{"id":601,"date":"2010-07-15T15:29:06","date_gmt":"2010-07-15T20:29:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/?p=601"},"modified":"2010-07-15T15:31:25","modified_gmt":"2010-07-15T20:31:25","slug":"previewing-the-2010-farmington-connie-mack-city-tournament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/archives\/601","title":{"rendered":"Previewing the 2010 Farmington Connie Mack City Tournament"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>With the upcoming city league tournament set to begin Wednesday evening, tension around the Farmington baseball community<\/a> is very high.\u00a0 The team that wins city receives one of the three Connie Mack World Series<\/a> berths not requiring a regional title.\u00a0 It is basically the path of least resistance into the Series, and as a consequence locally based teams put everything they have into this single week of baseball.\u00a0 In a typical year, only two teams have a realistic shot at winning the event.\u00a0 Of these two teams, normally every kid on the field and a strong majority of the dugout will ultimately play collegiately somewhere in this country.\u00a0 At least a kid in the league usually will be drafted each season.\u00a0 Occasionally a kid will make it to the big leagues eventually.\u00a0 The point I\u2019m trying to make is that the caliber of the event is high on its own.\u00a0 When the implications of a World Series berth are taken into account, it makes for the most exciting baseball event of the summer for practically every guy in the Four Corners region who has any remote ties to the sport.<\/p>\n

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While in a typical season only two teams walk into the tourney with what most folks would consider a chance to win it all, this year there are four.\u00a0 Those four teams are the reigning champion Durango Thunder, the top seeded Naataanii<\/a>, the Strike Zone Cardinals, and the Four Corners Nutz.\u00a0 The only team to escape games used for seeding purposes without taking a loss is Naataanii.\u00a0 Naataanii is primarily comprised of players from nearby Native American reservations.\u00a0 They are allotted the largest area from which to recruit players that will be deemed locals by the league\u2019s organizing body, FABC.\u00a0 That is a meaningful distinction because each team can recruit four imported players from anywhere on the planet.\u00a0 The first three teams I mentioned heavily recruit players from all over the Southwest, and these players tend to be very good.\u00a0 Shane Andrews (a decade in the Bigs) is probably the finest imported player ever to play in the Farmington Connie Mack League, but the most prominent imported player of the most recent decade is Daniel Ray Herrera<\/a> of the Cincinnati Reds (recently demoted to AAA).\u00a0 Naataanii\u2019s best players happen to be a couple of imported pitchers, Matt Chavarria of Carlsbad and Josh Walker of Rio Rancho.\u00a0 Both of these players were All-State 1st<\/sup> Teamers on the mound and are regarded as among the top 10 players in New Mexico.\u00a0 Naataanii\u2019s offense is relatively thin, but their pitching can keep them in just about any game.\u00a0 Naataanii also always seems to bring a kid or two that no one has ever seen before who will sit at 94 for 100 pitches.\u00a0 Basically, no one will be surprised if Naataanii finally breaks through for its first league title this year.\u00a0 They carry the top seed for a reason and have handed every squad in the league at least one loss.<\/p>\n

The Thunder are the reigning champions and are based in Durango, CO.\u00a0 Their best players, however, are the brothers McCasland, Jake and Morgan.\u00a0 Aside from being great kids, these two brothers have cast their shadow over Farmington baseball over the last few years and seemingly can do anything they want on the field.\u00a0 Jake is the older of the two and was taken in the 38th<\/sup> round by the Giants a few weeks ago.\u00a0 Rumor has it that Jake will be offered a way-above-slot, six-figure signing bonus that could reach as high as $150,000.\u00a0 Whether that happens or not, Jake has quite a future in the game with the potential to eventually be the Friday-nighter at UNM.\u00a0 He was voted the AAAA Player of the Year for 2010 and has been far and away the top pitcher in Farmington over the last two years.\u00a0 Morgan is the starting catcher for the Thunder, and this is his second year in that role.\u00a0 Although he was the youngest player on their squad last season, the younger McCasland has been a mainstay in the top of their order and remains so going into the tournament.\u00a0 Other notables on the Thunder are shortstop Aaron Coats of Lamar Community College, Nick Clayton (a former ace on the mound for FHS), 1st<\/sup> Baseman J.T. Bean of NMJC, and All-State 1st<\/sup> Teamer Deven Nelson of Artesia.\u00a0 Their first four guys on the mound are all excellent and their lineup has not changed much since last season when they won the league.\u00a0 Any win against the Thunder will require a considerable performance on the mound because of their powerful offense.<\/p>\n

