The Raton Tiger baseball team got a good outing from pitcher Braylon Walton and a seven run outburst in the fifth inning to pull away from Tucumcari and take a 14 – 4, 6 inning District win at home on Saturday, April 4.
Walton had early control issues walking three in the first inning, and allowing the Rattlers to get the early lead, but the freshman found his mark and struck out a total of 14 batters to even Raton’s 6AA district mark at 1-1 and also brought the season tally to .500 at seven wins and seven losses.
Walton got some good defensive play in the second inning as centerfielder Cameron Mascarenas fielded a sharp hit ball and brought it in to Jonathan Decker and Decker’s relay was a strike to catcher Warren Berry cutting the runner down at home to minimize the damage of a four hit inning. Walton also pitched out of a bases loaded jam in the inning. Decker would tie it up in the second with a single that scored Luciano Castillo.
Raton would score three in the third as Berry had a lead-off triple and senior Santiago Castillo would give Raton their first lead with a bases loaded two run, single.
Following a one-two-three fourth inning, Raton would explode and score 7 runs in the fifth sending 11 to the plate with Carter Marquez stroking a two run single as part of the barrage. Marquez is an eighth grader and coach Robby Armijo was forced to play a young lineup with four freshman due to injuries to seniors Azden Romero and Brayden Tapia.
Raton will have another district home game with Estancia set for Monday, April 6, with the first pitch set for 3 PM.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tucumcari | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 4 | 10 | 5 |
| Raton | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 2 | – | 14 | 13 | 1 |
| # | Athlete Name | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | 2B | 3B | HR | BF | AB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 6 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 0 | 31 | 28 | |||
| 2 | Braylon Walton (Fr) | 6 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 0 | 31 | 28 |
Tucumcari Pitching
| # | Athlete Name | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | 2B | 3B | HR | BF | AB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 5.1 | 13 | 14 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 33 | 27 | |||
| 0 | Nick Goen (Sr) | 2.1 | 8 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 17 | 15 | ||
| 21 | Luis Archuleta (Sr) | 3 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 12 |
