Photos

District 8 Championship

New Mexico State Championship

How did we get here? (results from previous games)

District Tournament – Roadrunner Little League

Roadrunner 13  Alameda 3

Roadrunner 16  Coronado 3

Roadrunner 14  Petroglyph 1

Roadrunner 10  Altamont 4   

Roadrunner wins District 8 Tournament

State Tournament – Los Alamos

Zia 5  Roadrunner 4

Roadrunner 9  Deming 1

Roadrunner 13  Los Alamos 2

Roadrunner 13  Zia 1

Roadrunner 13 Alamogordo 2

Roadrunner 5  Carlsbad 0

Roadrunner 18  Carlsbad 16    

Roadrunner wins state tournament to advance to regional tournament in Midland, Texas

Regional Tournament Bracket

2008jlbbracket2

Fundraiser tonight 7/30 at Coaches Sports Bar and Grill

We’re hosting a fundraiser tonight at Coaches Sports Bar and Grille, on Central Ave just east of I-25. Come by from 6 – 9 pm, have dinner or a drink, and RRLL gets to keep 20% of the total tab. Thanks to Ernie Blackstone for his support and friendship!!!

 

Glen

Christensen Stadium – Midland Texas

Baseball: Roadrunner tops Carlsbad in final 7/25/08

 

By MIKE MAEZ-COTE Monitor Sports Editor

An improbable run through the bottom half of the state tournament bracket took Albuquerque Roadrunner all the way to the championship.
Roadrunner, which lost its first game of the tournament on the final play Saturday, bounced back to win four straight games to get to the state playoff series. Then, Thursday night, Roadrunner swept a doubleheader from the Carlsbad All-Stars to claim the state Juniors Little League title.
The state tournament was held on North Mesa, marking the first time Los Alamos had hosted a state Little League tournament. In all, nine teams participated in the tournament, including the Los Alamos All-Stars.
The tournament was played on Bomber Field and the adjacent Senior Field.
Roadrunner took the opener of the two-game set 5-0, then erased an early 14-run deficit for a win as improbable as its run through the loser’s bracket, taking the nightcap 18-16.
In a tight first ballgame Thursday, Carlsbad blew a chance to put some runs on the board, then some members of the Carlsbad squad started blowing their tops.
With Roadrunner clinging to a 2-0 lead in the fifth, Carlsbad loaded the bases with just one out and the heart of its order coming to bat.
But Roadrunner pitcher Dalton Bowers, who was facing serious trouble for the first time in the game, got Koby Lewis to line out to short center field and then struck out Isaiah Castañeda on a knee-buckling curve.
Castañeda, out of frustration slammed his helmet to the ground and was tossed from the ballgame. A Carlsbad assistant coach, coming out to protest the ejection, was himself ejected.
In the bottom of the fifth, the wheels started coming off for Carlsbad as Roadrunner scored three times on three hits and two Carlsbad errors, bumping their advantage to 5 runs. Carlsbad did nothing with its final two at-bats of the game off reliever Sam Segotta.
Bowers went 5-1/3 innings on the bump, allowing just three hits.
By the start of game two, both teams had largely depleted their pitching staffs, and both suffered early.
Roadrunner surrendered 15 runs in the first two innings of the second game and looked to have fully recovered from the late-game one dramatics.
However, in the second inning after having already surrendered six runs, Roadrunner put in relief pitcher Victor Guevara, who made all the difference. Guevara threw 5-1/3 innings of relief work, giving up just one run on three hits and one walk the rest of the way.
With the pitching now settled in, Roadrunner would bounce back to score eight runs in the bottom of the second, turning an out-of-control 15-1 ballgame into a manageable 15-9 ballgame.
Then, in the bottom of the fourth, Roadrunner would explode for eight more runs, taking a 17-16 lead. It would score an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth.
In Carlsbad’s first two innings at the plate, David Gonzalez, who two days earlier blasted a 3-run home run against Alamogordo which proved to be the difference in the game, went 3-for-3 with a double, 3 RBI and scored two runs.
Devin Groves drove in two runs in the top of the first for Carlsbad, as did Austin Gregory. Gregory reached base and scored three times in the first two innings.
But the big-swinging Roadrunner squad would bounce back. To get back into the game in the bottom of the second, Bowers had a 2-run double, Jesse Wise had a RBI double and Matthew Givens would come through with a RBI base hit.
Breckan Hunkle finished game two going 1-for-3 with a RBI, Wise was 2-for-4 with a run scored and Addison Bell drove in 3 runs.
With the win, Roadrunner advances to the Little League regional tournament in Odessa, Texas.

