lost 0-9.  It just was not their day.  (Plus Volcano Vista has a pitcher who is simply phenomonal.  I have never seen a pitcher  do so well against La Cueva's power hitters). But I guess it revved them up because they never lost another game for the rest of the season.  Yahoo!

La Cueva's amazing seniors.  They have played together for years and are having a hard time adjusting to the fact that they will be attending different colleges this fall.  I think they are a big part of the reason that Chad thinks he wants to stay in state.

National Anthem before game #1 of the first round of state play-offs.  La Cueva had the number one seed and played Cibola who was seeded #16.  They play best two out of three for the first round and after that, it's single elimination.  For the last two years La Cueva has gone out in the semi-final game.

National Anthem before the quarter-finals game at Isotopes Park against Hobbs.  Last year, only the final game was at Isotopes park so Chad had never played here before.  He said it was just a little intimidating to come out of the bull pen and see the crowds.  At their regular season games, the crowd mostly consisted of parents and a few of their die-hard friends.  He was nervous for the first couple of pitches but after that it was smooth sailing.  They won 13-0 but after that things got a little trickier.  Chad's friend Alex pitched the semi-finals game against Carlsbad who is a formidable opponent to say the least.  He rocked it though and the Bears won 5-1.

Trey started the final game against Eldorado.  To set the stage, we had already beat Eldorado three times but they were still ranked #2 in the state at seeding time.  They are a remarkable team.  La Cueva just happened to play three of their best games ever when we played against them in district.  For sure, Chad's district game against them was his best pitching game of the year.  But, anyway, their batters had definitely seen every one of our pitchers before, which gets a little tricky.  Trey was uncharacteristically nervous, but he did great.  Eldorado was definitely hitting better than they had in any of our previous games though, and Chad said it was nerve racking being alone in the Isotopes bull pen for the first four innings while the rest of his teammates were in the dugout and the score remained painfully close.  Eldorado got a run in the first inning.  La Cueva got one in the second. Tied. Then  Eldorado got another in the third to pull ahead again. Finally in the top of the fifth, La Cueva scored four giving them 3 run lead.  But then in the bottom of the fifth, Eldorado loaded the bases again with only one out. And that, my friends, was when Coach Pineda decided to bring Chad in. It was my worst nightmare people - a scenario I had dreaded for two years.  I was as pale as a ghost and probably closer to barfing than Chad was. Luckily we got out of the inning with only one run and the following inning with only one as well.  Coach Pineda went to take Chad out during that second inning with two runners on and two outs but Chad  really wanted to get the last out. So coach (who later said Chad looked scarier than he had ever seen him at this point) said to go ahead.  Chad threw the pitch, the batter hit the ball and Jeff made an outstanding play at short stop ending the 6th inning. Phew! La Cueva didn't score anymore runs in the top of the sixth so going into the bottom of the seventh the score was still 5-4 La Cueva. Thankfully for my frazzled nerves, Cub went in to pitch.  We were all on the edge of our seats, but he was a beast and retired the last three batters with no problem whatsoever! Woo Hoo!  State Champs! Below is Chad during his pitching stint in the final game with his catcher Drew who can hit homeruns like nobody's business and once even hit two grand slams in one game.  Pitchers fear him and often just walk him to avoid the threat.  What a stud!

Here are the boys running in for the dog pile after the game.  I think the news said that there were three thousand people in the audience and most of them were screaming.  It was awesome!

The scoreboard with the final score.

So excited!

The boys were on such an adrenaline high I thought they'd never be able to go to sleep.  Most of the players actually camped at the La Cueva field that night but Chad was just too tired after a week of graduation and baseball activities so he came home and immediately dozed off.  Apparently the exhaustion overcame the adrenaline after all.

With their shirts and their trophy.

Chad with his second most loyal fan after the game.

And a few weeks later in Las Cruces - the North New Mexico All-Star team wearing swapped uniforms.  You might recognize that Manzano Monarch standing in the back.  So silly!

Here are some comments about Chad in the media:

The La Cueva Bears were in a greedy mood.

