PREP BASEBALL
Amidst the beauty of their surroundings, East Mountain baseball has something special
Timberwolves are 13-1 after doubleheader sweep of Ruidoso
SANDIA PARK 鈥� On the other side of the Sandias, the East Mountain Timberwolves have been pondering the issue of closing.
Their baseball program has been hovering near the top of Class 3A鈥檚 upper echelon, but been unable to close the deal in the last handful of seasons.
East Mountain is back to challenge once again. The veteran Timberwolves are 3A鈥檚 top-ranked baseball team 鈥� a team with nine seniors, more arms than they know what to do with and a few potent bats up and down the lineup.
Which puts them in a position to win plenty in May.
鈥淲e all need to want it,鈥� said senior center fielder Charlie Birdwell. 鈥淲e all have to have the drive and need to win a state championship, and we need to have that drive to achieve that goal.鈥�
The Timberwolves improved to 13-1 on Thursday with a 7-6, 10-5 home doubleheader sweep of District 4/5-3A rival Ruidoso. They are 3-0 in league play.
Birdwell slugged a grand slam in Game 2. He has three grand slams just this week, having hit two of them in a 35-0 rout of Dexter on Tuesday.
By the new coaches鈥� poll, East Mountain already has dispatched No. 2 West Las Vegas, No. 3 Santa Fe Indian 鈥� beating both at SFIS鈥� tournament last month 鈥� and No. 4 St. Michael鈥檚. Their only loss came to 5A Rio Grande, a game East Mountain was leading in the fifth inning.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got a pretty good, mature group of guys,鈥� East Mountain coach Chris Moya said. 鈥淩ight now, the only way we lose is if we beat ourselves.鈥�
That was the mood when the Timberwolves lost to Robertson in the state semifinals 11 months ago.
鈥淲e can beat any team that鈥檚 put in front of us,鈥� senior pitcher Cole Darnell said. He pitched five innings and struck out eight in the second-game victory Thursday. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been in this situation for three years now. We鈥檝e had some experience. We鈥檙e not gonna be surprised by anything.鈥�
This core group of seniors have been together since they were 6 years old, rising through the ranks together, and that bond gives them added incentive to reach, as Moya said, the finish line.
鈥淲hat makes it work is, we鈥檝e got great pitching,鈥� Moya said. 鈥淲e have more arms than we have innings to throw right now, and that鈥檚 a luxury.鈥�
There are nine Timberwolves, he said, that he feels comfortable putting on the bump. Couple that with an offense that is averaging 12 陆 runs a game, and you get a team that鈥檚 won 13 of its 14 games.
鈥淕otta make it happen (with this group),鈥� Moya said. 鈥淭his is it. We鈥檝e had good teams the last few years, we just couldn鈥檛 close the deal. In the past, maybe we crumbled a little bit, but this team has maturity now.鈥�
Moya pointed to the Game 1 victory Thursday, when the Timberwolves were sloppy, didn鈥檛 pitch well, and had to hold on the seventh to beat the Warriors.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 one of the things we鈥檝e been preaching, getting back to the simple things,鈥� Moya said. 鈥淐atch and throw. Eliminate the stupid errors, don鈥檛 get too extravagant, don鈥檛 give away outs.鈥�
The Timberwolves, Birdwell said, are old enough now to get the need to be clean if they want a blue trophy next month. East Mountain last won state in baseball in 2012.
鈥淲e鈥檝e played together for so long, we are all pushing for the same goal,鈥� Birdwell said. 鈥淲e all want to win it together. The blue trophy is what we鈥檝e been chasing since last May.鈥�
James Yodice covers prep sports for the Journal. You can reach him at jyodice@abqjournal.com or via X at .
