Santa Fe Little League sees Blue in winning two district championships

Jul. 1—Before Santa Fe Little League could bask in a sea of blue, it had to endure a touch of gray.

What was supposed to be a four-day New Mexico Little League District 1 Tournament for the 8-10 and 9-11 age divisions dragged on two more days due to rain.

It was worth the wait for Santa Fe Little League. The Santa Fe Blue teams dominated their respective district championship games Thursday evening at Ragle Park.

The 9-11 Blue team rode the impressive arm of Ari Harris to a convincing 12-0 four-inning, mercy-rule win over Los Alamos Little League, as Harris fired a perfect game in the process. Meanwhile, the 8-10 division was an All-Santa Fe affair, as Santa Fe Blue built a 6-0 lead after three innings and went on to an 11-5 win over Santa Fe Red.

The teams advance to the Little League State Tournament that runs July 15-22 for both divisions. The 9-11 team heads to Carlsbad, while the 8-10 division will be in Albuquerque.

It continued a season that has been dominated by Santa Fe Little League, which has produced seven district champions in softball and baseball so far this season, with the Majors division set to start next week.

However, the start of the tournament required patience and some ingenuity by the Santa Fe coaches to keep their players focused on the prize.

Rains washed away the opening day schedule Saturday, then soggy field conditions led to the postponement of Monday's games. Carlos Garcia, the 9-11 Santa Fe Blue head coach, said teams waited over four hours Saturday before the postponement was announced.

Garcia decided to let his team play whiffle ball during the delay to help them get some of the jitters out before playing.

"It was just to keep them entertained," Garcia said. "Keeping 14 10-, 11-year-olds entertained for four hours, it was tough. But we got through it."

What was tougher for Santa Fe Blue was Tuesday's winner's bracket final, as it rallied from a 10-5 deficit against Pojoaque Valley Little League before pulling out a 12-11 win in its final turn at-bat.

Garcia said Santa Fe Blue truly won the tournament that day. Harris simply clinched it.

The 5-foot-2 right-hander was dominant against Los Alamos, striking out the first six batters he faced, then eight of the first nine. Only Los Alamos first baseman Gabe Mamula made significant contact on Harris, as he lined a fly ball to left field that was caught.

Otherwise, Harris was in control — of both the hitters and his emotions.

"I just controlled my temper, stayed calm and let my arm do the stuff," Harris said.

Meanwhile, Santa Fe Blue wreaked havoc on the basepaths. It opened the first inning by scoring two runs without the aid of a hit. The bats came alive in the second, as Santa Fe Blue scored 10 runs on the strength of six hits.

The big hit of the inning was second baseman Trey Torres' single up the middle that scored two runs and almost a third but Dominic Wakefield was tagged out at the plate trying to score to make it 10-0.

Now, it's onto Carlsbad, and if Santa Fe Blue wins the state title, it will return to Carlsbad for the regional to begin in August.

Harris said he has never been to the city, so he is curious to see what it has to offer.

"I'm looking forward to seeing the sights there and playing baseball," Harris said.

Meanwhile, the Santa Fe Blue 8-10 squad went 2-0 in the tournament against Santa Fe Red. After the two teams tangled in the winner's bracket final Tuesday, Santa Fe Red hammered Española Little League 21-11 in four innings Wednesday for a rematch.

It was never close, as Blue scored four times in the second to open the scoring and added two more in the third for an insurmountable 6-0 lead.

It grew to 10-2 after four before Red cut the lead with a run in the fifth and two in the sixth to make it interesting. It put its first two runners on base to open the seventh but the next three batters recorded outs to secure the win.

Blue head coach Toshi Sanchez said it was quite the accomplishment, considering the 13 players on the team had only two practices together before starting the tournament. Again, rain washed away two potential days of practice, so Sanchez and his coaches were flying by the seat of their pants to figure out the best lineup.

"I'm so focused [during the season] on my team when we're playing the other team, it's hard to say, 'That kid would be good there if they make the All-Star team,' " Sanchez said. "Game 1, we learned on the fly. If it didn't work one inning, we were like, 'OK, let's try you there.' And that's how things came together."

Sanchez said his team was mostly comprised of former players from the now defunct Amateur American Baseball Congress league that folded after the retirement of commissioner Tommy Martinez after last season.

He said this will be the first postseason taste these players get, and he is excited to see how they perform in Albuquerque.

"Little League has been awesome," said Sanchez, who was a former AABC coach. "AABC was great, too, but at the end of the season, it was over. Now, we have a chance to go make some noise at state."