Clovis cruises past 2A Texico

The Texico Wolverines stepped up a couple of notches in competition on Friday night.

Originally scheduled to face Clovis High’s junior varsity, the Class 2A Wolverines instead took on the CHS varsity at Bell Park because the JV squad had reached its season limit of games and the varsity was a couple of games short.

The Cats got a home run in each game from Tanner Massanari and Brenden Graham and handed Texico 17-0 and 13-3 setbacks, although the Wolverines (16-4), ranked No. 2 in Class 2A, gave a much better account of themselves in the nightcap.

“I knew they would hit the ball in play and we’d have to make plays,” Wolverines coach Richard Luscombe said. “We did a pretty good job of that for most of the second game.”

Texico led 3-0 until the bottom of the third in the nightcap. Clovis put two runs on the board in that inning, then scored five in the fourth — Massanari hit a three-run homer and Graham followed with a solo shot — and ended it on the run rule with six in the fifth.

“We needed to play and they did too,” CHS coach Greg Hill said. “It was a win-win situation for them; it helps them to play us.”

Left-hander Steven Encinias pitched a two-hit shutout in the opener, then got the win in the second game with two perfect innings in relief of starter Craig Cook in which he struck out five of the six batters he face.

Massanari drove in five runs in the opener and four in the nightcap. He broke the school single-season doubles record, set by Parker Wood last year, with 17 and his eighth and ninth homers of the year eclipsed the school mark of eight set by Jason Seefeld in Clovis’ 2003 Class 5A state runnerup season.

The Cats sent 16 batters to the plate in the first inning of the oplener, scoring 11 runs. Senior Jake Burrell hit an RBI single and a three-run homer in the inning, while Graham added a two-run shot.

Massanari, who had RBI singles in each of the first two innings, added a three-run homer in Clovis’ five-run fourth.

Encinias allowed two hits, walked two and struck out eight.

Both teams will find out Sunday who, when and where they’ll play in state competition. The top eight seeds host first-round games next weekend in 5A, while Texico is assured a trip to Albuquerque the week after next in the 10-team Class 2A field.

The Texico Wolverines stepped up a couple of notches in competition on Friday night.

Originally scheduled to face Clovis High’s junior varsity, the Class 2A Wolverines instead took on the CHS varsity at Bell Park because the JV squad had reached its season limit of games and the varsity was a couple of games short.

The Cats got a home run in each game from Tanner Massanari and Brenden Graham and handed Texico 17-0 and 13-3 setbacks, although the Wolverines (16-4), ranked No. 2 in Class 2A, gave a much better account of themselves in the nightcap.

“I knew they would hit the ball in play and we’d have to make plays,” Wolverines coach Richard Luscombe said. “We did a pretty good job of that for most of the second game.”

Texico led 3-0 until the bottom of the third in the nightcap. Clovis put two runs on the board in that inning, then scored five in the fourth — Massanari hit a three-run homer and Graham followed with a solo shot — and ended it on the run rule with six in the fifth.

“We needed to play and they did too,” CHS coach Greg Hill said. “It was a win-win situation for them; it helps them to play us.”

Left-hander Steven Encinias pitched a two-hit shutout in the opener, then got the win in the second game with two perfect innings in relief of starter Craig Cook in which he struck out five of the six batters he face.

Massanari drove in five runs in the opener and four in the nightcap. He broke the school single-season doubles record, set by Parker Wood last year, with 17 and his eighth and ninth homers of the year eclipsed the school mark of eight set by Jason Seefeld in Clovis’ 2003 Class 5A state runnerup season.

The Cats sent 16 batters to the plate in the first inning of the oplener, scoring 11 runs. Senior Jake Burrell hit an RBI single and a three-run homer in the inning, while Graham added a two-run shot.

Massanari, who had RBI singles in each of the first two innings, added a three-run homer in Clovis’ five-run fourth.

Encinias allowed two hits, walked two and struck out eight.

Both teams will find out Sunday who, when and where they’ll play in state competition. The top eight seeds host first-round games next weekend in 5A, while Texico is assured a trip to Albuquerque the week after next in the 10-team Class 2A field.