The Littlefield Wildcats’ varsity baseball team went 4-1 to close out district play, entering the Class 3A Baseball Play-offs as the number two seed out of District 3-3A.
The Wildcats finished the season 12-11 overall, 5-3 in district play.
Head Coach Mitch McNeese is into his 18th year as the Head Baseball Coach and he is assisted by Nathan McKinnon, Blake Green and Jett Hartley.
“I put our coaching staff up against anyone,” Coach McNeese said. “We are all four Littlefield graduates and we all went through the Littlefield baseball program and the Littlefield athletic program. Two of these guys played on some of the best teams we ever had; Jett played on the team that went to State and Blake played on the team that went to the Regional Semi-Finals. To have them on the staff and the knowledge they have of the game and to have been part of teams that had such great success is a great thing for our program and our kids.”
He added, “They are great guys to look up to, they have great knowledge of the game, they have a love of the game, a love for our kids, it’s just an overall great staff. Coach McKinnon has been with me for 11 years now; it’s just a great staff and I would put this staff up against anybody.
The Wildcats won a three game Bidistrict series over Presidio last season, before falling to Bushland in the 3AArea round.
“Before the season started I asked our guys before I set the schedule if they were up for it again, I’m going to put Bushland on the schedule three times. They said, really, and I said yeah, because when we get to the play-offs we’re not going to fear them. We’ve seen them three times, there is not a team we know better than those guys. There is a good possibility that we’re going to see those guys in the post-season.
He added, “With that mindset, we played them three times early, we played them in the scrimmage decent, one time they blew us out and the last time, we were only down, 1-0, going into the seventh. We want to beat good teams, they exposed things we needed to work on and by the time we play them next, we’ll have fixed them.”
The Wildcats roster boasts one senior, eight juniors, eight sophomores and one freshman.
“.Major McNeese has batted lead off for us all year and has done a great job for us in that spot. He plays center field and pitches for us, defensively. “He’s only had three strikeouts on the year, one during district, he does a good job of putting the ball in play. He’s a competitor in that lead-off spot batting .333 with an on base percentage of .476 and being a lefty helps us work the probability of him getting walks. He has a lot of speed on the bases, so he has been a prototypical lead-off guy for us, I like left-handed batters in that one hole. On the mound he was 3-1 in district with an ERA of 2.57 and has struck out 54 batters and gave up only 15 walks on the year.”
He added, “Ian Mendez plays shortstop, pitches and has also played some catcher for us when needed. He’s batting .388 on the year; he puts the ball in play and does a great job. We have a great one-two punch at the top of the line up with Ian and Major. Ian is 5-5 overall on the year as a pitcher with a 4.63 ERA and he has struck out 31 batters.”
Next in the line-up for the Wildcats is junior, Isaiah Rodriguez, who bats third.
“Isaiah is a three-year varsity player for us and is a tough competitor. He plays, shortstop, second base, he pitches, he does a little bit of everything and has done a great job for us. He is a vacuum cleaner in the middle infield; he and Ian do a good job for us filling in the middle infield. Rodriguez is batting .309 with an on base percentage of .446. Brendan Bowman is our clean-up hitter and has been our anchor behind the plate. He can also pitch and play some third base for us, but I like him behind the plate. Bowman is batting .339 with an on base percentage of .457. What these numbers show is that our batting averages are where they need to be, but our on base percentage is great. We are being patient at the plate, we are working walks, we’re doing the things necessary to get runners on base.”
He added, “Bowman has done a really good job behind the plate, he doesn’t allow a lot of steals, he holds runners and throws people out. He is a threat behind the plate and holds runners at bay. Chip Green is another sophomore for us. He hits fifth for us and has played third all year for us; he also does some pitching. Chip is real quick and real mobile, he plays the hot corner well. He is not scared of ground balls, he attacks them and will take them like a champ. He has struggled at the plate a little bit batting .245, but his on base percentage is .405, so he’s still getting on base. He is one of the most patient hitters that I have, and he is always cool, calm and collective.”
