Pueblo Azteca puts up 10 runs in Day 1 win at 42nd 'Nuch Tournament
Hometown team Pueblo Azteca capped Thursday's first day of the 42nd annual Tony Andenucio Memorial Baseball Tournament in style, slugging through a 10-2 victory over Greeley GoJo.
After a shaky first inning, Azteca starting pitcher Mike Casillas calmed down and pitched a gem, and the offense kicked in midway through the third inning. Here's what to know after the first day at the 'Nuch.
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Azteca pitching was stellar
Casillas spoke before the tournament about staying in a zone and not trying to do too much. "Just play ball" is what he said. After giving up two runs in the first inning, Casillas found his zone.
“He got a good hit first pitch, but one inning can’t predict the whole game, you got seven innings and 21 outs, so you can’t get down on yourself,” Casillas said. “So I just kept throwing strikes and kept throwing up zeros and then my team is behind me kept getting base hits and just helped me on the offensive side.”
He had a one, two, three, second inning in which he threw two strikeouts. After that, Casillas did not let a baserunner get past second base the rest of the game while allowing only three hits.
“He’s a competitor, that’s one of the reasons he was starting Game 1 for us to open up the tournament,” Azteca coach Dylan Gavin said of Casillas. “He doesn’t get phased that much, it could be a lead-off base runner or first and second or anything that transpires during the game and he’s up always calm, cool, and collected and kind of stays even keel."
Pueblo's offensive explosion
The home team struggled the first few innings to get a base hit. They made good contact but weren’t able to put anything in play. Then in the third inning, Azteca tied the game at 2-2.
One of the keys to this inning, and for the rest of the game, was stolen bases. Azteca had two in the third that helped bring in the tying runs.
In the fourth inning, the offense caught fire. The team hit around the lineup and stole five bases en route to scoring four runs.
“He had a good curveball, but he got on himself when there were runners on base,” Casillas said of the opposing pitcher. “We just got on him straight ahead.”
Azteca put up another four runs in the fifth inning, which brought on enforcement of the mercy rule. The game ended after five innings.
Gavin was happy to see some run production after a slow start, but he knows the team can do better than what he saw Thursday.
“I'm not satisfied as always, but it was a good way to start,” Gavin said. “We came and competed, we had good at-bats, Mike competed on the mound for us. It started off a little rough and it took a little while to get our feet wet, but once we settled in, calmed down at the plate and put together some quality at-bats, and started making some plays defensively which is going to be our key to winning.”
If there was one message that coach Gavin made clear to his team after the game it was that it’s a long tournament and that they'll need to progress during every game.
“Learning, that’s our main goal,” Gavin said. “Learn from the base running mistakes, and our positioning in the field, carry it over to the next night, and don’t hit the reset button. We just keep going from there, keep the momentum going into tomorrow night.”
Azteca will have two games on Friday. Their first game will be at 5 p.m. on Hobbs field against a tough Cheyenne, Wyoming, team that went 1-1 on the first day including an 11-1 victory over Burkburnett. The second game will be at 7:30 p.m., also on Hobbs field against Parker Lighting which is also 1-1.
Other Day 1 action at the 'Nuch
The first game of the day was Victus Recruits against the team from Rio Grande, New Mexico. The Recruits were able snag the win, 7-3. They played later against the Colorado Rockies Black Scout Team and won 11-3, putting them in a tie for first place with two wins in the National division.
The team from Rio Grande bounced back in their second game of the day, an 11-5 victory over Cherry Creek, which is one of the youngest squads to ever to compete in the ‘Nuch tournament, fielding a team of mostly freshman and sophomores. Cherry Creek also lost 8-0 to defending champs 4C Prime.
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4C Prime is tied atop the National division. They won their first game against Grand Junction team Gene Taylor’s 7-4. The defending champs look poised to make another run at the title.
The Parker Lighting lost their second game of the day to the Travelers from Woodward, Oklahoma, 14-1. The Travelers would also win their second game of the night against Cheyenne, 5-1.
‘Nuch Tournament Day 1 standings
American Division
1. Travelers (2-0)
T2. Parker Lighting (1-1)
T2. Azteca (1-1)
T2. Cheyenne (1-1)
5. Burkburnett (0-1)
6. Greeley GoJo (0-2)
National Division
T1. 4C Prime (2-0)
T1. Victus Recruits (2-0)
T3. Rio Grande (1-1)
T3. Rockies BST (1-1)
5. Grand Junction (0-1)
6. Cherry Creek (0-2)
Christopher Abdelmalek is a sports reporter for the Pueblo Chieftain and can be reached at cabdelmalek@gannett.com or on twitter @chowebacca
This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Tony Andenucio Tournament 2022 Day 1 results: Pueblo Azteca, more
