A few summer events for Lea County to look forward to

  I apologize for the delay in blog posts. With spring sports coming to a close, Memorial Day weekend (full of good food with a little yard work on the side) and refocusing for the summer - I was able to sneak a break away from the blog for a week-plus.
  But I'm back and thought I'd share some events for Lea County to look forward to and stay interested in this summer.
   – Hobbs Nite League basketball
  This is always a staple of the Hobbs summer. Numerous former Eagles come back and battle against the current guys - making for great entertainment through all of June and July. It's also a chance for the guys that are going to make up next season's Hobbs basketball team to start getting on the same page against quality competition. Also, the all-star event held around July 4 is always a good time.

Hobbs spring football: Practices conclude, transfer to watch

Brad Cox/News-Sun

Hobbs' Brandon Amaya runs with the ball during the

Eagles' spring practice Thursday at Watson Stadium.

  The Hobbs football team concluded its three-day spring practice session Thursday night at Watson Stadium, ending it with a 30-minute scrimmage.
  There was plenty of enthusiasm from the Eagles as they played in front of a few hundred people in attendance. First-year coach Charles Gleghorn signaled the offense, testing the Eagles' knowledge of his no-huddle spread attack, while defensive coordinator Mike Felicetti signaled from the sidelines the defensive calls.
  Hobbs had bright spots, particularly Brayden Price guiding his offense down the field for a score during the first possession of the scrimmage – going 3-for-5 passing and tossing a beautiful 30-yard slant down the middle for a touchdown. Price has the tools to have a break-out senior season, including a strong arm and the ability to make plays with his feet. It should be interesting to see how he grows under the coaching of Gleghorn – whose quarterbacks have put up huge numbers over the years.

Hobbs spring football: Transition to spread, QB routine, new uniforms

Clayton Jones/News-Sun

Hobbs' Donavon Fierro catches a pass during

the Eagles' spring practice Wednesday.

  The second day of Hobbs' spring football one-hour practices mainly focused on working on the short passing game – and by short I mean screens (with both wide receivers and running backs) and shovel passes as the Eagles transition to first-year coach Charles Gleghorn's pass-heavy spread offense.
  It's a dramatic transformation for Hobbs adjusting to this passing attack. Remember, Hobbs was a wing-T based, ground-and-pound offense the last three seasons (accounting for two of the top three rushing totals in program history).
  Last season the Eagles were 37-for-112 passing as a team for 420 yards in 10 games. Over the last three seasons, the Eagles have completed 81 passes for 1,319 yards.

  In contrast, Gleghorn’s Mesilla Valley Christian team last season was 211-for-336 for 3,426 yards through its first 10 games before going on to win the state title.

Hobbs opens spring football 3-day session, focused on learning offense

Clayton Jones/News-Sun

Hobbs' Javon King at the Eagles' spring workout

Tuesday at Watson Stadium.

  It's clear first-year Hobbs football coach Charles Gleghorn wants to use every moment he can to get the Eagles ready for the 2012 season as Hobbs opened a three-day spring football session Tuesday at Watson Stadium.
  Each practice session is an hour with Thursday culminating in a 7:30 p.m. "Under the Lights" practice open to the public at Watson Stadium.
  As I wrote in my article for Wednesday's News-Sun, the Eagles focused mainly on offense, learning Gleghorn's no-huddle spread offense. It was a lot of learning the calls and signals Tuesday while going through the basic plays.

Seven-run fifth costs NMJC, loses to Cisco College 7-2 at regionals

NMJC's Camron Smith throws a pitch Sunday against Cisco.

  LUBBOCK — It started with a solo home run by Jesus Villalobos and was capped by a three-run double by Mark Davis as 13th-ranked Cisco put up seven runs in the fifth inning against New Mexico Junior during the T-Birds’ 7-2 loss to the Wranglers on Sunday in the Region V Tournament winner’s bracket semifinal at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park.
  NMJC will play Clarendon College 10 a.m. Monday in an elimination game in this double-elimination tournament.

Same season-long troubles come back to bite Hobbs, Eunice baseball

Hobbs' Victor Porras pitches in relief Thursday.

  It was a tough day for prep Lea County baseball teams Thursday as both Hobbs and Eunice were eliminated from their respective classification's state tournament.
  In both instances, it was troubles Hobbs and Eunice had battled all season that came back to bite them in the rear.
  The 12th-seeded Eagles, winners of nine consecutive games heading into Thursday, walked 11 batters, committed three errors and managed just two hits during a 5-1 loss to No. 4 Volcano Vista in the Class 5A state quarterfinals at La Cueva High School in Albuquerque.

Hobbs boys golf wins first state title since '88, Fadke goes back-to-back

Hobbs Schools Photo

The 2012 Hobbs boys Class 5A State Championship golf team.

  The Hobbs golf team showed plenty of resilience in winning the Class 5A state golf championships Tuesday at New Mexico State University Golf Course in Las Cruces.
  The Eagles were coming off a disappointing runner-up finish in the district tournament just the week before at the same NMSU Golf Course. The big question was: How the Eagles would respond?
  They did so with a bang.

Peaking No. 12 Eagles impressive in first-round sweep of No. 5 Mayfield

Clayton Jones/News-Sun

Hobbs' Brayden Price celebrates after the final out

of the Eagles' sweep of Mayfield on Saturday.

  LAS CRUCES — If not for the tree-spotted mountains in view behind Apodaca Park in Las Cruces instead of the endless horizons of southeast New Mexico, most would’ve thought No. 12 Hobbs was the better seed and host team instead of No. 5 Mayfield following the Eagles’ two-game dismantling of the Trojans this weekend.
  In every facet of the game the Eagles were better in this Class 5A state tournament best-of-three, first-round matchup.
  — Hobbs out-hit Mayfield 19-9, including knocking seven extra-base hits compared to one for Mayfield (a home run in the sixth inning of game two with the Trojans already down 6-2).

Hobbs baseball a dangerous 12th seed in Class 5A state tournament

Clayton Jones/News-Sun

Hobbs' Caleb Young

  As I returned home from Albuquerque on Sunday and hopped online to find out where the Lea County teams were going to be seeded for the state softball and baseball tournaments (go to nmact.org to see full brackets), I was surprised to find Hobbs baseball seeded 12th and hitting the road to play No. 5 Mayfield 5 p.m. Friday in the first game of a best-of-three series.
  Particularly considering Carlsbad – the team the Eagles tied with atop District 4-5A (but lost a run-differential tiebreaker by two runs) – picked up the third seed.
  I guess to me it's puzzling how two teams that played so close throughout the season are nine seeds apart in a 16-team tournament.