Magdalena takes advantage of Socorro’s pitching woes in 15-1 win

Magdalena’s Josiah Candelaria improved his season record to 5-0 with the Steers’ win over Socorro.
Russell Huffman | El Defensor Chieftain

MAGDALENA—Steers’ eighth-grader Josiah Candelaria scattered four hits, and sophomore Joseph Zamora knocked in four runs as the Steers handed Socorro a 15-1 loss on April 17.

The win improves Magdalena’s record to 7-1 while the Warriors (2-15-1) continue to struggle, and some of those problems have been self-inflicted. Last week’s senior skip day forced some benching over the weekend in district games, and coach Lawrence Montano had players with pitch counts that were too high to climb on the mound with more district games to come this week.

“We just need to buckle down. I mean, I never want to say we’re at that point where we might not get where we want to be – that we might not accomplish what we wanted to accomplish because we’ve had so many ups and downs. Lately, we have a lot more downs,” Montano said.

The Warriors turned to catcher Angel Perez for the start on the mound.

“We’re pitching somebody who’s only pitched once before in the varsity game,” Montano said. “We’ve got to save our pitching, but we needed this game, and we wanted it,”

Ultimately, it probably wouldn’t have mattered with the Steers on a hot streak that includes handing Melrose their first loss of the year. Magdalena coach Kyl Candelaria likes the momentum his team has built.

“Teams like Socorro are good for us because we’re heading into the state tournament,” Candelaria said. “We just play our game. It doesn’t matter who we play. I feel like if we play our game, we set the tone, and we’re going to be successful.”

While Magdalena will need to get tighter in the field, the team’s pitching and hitting are excellent, with the Steers pounding out 15 hits against the Warriors. With three each, Kaleb Castanon and Josh Baca were next on Magdalena’s RBI list.

Baca and Javan Tafoya tripled, and Zamora, Baca, Daniel Martinez and Tafoya smacked doubles.

Perez provided the Warriors’ only extra-base hit with a double. David Gutierrez, Jr., Anthony Silva, and Gabriel Giron had singles for Socorro.