Tularosa upends Texico in Class 2A

For the third time this season, Texico had a season end at the hands of Tularosa.

Senior James Vigil struck out 13 Wolverine batters, and the Wildcats jumped out to a 9-0 lead en route to a 10-2 victory in Wednesday’s Class 2A quarterfinals at Cleveland High School.

Texico, which didn’t get on the board until Lucas Walther’s RBI double in the fourth, ends its season at 16-5.

The Wildcats (19-5) got to Wolverines starter Seth Bailey early, scoring nine runs in the first three innings. Texico coach Richard Luscombe lamented four Wolverine errors and noted that Tularosa scored eight of its runs with two outs.

“They did a good job of hitting Seth,” Luscombe said. “To Seth’s credit, we made a lot of errors with two outs. that tends to really hurt a pitcher.

Catcher Jonathan Hill added an RBI single in the fifth for Texico, which managed five hits against Vigil.

“We hit the ball in certain situations, but we just hit it right at them,” Luscombe said. “As the game went on, our frustration level built up and we never seemed to really get anything started.”

Connor Doolittle pitched 4 2/3 innings, giving up one run on five hits.

The Wolverines were defeated by Tularosa in the 2A football semifinals and the first round of the 2A state basketball tournament.

“We’ve got a good nucleus coming back,” Luscombe said, noting that Texico loses five seniors. “Hopefully, 20 games or so into the season, we’ll be ready to make another run.”

Tularosa faces Estancia in a 2 p.m. game at Cleveland High School. The Bears upended defending state champion Loving 11-9.