Elida rallies late to earn pair of wins

Mar. 21—SANTA ROSA — Elida rallied late, erasing a five-run deficit over the final two innings on Monday to beat Questa 7-5 and complete the sweep of a neutral-field doubleheader.

Trailing 5-0, the Tigers (3-0) scored three in the sixth and four in the seventh to take the win. Sophomore Hardy Fraze worked four hitless innings while junior Seth Jimenez pitched the final three, combining for 16 strikeouts against the Wildcats (0-2).

Senior Levi Victor went 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles, two RBIs and two runs scored for the Tigers, while Seth Jimenez and his brother, Jose, were both 2-for-4, each driving in a run and combining to score three.

In the opener, Questa led 2-0 before the Tigers scored five times in the bottom of the second in a five-inning game. Victor went four innings, allowing three hits and striking out seven, while Fraze pitched the fifth.

Victor went 2-for-2 with a double, an RBI and a run. Freshman Radlee Ferguson and eighth-grader Bradley Burns were both 1-for-2 with a run scored, and Ferguson also drove in a run.

Grady 20, Dora 3 — The Bronchos improved their early-season record to 2-2, ending the game at Dora in six after scoring 11 times in the top of the inning.

Sophomore Jayce Garrett threw all six innings for Grady, allowing eight hits and striking out six. Top hitters for the Bronchos were sophomore Deakin Ragland, who went 3-for-5 with a double, an inside-the-park home run, four RBIs and three runs scored, and freshman Zander Ciancio with 3-for-4, a double and three RBIs.

Leading the Coyotes, playing their season opener, were senior Bryson Paxton with 3-for-3 and an RBI, junior Caden Smith with 2-for-3 and senior Jaedyn Hays with 1-for-3 and an RBI.

In another area game on Monday, Floyd fell to 0-3 for the young campaign, losing at home to Logan 24-4.

In action from Saturday:

Texico 7, Kermit (Texas) 5 — At Eunice, Texico erased a three-run deficit over its final two at-bats to capture third place in the eight-team Cardinal Classic.

The Wolverines (2-1) tied the game 5-5 with three runs in the bottom of the fifth, then scored twice in the sixth before the game ended on the tournament's time limit. Sophomore Edgar Mendoza drove in the go-ahead run with a squeeze bunt.

Seniors Easton Cooper and Bryson Crow were both 2-for-3 for Texico, including a pair of doubles by Cooper. Freshman Bryce Cooper reached base five times on three walks and two hit-by-pitches, and scored three runs.

Senior Josh Nunez had a home run for the Yellowjackets (4-13).

Santa Rosa 14, Grady 4 — The host Lions erased a 1-0 deficit with a seven-run third in the third-place game of their own tournament, winning it in five innings on the 10-run rule. Freshman Joshua Cordova doubled twice and went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and a run scored for Santa Rosa (3-1), while junior Nicholas Chavez was also 3-for-4 with an RBI and three runs scored.

The Bronchos were paced by a 2-for-3 effort from Ragland, while Garrett finished 1-for-3 with a double.

Softball — In another tournament at Santa Rosa, Mesilla Valley rallied in the final two innings for a 9-8 victory over Dora in the third-place contest.

The Sonblazers (3-1) took an 8-6 lead with a four-run sixth before the Lady Coyotes (1-2) tied it with two in the seventh. Mesilla Valley then pushed over the game-winner in the bottom half.

Junior Victoria Lopez was 3-for-4 and scored three times for Mesilla Valley, while sophomore Lillian Balizan added 2-for-4. For Dora, junior Faith Jasso was 4-for-4 with a double, three RBIs and four runs scored, and sophomore Justice Deason added a three-run triple.

Golf — Texico's girls opened their season on Monday in a four-team meet in Tucumcari, and posted three of the day's top four scores.

None of the four squads had a full team. For the Lady Wolverines, junior Liz Elam shot 47-46 — 93, junior Sierra Hunt finished at 57-54 — 111 and freshman Gabby Delarosa carded 58-57 — 115.