The Alamosa baseball team won the 2018 SoCo Tournament for the second year in a row Tuesday evening. Pictured, front, left to right: Garrett Willis, Tyler Duarte, Case Zimmerman, Gabe West, Dustin Curto, David Jordan, Jared Carson; back row: coach Paul Duarte, Adam Crowder, Austin Barrows, Kolten Hillis, John Lujan, Caden Alonzo, Kason Smith, Kaden Hardesty, Ben Wuckert and coach Tony Kechter. Not pictured: Jamie Brooks. (Courtesy photo)

PUEBLO — The Alamosa Mean Moose varsity baseball squad defended its Southern Colorado Championship Tuesday night at the Runyon Sports Complex at Nuch Field, defeating the La Junta Twins, 1-0.

Coming off a successful 2018 season (16-5) and Sweet 16 appearance in the 3A state tournament, the Moose fell just short in extra innings to Peak to Peak High School. However, their biggest loss was losing head coach Jason Romero who took a coaching position at Palmer Ridge High School.

Romero will be missed as he built the foundation to Alamosa’s success over the past 10 years, taking Alamosa Baseball to places it had never been before. Assistant coach Tony Kechter took over the summer program and guided Alamosa to back-to-back summer ball championships.

After an up and down summer, Alamosa eventually found its groove and played like they were capable of at the right time. The #2-seeded Moose played the La Junta Twins in the first round Saturday, winning 4-3 in the bottom of the seventh, behind the pitching efforts of John Lujan and Tyler Duarte.  
In game two, Ben Wuckert took the mound against the Pueblo East Eagles. Alamosa fell behind 7-0 in the first inning but showed no quit as they battled back to pick up the win by a score of 12-9.

Next, AHS would take on the #1-seeded Rye Thunderbolts. AHS could not touch freshman phenom Kenan Elarton, son of former major leaguer Scott Elarton of Lamar fame, as he tossed a one-hit shut-out. A pitcher’s duel between Caden Alonzo and Elarton, going into the sixth inning 1-0, Alamosa gave up three runs on one hit and eventually lost, 4-0.  

Forced to battle back in game four, Austin Barrows took the hill and kept the Canon City Tigers off balance throughout the game doing what he needed to pick up routine ground and fly balls. The Moose bats finally came to life in the fourth inning as Alonzo started a rally with a line drive double over the right fielder’s head. Adam Crowder came in relief in the seventh and shut down a would-be Tiger comeback, sending the Moose to the championship game with a narrow 5-4 win.
In Tuesday’s championship game the Moose would once again meet up with the La Junta Twins as they beat Rye 6-4 to advance to the final game. Alamosa’s ace Lujan again took the mound, but this time it was a different story. In another pitcher duel, Lujan was stellar when it mattered most.

With a scoreless game going into the fourth inning, Alonzo ripped a first pitch fastball deep over the center fielder’s head for a triple. Duarte came up clutch driving in Alonzo with a sacrifice fly to right field.  That was all the Moose needed as Lujan was untouchable Tuesday night, throwing a one-hit shut-out, backed by error-free defense in the field.   

“I could not be more proud of these boys,” said Coach Kechter, “They’ve gone through a lot of ups and downs throughout the summer. They could have given up, but they kept battling. They came together as a family when it counted most; they earned the right to be champions.”

Alamosa will ride this momentum and confidence into the 2019 season as they will have 11 seniors and a handful of juniors and sophomores on the returning squad. After being so close to their goal last season, the Moose have unfinished business to take care of next year.