The Nutz have been the surprise of the league.\u00a0 A team comprised primarily of starters from smaller schools and reserves from larger ones, they have performed at a level on par with the other top teams in the league.\u00a0 Their top talent is AAA Player of the Year, Alex Garcia of Bloomfield High.\u00a0 Garcia is the best defensive outfielder in town and would be a top-of-the-order hitter in every lineup.\u00a0 He also is probably their ace on the mound.\u00a0 Garcia tossed a one-hitter in the AAA championship this May.\u00a0 The Nutz offense is softer than that of the other four teams likely vying for the title, but they have been known to get hot and stay hot.\u00a0 They are a fiery bunch capable of playing spoiler this week.<\/p>\n

And finally we will address the Cardinals, the team I help out with.\u00a0 With the second seed, the Cardinals may have the easiest road to the title game due to the second round bye we will likely receive.\u00a0 There is essentially only a one in three chance that we will face the Thunder within the first four rounds, and we have the deepest pitching staff by a lot.\u00a0 Our six on the mound is probably All-State 1st<\/sup> Teamer and NMJC signee, Tim Bailey, and he stacks up quite favorably against other sixes in the league.\u00a0 The six is key because he probably has the title game\u2019s start on full rest.\u00a0 Our one is likely Eli Freese of FHS who signed early at UNM.\u00a0 With a high-80\u2019s fastball and three plus secondary offerings, he can get both sides of the plate out.\u00a0 He also is capable of closing games on only a day\u2019s rest and will likely move into that role starting Sunday.\u00a0 The other potential staff ace is Robbie Ingram of Sinagua High in Flagstaff, AZ.\u00a0 Ingram is a tall lefty with upper-80s stuff as well.\u00a0 Ingram led Arizona AAAA in K\u2019s this season and is easily the league\u2019s top lefty.\u00a0 Our three is Dominic Moreno, a junior at Piedra Vista High in Farmington with bowling ball upper-80\u2019s stuff from a low slot and hammer off-speed stuff.\u00a0 Dominic will slide into the ace role on the reigning AAAA champs with a shot at the POY award in 2011.\u00a0 Expect him to sign at a Division 1 school in the fall.\u00a0 Our four is Andrew Castillo of Carlsbad.\u00a0 Castillo boasts a low-90\u2019s fastball with good command of his change and curve.\u00a0 Andrew signed at Eastern Arizona and is also our everyday catcher and three-hole hitter.\u00a0 Our five is Jesus Carlos, also from Eastern Arizona.\u00a0 Jesus has been one of the top arms in the league for the last two seasons as he is able to generate down angles with good downward life on his stuff.\u00a0 Notable hitters are Freese and Castillo who both hit in the middle of the order as well as UNM-bound Damien Lovato, BYU-bound and leadoff stick, Pierce Arnett of Queen Creek High in Phoenix, Shilo McCall of PVHS (the youngest player in the league but a 2-time all-stater), and Seward County CC-bound switch-hitting CF Steven Polito of Artesia.<\/p>\n

The week is always a grind.\u00a0 I played in three city tournaments, won twice, and was never comfortable despite typically satisfactory performances.\u00a0 Growing up in this community is a blessing for baseball players, and the institutions backing the players provide the services, facilities, and personnel that any player could need to develop to their full potential.\u00a0 This is all ultimately generated from the interest and funds produced by the annual CMWS, and the chance to play in \u201cThe Series\u201d is the one driving force that is passed from generation to generation of players in Farmington.\u00a0 It continues to produce uniquely high levels of talent given the relatively small population and geographical isolation of San Juan County.\u00a0 No better venue is this talent showcased than during the City Tournament, and this year\u2019s event seems destined to be one to remember.
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With the upcoming city league tournament set to begin Wednesday evening, tension around the Farmington baseball community is very high.\u00a0 The team that wins city receives one of the three Connie Mack World Series berths not requiring a regional title.\u00a0 It is basically the path of least resistance into the Series, and as a consequence […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7,15,8,10,14],"tags":[609,3459,48,607,605,608,606,248],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601"}],"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=601"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":624,"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601\/revisions\/624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}