Splitting a District 2-5A doubleheader with 15-1 Eldorado, on the surface, might have seemed a reasonable enough wish.

But that is not what the Bears wanted – and it is certainly not what they got.

“We wanted a sweep,” senior pitcher Chad Smith said.

The Bears scored all their first-game runs in the final three innings, then carried that momentum over to Game 2 as La Cueva swept the top-ranked Eagles on a gloomy Saturday afternoon at Eldorado.

The scores were 12-1 and 9-6.

“Two huge wins today,” said senior shortstop Jeff Deimling, who drove in three runs in the second game. “It’s exactly what we were looking for.”

Both teams are 15-3 overall. But La Cueva’s sweep gives it command of the district at 3-0, while Eldorado fell to 1-2.

Smith pitched a three-hitter in the opener, and he was matched for a while by Eldorado sophomore Nathaniel Garley.

“He was pitching really well,” Bears coach Gerard Pineda said, “and I was having flashbacks to last week.”

Seven days earlier, the Bears were beaten 9-0 by Volcano Vista and the Hawks’ sophomore lefty, Tanner West.

But the La Cueva offense surged just in time.

Trailing 1-0 in the fifth, La Cueva scored five runs. Caleb McAlister’s RBI triple to left tied the game 1-1, and the Bears suicide squeezed home the go-ahead run moments later with Caleb Turcotte getting the bunt down for La Cueva. Jesse Becton added a two-run double to make it 4-1.

The Bears blew the game wide open in the seventh, adding seven runs. Catcher Andrew Pratt’s two-run single was the key blow.

Eldorado, meanwhile, had nothing going against Smith.

“Chad was money today,” Pineda said. “He had all his pitches working, and we were able to make some plays behind him.”

Albuquerque Journal 4/20/14

In Class 5A, it really was no surprise that the La Cueva Bears landed the top spot in the tournament. Ending the year with a record of 21-3 and sweeping Eldorado late in the year made the playoff committee's job an easy one. The Bears clearly very dangerous are led by Caleb McAlister who is hitting right at .500 and Connor Calvert who is hitting .485 with three bombs and 33 RBI's. Andrew Pratt leads the State of New Mexico with 7 home runs, Jeff Deimling has three bombs and 30 RBI's. You pitch around anyone on La Cueva, the next in line can rip it, it's been like that all year. On the mound, the Bears are led by Chad Smith who has 36 K's and 6 wins. Trey Alexander along with Alex Howard have combined for 11 season wins, salty bullpen.

NM Preps 5/5/14

Four La Cueva Bears were chosen to the Class 5A all-state first team after their championship season.

One of those four, senior Alex Howard, was named at two positions: second base and pitcher, and he was the coaches’ vote for player of the year.

Pitcher Chad Smith, first baseman Caleb McAlister and outfielder Connor Calvert also earned first-team recognition from La Cueva.

Albuquerque Journal 6/4/2014

La Cueva pitcher Chad Smith held the South hitless for two innings before Carlsbad's Jared Rodriguez cracked a solo home run in the third inning. Acevedo added a solo home run in the fifth inning off of Rio Rancho pitcher Eli Cappello.

"I had a hard time finding it in the first but it's all good because I know they are going to hit for me," Smith said.

"It's not as much pressure and I know I have time to be able to find it. I found my fastball and once I found that, everything else was working off of it."

Friday's opener saw the North go ahead 10-0 after two innings following a seven-run second innings. The North out hit the South 13-5.

"It was really fun," Smith said. "I know most of these guys and some of the guys from the south. It's fun playing against them. They are all great players."

Las Cruces Sun 6/13/2014

And here is what our wonder principal Mr. Resch had to say:

What makes this State Baseball Championship so special? Because this may be the finest group of young men I've known. Much respect gentlemen.  

La Cueva ended the season with a 26-3 record.  Chad ended the season with a 9-2 record.  He had 14 walks, 43 strikeouts and an ERA of 1.34. He made academic all district, first team all-district pitcher, first team all-state pitcher and was selected for the North-South All Star teams.  What a kid!