 

 

 

 

Baseball: LA bounced from tournament by Roadrunner 7/22/08

By MIKE MAEZ-COTE Monitor Sports Editor

When the Albuquerque Roadrunner All-Stars got hot, they got hot.
Roadrunner sent 21 batters to the plate in the first two innings of Monday night’s game and sent Los Alamos’ All-Stars home for the summer.
Roadrunner scored all 13 of its runs in the first two innings Monday at Senior Field to top Los Alamos in a state Juniors Little League elimination game, 13-2 in five innings.
After a big come-from-behind win in Friday’s opening round game, Los Alamos lost two straight and was eliminated from contention.
In the state quarterfinals, Los Alamos ran into another offensive steamroller in the Carlsbad All-Stars. Los Alamos didn’t help its own cause, committing seven errors in the 13-2, 6-inning contest Sunday.
Also, in the first inning of Saturday’s game, one of its top hitters and defenders, Michael Young, was ejected for running into Carlsbad catcher Koby Lewis as Lewis was attempting to catch a pop fly along the third baseline.
Young knocked in one of Los Alamos’ runs with his double in the first inning, which plated JD Weiss, giving Los Alamos an early lead.
But because of his ejection Sunday, Young was ineligible for Monday’s game as well, per tournament regulations.
It was a disappointing end of the tournament for Los Alamos.
“We’ve done this for two or three years now,” Weiss said of Los Alamos’ recent state tournament appearances following Monday’s loss. “Eventually, we’ll get somewhere, but there was nothing we could do (Monday). We just got beat by a better team.”
Roadrunner smashed four home runs in the first two innings. Breckan Hunkle started Monday’s game by driving the second pitch of the game about 350 feet to put his squad on the board.
Jesse Wise would add a solo shot into straightaway left to start the second inning, followed two batters later by a two-run blast from Dalton Bowers. Andrew Della Longa would add another two-run homer to left field later in the inning.
Carlsbad got off to a slow start against Weiss, the starting pitcher, Sunday, but finally got going in the fourth inning, coming through with four hits. Carlsbad scored four times on three singles and a double, aided by a pair of Los Alamos errors.
Carlsbad, which finished the game with nine hits, got three of them, plus three more Los Alamos miscues, in scoring five runs in the fourth. Carlsbad finished the game with a three-run spurt in the sixth.
Los Alamos scored its other run in the third inning, with catcher Alan Keeler’s base knock, driving home Weiss.
In Sunday’s contest, Los Alamos finished with just five hits. It had just three hits in its win Friday night over Raton.
Lewis finished 3-for-4 at the plate, driving in four runs with a pair of 2-run singles. Isaiah Castañeda was 1-for-3 with a RBI and two runs scored.
Carlsbad’s starting pitcher, Austin Gregory, went 6-plus innings, giving up just the two earned runs and striking out four Sunday.
Carlsbad will face Alamogordo Rotary in the winner’s bracket semifinals at 6 p.m. tonight. The winner of that game will have two cracks at winning the tournament.
Roadrunner lost its first game of the tournament on a wild play in the bottom of the seventh, but bounced back to win two straight. It will face Albuquerque Zia, the team that put it into the loser’s bracket, at 6 p.m. tonight as well.
Following Roadrunner’s early onslaught — it had three doubles in addition to the four homers — it did little with its other three at-bats in the game against Steven Williams, who started the contest than was re-inserted in the third inning.
Los Alamos got on the board in the bottom of the third with a RBI sacrifice by Austin Aslin which scored Williams. It would score again in the bottom of the fifth with Weiss singling home Ryan Kniss.
Los Alamos had a chance to extend the game at least another inning, putting a pair of runners on base, but outstanding defensive plays by Bowers, Roadrunner’s shortstop, and second baseman Andrew Groves quelled Los Alamos’ late rally attempt.
Weiss said he wouldn’t be surprised to see Roadrunner make a serious run at the tournament title.
“They have very deep pitching and very good defense,” Weiss said. “They’re a very solid team.”

