近距离内射合集

It鈥檚 all about the long game right now for the St. Pius Sartans.

This is by necessity.

The Sartans were saddled with a six-game losing streak not long ago, a skid that included three, one-run losses. Two of those were head-to-head against the teams they鈥檙e competing against in District 5-4A, Belen and Grants, leaving St. Pius in a bad spot.

As Thursday dawned, the Sartans were staring up at the Eagles and Pirates in the 5-4A prep baseball standings.

They鈥檙e still looking up, but only at Grants.

With Belen visiting in a key league matchup Thursday, seventh-ranked St. Pius scored five late runs, and an 8-4 victory allowed the Sartans (11-11, 3-2) to pull even with the Eagles (12-9, 3-2) in the district standings.

And Grants (13-8, 4-0) is next for St. Pius, in Albuquerque on Tuesday.

鈥淚 think really more than anything, we just focused on today, getting back on track,鈥� St. Pius coach Jim Stebbins said. 鈥淲e had a tough stretch.鈥�

Belen held a 4-3 lead into the bottom of the fifth Thursday. The Sartans capitalized on a major defensive miscue by the Eagles 鈥� with two outs 鈥� to shove across three unearned runs in the bottom of the fifth for a 6-4 lead.

In the bottom of the sixth, junior outfielder Diego Trujillo鈥檚 two-RBI double provided much-needed insurance for St. Pius on its most important day of the season.

And this was a reversal of some recent fortune, since St. Pius had the lead in several of the games it lost during that aforementioned six-game losing streak, which ran from March 24 until April 4. That included a 2-0 lead at Belen that later became a 3-2 setback.

鈥淲e had to come back and get a get-back win against them,鈥� Trujillo said.

Not everything has been smooth sailing for the Sartans.

Their ace pitcher, sophomore Hunter Jiron, has been on the shelf the last several weeks as he rebounds from injury. His presence certainly has been missed, though Stebbins said Jiron is slowly working his way back into the rotation. He is one of 4A鈥檚 most effective aces, and could be back before the upcoming state tournament.

The losing streak forced the Sartans to find some inner resolve.

鈥淲e just had to keep grinding, right, more than anything, find a way to put a whole game together,鈥� Stebbins said. 鈥淎nd the kids did that today. 鈥� The kids did a good job of not letting the struggles of losing a couple of tight games get to them.鈥�

Belen had the first two runs Thursday; St. Pius freshman Nolan Peyton clubbed a three-run home run to left (where the wind was largely blowing) in the bottom of the second for a 3-2 lead.

The Eagles tied the game in the fourth on Logan Gonzalez鈥檚 RBI double, and then grabbed a 4-3 lead in the top of the fifth on a sacrifice fly.

Junior Jim McGonigle pitched three solid innings of relief to earn the victory for St. Pius.

鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to lose (six in a row), but when you stick together and come back like we did, (you) keep on a roll,鈥� Trujillo said. 鈥淲e had doubt that we were even gonna make state, but we came back with confidence.鈥�

James Yodice covers prep sports for the Journal. You can reach him at jyodice@abqjournal.com or via X at .