News
Rough Riders roundup: Luna teams resume play
For Luna Community College student-athletes, the real victory was just in getting to play this season after all.
This past week the Rough Rider baseball team hosted a pair of regional contenders, New Mexico Military Institute and Trinidad State Junior College. The Rough Rider softball squad saw the playing field for the first time in a year, meeting New Mexico Highlands University for a scrimmage doubleheader on Wednesday at Cowgirl Field.
In both cases, it was a feel-good story regardless of what was on any scoreboard or stat sheet. Both programs, along with most others across the country, saw their seasons cancelled in March 2020 with the arrival of COVID-19. Then, due to unanticipated financial issues and a balky activity bus, it appeared that this season would also be in jeopardy. But with Luna’s Board of Trustees on March 10 approving an administration plan to save the season, both teams not only were able to play but also play in Las Vegas, thanks in part to agreements with NMHU, Region 9 and several opposing teams.
Luna baseball dropped both ends of a Monday (March 15) doubleheader with NMMI, a team that had won 13 of 14 entering the week. After spotting the Broncos a 4-0 lead, the Riders scored on a run by Francisco Ochoa in the bottom of the second inning, game one. But NMMI answered with Noah Nunez’s two-run homer and went on to a 13-1 verdict. In game two, Luna stayed close, rallying to within 8-4 and then 12-9 before running out of at-bats.
Tuesday brought better fortune to the Rough Riders and head coach T.C. Nusser, who hosted Trinidad State in a nine-inning contest. Ochoa smashed a solo home run early and the Riders took a 2-0 edge through three innings. The Trojans manufactured three runs to steal the lead in the top of the fourth, then – with one out in the top of the fifth – made it 4-2 on Cristian Lopez’s solo home run.
It would be a big day for Lopez, but a better one for the Rough Riders. James Cardenas bounced a ground-rule double off the fence in right, and Ochoa followed with a sacrifice fly to score two runs in the bottom of the fifth, getting Luna within 5-4. Lopez smacked a two-run homer to give Trinidad a 7-4 cushion. But Dusty Sipe crushed a three-run homer to regain control for Luna, 8-7, in the bottom of the seventh. The Trojans tied it before Matthew Gelwick’s sacrifice fly RBI made it 9-8. Sipe hit an RBI single and Cardenas drove in two more runs to build Luna’s lead to 12-8. Lopez cut it to 12-11 with a three-run bomb in the top of the ninth, but relief pitcher K.T. Geralds hung on and secured the win.
Wednesday, it was the Luna softball team’s turn. For all but two of the women on the young Rough Rider roster, the scrimmage doubleheader with host NMHU, an NCAA Division II program, represented their first college softball action ever. The relative youthfulness and a year’s worth of competitive inactivity virtually guaranteed a tough day at Cowgirl Field. Yet there were positives for LCC.
Anahi Ruiz’s double led to a an early run in game one, and Luna led 1-0. And Mary J. Martinez, who started in the pitching circle, worked with her defense to strand a Highlands runner at third for two consecutive innings to keep the home team off the board. But starting with Carlee Gonzalez’s solo home run, the Cowgirls overtook their young foes and ended the third inning with a 5-1 lead. The game would end at 9-1 after four frames.
Luna head coach Steve Wallace, seeking to get game experience for most of his charges, rotated players liberally into the lineup. One highlight, especially for Las Vegas-area fans, was when former Mora Rangerette Shanay Casados, playing second, assisted a putout by former West Las Vegas Lady Don Marquisa Montoya, playing first. Emma George of Santa Fe Capital and Amri Lucero of West Las Vegas both tested their sprinting as pinch runners.
In game two, back-to-back home runs by Highlands’ Carlee Gonzalez and Taylor Fish broke a scoreless stalemate in the second inning. As the game progressed, the Cowgirls – with a dozen games already under their belts – looked to be in midseason form, especially at the plate. They’d lead 7-0 before Luna scored two runs on two hits in the top of the fourth. And then they’d put it away with eight runs in their half of the frame for a 15-2 score.
Luna is tentatively scheduled to host home games in both baseball and softball within the coming week. Unlike the initial games described above, these could be open to fan attendance (albeit on a limited basis as allowed by state public health orders). Please check Luna’s Facebook page, facebook.com/LunaCommunityCollege, for updates.