Next in the line-up for the Wildcats is Markus Rosales, who is another three-year varsity guy.
“He plays right field and some center field; he is also another left-handed batter in my line-up,” Coach McNeese said. “He has a lot of speed and takes great angles in the outfield. He has come a long way at the plate this year for us as well; he can lay down bunts to move runners, but he has also hit with some power this year. He’s batting .271 with an on-base percentage of .400; he does a great job in the bottom half of the line-up of getting things going, getting on base and moving runners. He always has a positive attitude, is a great competitor and a great outfielder, not much gets by him. Elijah hits seventh for us and plays mainly second base or outfield. He played as a freshman and sophomore, didn’t play his junior year and came back out for his senior year. He has done a great job, he has a great attitude and shocked me with the skills he still had from taking a year off. He came back with arm strength, he puts the ball in play, he is batting a .280, but for a long time he was batting .350. He’s our lone senior this year and has done a great job. He plays wherever I need him to play.”
He added, “Adam MacDonals is one of the better first baseman I’ve ever seen. He is a magnet over there and it shocks he how many balls he has dug out, and some of the plays he makes over there. He is tall, lengthy and just has the build for that position. His batting average has come up throughout the year; he’s put in a lot of time on his own in the cages and has gotten a lot better. He batted .300 through district play, after he wasn’t even batting .100 on the year. He made adjustments and is one of the most improved at the plate this year. Gabe Montalvo has been our primary left fielder for us; he is a defensive specialist for us. Those guys out there call it the ‘No Fly Zone’ those guys take a lot of pride in the outfield and he is a big part of that. He can flat play defense, he takes good angles, has a great arm, has lots of speed and I’m glad to have him out there.”
Other guys who contribute for us are Ja’Den Williams and Sam Hill.
“Ja’Den is only a two-year baseball player and he’s come a long way for us. He can lay down bunts and move runners and can also run bases for us. Armando Ramon has also helped us out as a designated hitter. Sam runs bases for us and plays the outfield. I love having Sam, he is a threat on the bases and he is a great outfielder, when he is out there.”
Coach McNeese stated that they also have Xavier Champion, Marquis Rosemond, Jacob Kirkland, Jaden Kirkland and Gabe Villanueva.
“Xavier is a pitching specialist, he got a lot of reps on JV,” Coach McNeese said. “Jaden Kirkland is another catcher I’ve carried all year, Villanueva is a great outfielder. All of these guys are there to do a specific job, but they’re there in case something happens and if they have to go in we won’t miss a beat.”
Coach McNeese talked about who he feels his leaders are, saying, “If you look at it, I’ve seen Major get after people, Ian gets after people, Irod, Bowman, Chip; he is a quiet one, but leads by example. Markus has gotten on to people, Elijah is another one who leads by example. Everyone has been a leader at one time or another in some form or fashion.”
He added, “That’s kind of what I wanted, the better teams I’ve ever had are team-led.As a team, everyone has carried one-another equally. I’m just really proud of the guys for coming together and fighting together and holding each other accountable to do the right things and compete. It’s a team effort.”
The coach talked about what he feels their strengths have been this year, saying, “Our defense has been our strength this year.”
“When we are on defense, we know we’re going to make plays, when we do make mistakes, we fix it, somebody will pick somebody else up. We’ve competed on the mound, we haven’t walked a lot of people, we force people to hit the ball. Pitching and defense has been out strength.”
He added, “Our weakness this year has been at the plate. Our batting averages need to be a little higher, but when you look at our on base percentages, we’re still doing our job. Actually barreling up balls and hitting the ball hard, we’ve struggled with at times. We’ve left a lot of guys on base and we’re not getting the timely hits. It we can fix those things, I think we will be lethal.”
The Wildcats battled with Stanton in the Bi-district round of the Playoffs on Friday and Saturday. Results were not available at press time.