{"id":116,"date":"2010-04-22T16:34:00","date_gmt":"2010-04-22T21:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/?p=116"},"modified":"2010-05-09T04:17:11","modified_gmt":"2010-05-09T09:17:11","slug":"fhspvhs-round-1-by-daniel-dee-clark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/archives\/116","title":{"rendered":"FHS\/PVHS Round 1"},"content":{"rendered":"
April 22, 2010<\/div>\n

\"fmnm\"<\/p>\n

If you are unfamiliar with Four Corners<\/strong> or New Mexican<\/strong> high school baseball, this post will probably be meaningless to you.\u00a0 However, if you are familiar with baseball in this area, then you know that this year is a very unique one for baseball in San Juan County<\/strong>.\u00a0 Both Farmington High School<\/a><\/strong> and Piedra Vista High School<\/a><\/strong> have new management for the first time in over a decade.\u00a0 Gurus Don Lorett<\/strong> and Dick Laughlin<\/strong> retired from their respective managerial positions after the 2009 season.\u00a0 That was the first season since PV<\/strong> opened ten years earlier that they finished higher in the state tournament than FHS<\/strong>, and they were able to do it while graduating just five seniors, only 3 of which started.\u00a0 Since PV<\/strong> opened, FHS<\/strong> has won 6 AAAA state titles including a 4-peat from 2005-2008.\u00a0 Along with Eldorado<\/a><\/strong>, and Carlsbad<\/strong>, FHS <\/strong>has been the school with the deepest tradition in the state, winning titles in every decade since the 1960\u2019s.\u00a0 Thrice since PV<\/strong> opened have they fallen to FHS <\/strong>in the state championship.\u00a0 It is the deepest rivalry in the state and never before has it seemed as though FHS<\/strong> was the underdog.<\/p>\n

The new managers at FHS<\/strong> and PV<\/strong> respectively are Sean Trotter, Lorett\u2019s<\/strong> assistant of 13 years, and Mike McGaha<\/strong>, FHS<\/strong>\u2019s hitting coach since 2004.\u00a0 When McGaha<\/strong> crossed town, he brought with him FHS<\/strong>\u2019s strength and conditioning coach as well as the head JV coach, who handles PV<\/strong>\u2019s stunning pitching staff.\u00a0 Adding to the suspense of the rivalry is the fact that many of the top players from both schools play for the same club organization with management that has represented both schools.<\/p>\n

At the top of the PV<\/strong> rotation sits UNM<\/strong>-signee, Jake McCasland<\/strong>.\u00a0 McCasland<\/strong> boasts a fastball that has registered as high as 96 mph as well as three average off-speed pitches.\u00a0 Following McCasland <\/strong>is everyday SS, Tim Bailey<\/strong>, who sits in the 86-88 mph range and who can reach back for 89 mph when he needs it.\u00a0 Tim\u2019s changeup and curveball can be above average, and he tends to get the ball on the ground well.\u00a0 Following Bailey <\/strong>is junior, Dominic Moreno<\/strong>, who works in the 84-86 range from a low \u00be slot.\u00a0 His fastball has excellent arm-side action, but his breaking stuff tends to be on one plane despite having above average tilt.\u00a0 His changeup is better and also has good arm-side fade and some sink.\u00a0 These three guys make up the deepest pitching staff either Farmington school has had since 2002, and the 4 and 5 are not bad either.\u00a0 Senior, Chandler Joe<\/strong>, leads Farmington<\/strong>\u2019s staff.\u00a0 Joe works in the low to mid-80\u2019s with an excellent changeup that plays his FB velocity up a tad.\u00a0 Following him is utility player and UNM<\/strong>-bound, Eli Freese<\/strong>, who works in the mid to high-80s from a very low \u00be slot.\u00a0 When Freese<\/strong> is in the strike zone, he dominates right-handed opponents because his fastball rides in very hard.\u00a0 His secondary stuff (slider, curve, change, and splitter) can be equally devastating, but have occasionally been tough for Freese<\/strong> to get in the zone.<\/p>\n

With a knee injury to FHS <\/strong>SS, Chris Weaver<\/strong>, PV<\/strong>\u2019s lineup from the top down is head and shoulders above Farmington<\/strong>\u2019s with the exceptions of 3B, Joe Cervantes<\/strong>, and Freese<\/strong>.\u00a0 With a month left in the season, McCasland<\/strong> has already broken the school\u2019s single-season HR record that was formerly held by Air Force<\/strong>-signee, Kyle Henke<\/strong>, in 2008.\u00a0 Not to take anything away from Jake<\/strong>, but there are at least three players in the PV<\/strong> lineup equally skilled at the plate.\u00a0 On paper, FHS<\/strong> is overmatched against PV<\/strong> in every way this season, but the same was true last year, and FHS<\/strong> was still able to wrap up their ninth consecutive District 1-4A<\/strong> title.\u00a0 The FHS <\/strong>tradition of excellence is tough to overcome.<\/p>\n

Well, PV<\/strong> had a very easy time overcoming it this time around. In front of a couple thousand fans they put up 4 runs in the first, and McCasland<\/strong> proceeded to toss a 1-hitter to lock up round 1 with a score of 5-0.\u00a0 The war continues Tuesday with Freese <\/strong>on the mound against Bailey<\/strong>, and this should prove to be the more competitive of the two regular season bouts.<\/p>\n

I think the community of Farmington is already anxiously awaiting the state seedings in hopes that PV<\/strong> and FHS<\/strong> will not meet until the title game.\u00a0 The rivalry between the two schools has changed a lot over the last year.\u00a0 The rivalry in the past has resulted in violence, vandalism, and a deep hatred for the opposing school that caused a sizeable rift in the framework of baseball in town.\u00a0 With the new management a noticeable and long overdue burying of the proverbial hatchet seems to be taking place, and the community is benefiting from it.\u00a0 Both coaches have been, at least superficially, very complimentary of the other school\u2019s program and players in a number of interviews.\u00a0 While the rivalry still exists and in many ways has never been stronger, in this particular season, it really does seem to be all about what happens between the lines.\u00a0 It makes me proud to have once been a part of the same rivalry.<\/p>\n

I am equally proud to be a Grinnell Pioneer<\/a><\/strong> today.\u00a0 GC<\/a> <\/strong>swept Illinois College<\/a><\/strong> at IC <\/strong>and has jumped out to 6 and 0 record in Midwest Conference<\/a> <\/strong>play.\u00a0 The Pioneers<\/a> <\/strong>currently find themselves on the inside track to earning the host rights to the conference tourney in a month.\u00a0 GO PIONEERS!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mike Nodzenski<\/a><\/strong>, GC<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s catcher, currently boasts slashes of .456\/.518\/.912.\u00a0 Let\u2019s just give this guy the MWC<\/a><\/strong> POY award now.\u00a0 All-America<\/strong> anyone?\u00a0 I say so.
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April 22, 2010 If you are unfamiliar with Four Corners or New Mexican high school baseball, this post will probably be meaningless to you.\u00a0 However, if you are familiar with baseball in this area, then you know that this year is a very unique one for baseball in San Juan County.\u00a0 Both Farmington High School […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15,8,13],"tags":[245,243,49,249,247,250,50,242,244,248,246],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":179,"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116\/revisions\/179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}