Coaches association hosts baseball, softball All-Star series
May 30—The New Mexico High School Coaches Association is hosting its Red vs. Green All-Star Baseball Series this weekend in Rio Rancho. The three-game set for Class 1A-3A will be Friday and Saturday at Cleveland High School.
Friday's first game is under the lights at 7 p.m., while Saturday's doubleheader starts at 10 a.m. It's $5 for fans to attend.
The Green roster is coached by James Sanchez of Santa Rosa. Outgoing St. Michael's seniors Derek Martinez, Owen Gruda and CeeJay Saiz are part of a 20-man team that includes Mora's Diego Aragon.
The Red roster has Kodero Talachy and Andrew Borego from McCurdy, Kyle Suina and Luke Tsosie from Santa Fe Indian School, Questa's Matthew Rael, Peñasco's Juan Arellano and West Las Vegas' Roy Pacheco. The team is coached by Tory Giacomo of Raton.
The Class 4A-5A series will be June 9-11 in Las Cruces at the Field of Dreams. The Green team has Los Alamos players Taylor Drake and Grant Watkins. No players from Santa Fe High or Capital were named to either team.
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The coaches association is also host the Red vs. Green All-Star Softball series this weekend at Cleveland, although all five NMAA classifications are lumped into one event. Rules say there must be at least three athletes from 1A-2A schools and at least three from 3A, 4A and 5A programs.
The Green roster includes Madi Griego of West Las Vegas and Felicia Ulibari from 3A state champion Robertson. The Red roster has Rayann Trujillo from Mora.
The first game will be at 7 p.m. Friday, with a Saturday doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m.
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The turnstile that it is, the NCAA transfer portal is busier than ever. As of Memorial Day, 1,706 men's college basketball players had entered their name in the portal.
Two of them found their way to the University of New Mexico, with two more going to New Mexico State. The Lobos landed a pair of 6-foot-8 upperclassmen in Josiah Allick and Morris Udeze, while the Aggies got a pair of SEC guards in DuJuan Gordon and Xavier Pinson.
No in-state school, however, has been busier than Western New Mexico. Mustangs coach Zane Gibson has landed half a dozen players since the season ended. The newcomers, each of whom is 6-6 or shorter, give the Mustangs a lineup of veteran Division I guards and swing men.
Gibson's new recruits: Dane Quest (Tennessee Tech), Emmanuel White (UTEP), D.J. Heath (Alabama State), Isaiah Lewis (Northern Arizona), Keith Littles (Florida A&M), and Jordan Preaster (North Florida). They're added to a roster that has just seven returning players from a team that finished 11-14.
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Santa Fe's Brad Lardon will be the first alternate for the upcoming U.S. Senior Open, scheduled for June 23-26 at Saucon Valley Country Club in Bethlehem, Pa.
The Sun Country Amateur Golf Association held a qualifier Thursday on The Sunset Course at Las Campanas in Santa Fe. The one-round event took the top two players and gave them bids to the Senior Open. Robert Funk and Bill Harvey both carded a 3-under 69, just one stroke better than Lardon and Michael Zaremba. Funk is from Canyon Lake, Calif., and Harvey is from Albuquerque. Zaremba is from Pueblo West, Colo.
Santa Fe's was one of 30 qualifying events around the country.
Lardon was consistent, shooting a 35 on the front nine and a 35 on the back. He led Harvey by two at the turn but Harvey's blistering 32 on the final nine landed him the top spot.
Another Santa Fean, Mark Garard, finished in a tie for 44th with a 10-over 82. Santa Fe's Ken Knott withdrew from contention.
