After falling to Goddard 10-4 in Game One of their District 4-AAAAA double header in Roswell Tuesday, the Bulldog baseball team knew it needed a win in the nightcap to maintain any hope of a shot at a district crown.
Through nine-and-a-half long innings, that goal stayed one more hit, one long fly ball, one wild pitch within reach.
But with runners in scoring position in each of their final five at-bats in the 10 innings that comprised Game Two, the ‘Dogs could not produce the game-winner. And the Rockets, who had been held firmly in check from the third inning on by starting pitcher Jharyss Granger and the Artesia defense, finally capitalized.
With one away in the bottom of the 10th and the score still tied 1-1, a hit batsman gave the Rockets a man on first in the person of Mitch Naylor, and an error placed him in scoring position. A ground out moved him 
90 feet away, and Goddard made just its fourth hit of the ballgame count, as Ty Villareal lined one deep into left field for a walk-off RBI.
It was a bitter pill to swallow to say the least for the Bulldogs, who outhit the Rockets 9-4 on the contest with their top pitcher on the mound in Cal Villareal.
Artesia picked up its run in the top of the first inning when Cody Fuentes, who led off with a single, scored on a RBI base hit to center by Granger. Goddard answered in the second on a sacrifice fly by Cal Villareal, and from there, the defensive battle was on.
Granger had a stellar evening on the hill for Artesia, giving up just one more extra-base hit to the Rockets in the third, then seating them in order in the fourth, sixth, seventh and eighth innings, with an error in the fifth all that prevented the same.
Offensively, meanwhile, the ‘Dogs put a runner on third in the sixth on a single-turned-two-base-error by Grady Frost, another 90 feet away in the seventh on a Carlos Carrasco single, a wild pitch, and a ground out, and runners on second and third with one away in both the eighth and ninth innings on back-to-back singles by Fuentes and Taylor Null, and a Carrasco single and an error respectively.
In the top of 10, Artesia loaded the bases as Null was hit by a pitch, Frost singled up the middle, and Granger was intentionally walked, but a pop-fly to first base ended that opportunity.
Granger finished with three hits and one earned run allowed through eight complete, striking out eight. Fuentes took the loss in relief, giving up one hit and one earned run in his one and two-thirds innings.
The Bulldogs tumbled into a fairly deep early hole in Tuesday’s opener at the Launch Pad, as the Rockets took five runs out of the first inning – none of them earned – on three hits and two errors. Goddard then made it 8-0 in the third on RBI base hits by Cameron Stevenson, Andrew Shanor and Luke Fink.
Miguel Martinez broke up Rocket starter Naylor’s no-hitter in the top of the fifth with an infield single that sparked a brief rally. With two already aboard on consecutive walks by Robert Fernandez and Carrasco, the bases were loaded for Fuentes, who delivered a two-RBI double. Martinez then crossed on a Null ground out to make it 8-3.
But the Rockets would tack on a pair of insurance runs in the fifth and sixth innings on a wild pitch and an error, and the ‘Dogs could manage just one more in the seventh on a Frost RBI ground out, leaving the bases loaded en route to the 10-4 loss.
JR Bustamonte took the L on the mound in that outing with eight hits and three earned runs, while Tristan Bowden gave up a trio of hits and one earned run in relief starting in the fourth. Just four of the Rockets’ 10 runs were earned on the bout.
At the plate in the opener, the ‘Dogs were led by Fuentes (2-4 with a double and two RBI), while Carrasco went 2-4 and Frost and Fuentes 2-5 in the nightcap.
With the losses, the Bulldogs drop to 11-12 on the year, 6-4 in district play. They’ll have the chance to even their D4 record Friday when they host Roswell High at 5 and 7 p.m. at Brainard Park in their regular-season finale. Seeding and selection for the Class 5A State Baseball Tournament will take place Sunday.
