Holding nothing back Saturday afternoon while pitching the final inning of a decorated multisport career, Jasen Engel dared the opposing 7-8-9 hitters to catch up to his fastball – still popping catcher Travis Beeson’s mitt as hard as it had when he’d swiftly retired Ignacio’s 1-2-3 sticks four frames earlier.
His first two offerings were slightly off-target as he reloosened his right arm after Montezuma-Cortez’s lengthy at-bat in the top of the fifth produced three runs, two of them from Engel’s bat, with his legs logging the third.
His next – and last – nine deliveries: Strike, strike, strike to Bobcat designated hitter Bryce Finn. Strike, strike, strike to catcher Lawrence Toledo. Strike, strike, strike to first baseman/relief pitcher Adam House.
An immaculate inning, more or less, to cap a 14-1 nonleague road win and the Panthers’ 2018 season.
“Yeah, I threw a few balls today,” grinned Engel, who followed up his 57-pitch, perfect-game performance against the Bobcats (4-15, 1-6 2A/1A San Juan Basin) back on April 26 with a 70-pitch no-hitter. He also went 3-for-4 offensively – including a three-run, opposite-field homer to right off Ignacio senior Kai Roubideaux (L; 3.1 IP, 6 H, 9 R, 7 ER, 4 BB, 7 K) in the fourth – scored three runs and plated five.
Junior Cordell Baer, batting right behind Engel in the visitors’ order, finished 3-for-3 with a homer, triple, walk and ground-rule double, three runs scored and as many driven in. Bidding for a rare “reverse” cycle, his long ball to left with senior Cutter Matthews (0-1, BB, R) and Engel aboard gave Montezuma-Cortez (4-12, 1-9 3A Intermountain) a quick 3-0 lead in the top of the first.
“It was just there,” he said. “Right in my zone, and I just swung at it ... and it went all the way out!”
Beeson then walked against Roubideaux, and courtesy runner Ernie Padilla (0-0, 2 R) promptly took second on a wild pitch to Andrew Medina (0-2, 2 BB), reached third via a passed ball on Toledo, then scored on a delayed double-steal when Medina, who’d walked, swiped second and drew Toledo’s throw.
Roubideaux settled down to strike out DH Brandon McMillian (1-4, RBI) and Kolby Waltman, but irreparable damage was done, and the Panthers weren’t to be caught. Beeson (1-2, 2 BB) bashed a ground-rule double in the top of the third, plating Baer after his triple, and then scored on a McMillan single to right to put M-CHS up 6-0. And highlighted by Engel’s blast, the guests put up a decisive 5-spot in the top of the fourth.
Starting in left field with the home team’s roster decimated by various absences, Ignacio’s Cesar Pedregon – whose fourth-inning misplay of a two-out McMillian fly allowed both Baer and Beeson to score – managed to draw a second-inning walk but was stranded when Engel fanned Finn.
The only other offensive production the Bobcats could muster on a lackluster Senior Day was when senior Marcus Chapman, pressed into duty at shortstop rather than his regular first-base role, skied a third-inning pitch to left, where Waltman couldn’t make the grab – allowing Chapman to scoot ahead to second base.
Ian Weinreich then bounced a pitch at reserve shortstop Ty Blackmer – Matthews had been ejected for disputing a called third strike, ending the top of the second inning – who was unable to make a clean throw to Medina, allowing both Weinreich to reach, and Chapman to sprint home for the unearned run.
“We’re averaging a lot more than that,” Baer said, of the two errors, “so it was a good, well-rounded day.”
“Next year, we’ll have a little motivation. We’ve got to get back to where we were last year – we were a winning team – and this year wasn’t what we wanted,” he said. “We’ve been struggling the whole year, and it’s good to end it like this.”
Engel and Baer combined to go 6-for-7 in the rout, cracking five extra-base hits, scoring six runs and racking up a devastating eight RBI in the season finale.
“In the outfield when we were praying, I told everyone to have fun – it was the last game of the year,” said Baer. “Me and Jasen, we’ve been playing sports for three years together now, and ... it’s just kind of a bond. We knew that we had to step up, be big in the lineup, and we did.”
