Junior High wrestlers complete successful season
WALSENBURG- The John Mall Junior High grapplers completed a successful season, culminating at the state tournament in Denver last weekend. Andre Ortiz wrestled at 152, claimed second at state and finished the season with a 25-4 record. Ortiz won state last year. Other state qualifiers who did not place included, John Paul Vigil, who finished the season 27-6 and finished 1st at regionals; Jacob Pino 21-14 ,and Chris Ortiz 15-14. Other team members included Kylan Estrada 9-3, Isaiah Figueroa and Lorenzo Trujillo.
According to Coach Josh Vialpando, “We had a very successful year and the entire team made huge improvements and showed much growth throughout the year. I was pleased with their performance. They all show a lot of promise for the future years.”
Cats drop double-headers
SWINK-COTOPAXI- The John Mall Panthers fought off the elements as well as tough competition this past week only to come up short in a pair of double-headers.
The Cats first faced a tough Swink team, dropping both games in 5 innings. In the first game, Charlie Whitehead pitched an impressive game, striking out nine batters but also allowing nine hits. The Panthers had four errors and were shut out 10-0. In the last game of the double-header, Swink hit the ball easily off three Panther pitchers. According to Coach DeHerrera, “they hit the ball in the gap and put runners in scoring position.” The Panthers struggled to hit the ball and lost in a high scoring game, 16-2.
The Cats then faced a tough Cotopaxi team. Once again Whitehead pitched a solid seven innings, but as in the past, errors plagued the Panthers’ play. In the first game, the Cats committed ten errors and gave up unnecessary runs. DeHerrera commented, “It’s hard to win a baseball game with ten errors. We struggled to hit the ball.” Overall, this was a well-played game for the Panthers except for the errors. The Panthers left the bases loaded in each of the third through fifth innings, unable to bring the scores home. Otherwise, the game would have been closer than 12-5. In the last game Hohn Birch was on the mound and pitched a solid game. The Panthers were cold in the first three innings, but their bats came alive at the end of the game, but came up short at 6-4.