Baseball: Bell rings a shot to win Home Run Derby 7/19/08

By MIKE MAEZ-COTE Monitor Sports Editor

Right before his last swing, Addison Bell stepped out of the batter’s box to collect his thoughts.
“I was just trying to focus on my swing,” Bell said. “My back foot, my follow-through.”
That extra time and that extra focus worked.
Bell, the third hitter in the order for Albuquerque Roadrunner’s All-Stars in their game with Albuquerque Zia Saturday, hit his final pitch into deep left-center for a home run, giving him the 2008 Juniors Little League All-Stars Home Run Derby title.
Bell, who just turned 15 and attends Albuquerque’s La Cueva High School, edged out Carlsbad’s Isaiah Castañeda, who hit two home runs in the final round of the Derby, held Friday night at Bomber Field.
The Home Run Derby was held as part of the Juniors state tournament opening ceremonies. Los Alamos is hosting a state Little League tournament for the first time.
In all, 15 sluggers competed for the title. Each of the nine teams playing in the tournament could select two representatives to participate.
Each player had 10 pitches to see how many home runs he could put over league officials standing about 30 feet in front of the Bomber Field fence.
Castañeda put on an impressive display in the first round, actually taking two balls out of Bomber Field to left-center, the fence of which is 355 feet from home plate. He finished the first round with three home runs.
Bell, who was among the last batters in the first round, hit some hard shots with his first six swings but was hitting line drives instead of getting anything in the air. Finally, with pitch seven, Bell drove a fly ball over the marker in straight away center.
The next pitch, Bell did the same, taking the ball over in left field. With pitch nine, Bell hit the left-center field warning track on the fly, equaling Castañeda’s mark of three.
Bell said after the competition that he didn’t hit a home run in regular season play this year, although he did hit two in Roadrunner’s district tournament and two more playing in the American Legion League earlier this year.
Steven Williams, Los Alamos’ lone entrant into the Derby, hit a home run on the first pitch of the competition, but wouldn’t get another over.
George Marquez of Raton and Austin Gregory of Carlsbad both finished the first round with two home runs, but only the top two finishers in the first round moved on to the finals.
Bell said he was ecstatic to be playing at state and to win the competition. With his win, he picked up a T-shirt and an iTunes gift card.
“This is my first time at state,” he said. “I’ve been waiting to get here for three years. I’m finally here…it’s nice. I’ve been treated well at the opening ceremony, there’s good food. It’s fun.”

Welcome to the RRLL Junior All Star site!

Welcome to the Roadrunner Junior All Stars blog site. Here we hope to keep you informed of the progress of the team in the Regional tournament in Midland. Check back often for updates.

We’re leaving tomorrow morning at 10 am from the RR parking lot. The team is staying at Midland College in the dorms, it’s sure to be a good experience for them as they’re staying there with all the other teams.

There are 9 teams in the tournament, 3 from Texas (Texas – West, Texas – East, and the host city, Midland has a team. The state champions from Louisiana, Oklahoma, Colorado, Mississippi, and our first opponent – Arkansas. Cut and paste this site to your browser to see the bracket – http://www.eteamz.com/llbsouthwestern/files/2008JLBBracket2.pdf

We play Arkansas Friday afternoon at 1 pm in Christensen Stadium, seating 5,000 and formerly the home of the Midland Rockhounds, a double-A professional team.

Roster

2008 RRLL JUNIOR ALL-STAR TEAM

FOR BASEBALL

Manager – John Della Longa

Coach – Joe Della Longa

Coach – Dennis Groves 

Nathan Briscoe

Kyle Wiseley

Dalton Bowers

Andrew Della Longa

Andrew Groves

Sam Segotta

Travis Tillery

Matthew Givens

Victor Guevara

Ambrose Romero

Addison Bell

Breckan Hunkle