Trojan Shield Weekly Update: March 4, 2019

Greetings from Trojan Country!

What an amazing week. We hosted 16 home contests this week, winning 13 of those. We had the track team return from nationals with a pair of national championship medals and a great overall showing from all of our runners. We had a last second buzzer beater, to beat Otero no less. We had baseball go 6-0 and softball score almost 70 runs in six games. It was a wild week. You can read about most of it below.

We also had a special guest for the Otero basketball games on Tuesday. Trinidad State Educational Foundation Executive Director Toni DeAngelis brought Dennis “Jersey” Stone by to watch. Dennis played for Trinidad State in the early 1970’s and it was the first time since he played in Scott Gym that he watched a game there. Welcome back Dennis.

The women’s soccer team was back at it again this week as a pair of our athletes headed up the river to Primero School District to help with their soccer camp. Madison Kaminky and Isabel Pinheiro donated their time to help instruct some of the young Bulldog athletes. Awesome job Lady Trojans! #TrojanProud

Last Week's Results

Men’s Basketball –

• Defeated Otero 61-59
• Defeated Lamar 89-77 (Region IX Playoffs)

Women’s Basketball –

• Defeated Otero 73-61
• Fell to Otero 51-42 (Region IX Playoffs)

Track and Field –

Competed at the 2019 Indoor National Championships in Kansas – For complete results click here –
Women’s Mile – 7th Benadine Chelimo, 16th Toni Moore
Women’s 3000m – 4th Benadine Chelimo, 8th Toni Moore, 19th Camille Ruggles
Men’s 600m – 4th Godfrey Chama
Men’s 800m – 1st Derek Holdsworth, 2nd Godfrey Chama
Men’s 1000m – 1st Derek Holdsworth
Men’s Mile – 22nd Riley Allen, 24th Bailey Smith
Men’s Distance Medley Relay 4th (Godfrey Chama, Dontavis Moore-Ford, Alejandro Salazar and Derek Holdsworth)

Baseball –

• Defeated Southeast CC 6-5
• Defeated Southeast CC 3-2
• Defeated Southeast CC 14-1
• Defeated Northeastern JC 13-9
• Defeated Northeastern JC 10-3
• Defeated Northeastern JC 11-7

Softball –

• Defeated Luna CC 15-7
• Defeated Luna CC 26-18
• Defeated Western Nebraska CC 9-3
• Defeated Western Nebraska CC 10-5
• Fell to Western Nebraska CC 9-1
• Fell to Western Nebraska CC 22-7

This Week

Tuesday -

• Baseball hosts ASU JV at Central Park (weather permitting)

Thursday -

• Men's Basketball travels to Sheridan, Wyoming for the Region IX Basketball Tournament
• Softball travels to La Junta, Colorado for a doubleheader with Otero JC

Saturday -

• Softball hosts Clarendon College for a doubleheader at Southside Park starting at noon
• Baseball hosts Western Nebraska for a single 9-inning game starting at 3pm

Sunday -

• Softball travels to Las Vegas, New Mexico for a doubleheader with Luna CC
• Baseball hosts Western Nebraska for a doubleheader at Central Park starting at noon

Men’s Basketball headed to Elite Eight

The Trojan basketball team continued their red-hot play this week, first defeating Otero to qualify as the third seed in the south, and then eliminating Lamar on Saturday to move on to Sheridan, Wyoming for the elite eight of Region IX.

On Tuesday night Scott Gym was rocking as the Rattlers from OJC came to town. TSJC fell behind and trailed by as much as ten with less than three minutes remaining. The Trojans turned up the defensive pressure at that point and cut the 59-49 lead down to 59-58 with :40 seconds still on the clock. The teams traded turnovers and Otero found themselves at the free throw line with :15 seconds to play. Goy Wang grabbed the rebound off of the Rattler miss and got it to Issac Essein on a break down the right side, Essein handed it to Aleck Sharma who found Wang wide open at the top of the key. Wang drilled the 3-pointer for the Trojan 61-59 victory. In the game the Trojans survived dismal shooting but got the win through their tenacious defensive effort. Wang had 16 points to lead the team and David Muenkat added 15 points and eight rebounds. BJ Shabazz pulled down ten rebounds and Essein had three steals.

On Saturday evening the Trojans hosted Lamar in the first round of the Region IX playoffs. TSJC had a horrid start to the game and found themselves down 24-9 after eight minutes of play. Coach Mike Folda’s troops finally settled in and started getting rebounds on the defensive side and hitting shots on the other side. Slowly they closed the gap until an Ian Kelly jumper put Trinidad in the lead 35-34 with less than two minutes left in the half. The Trojans would not trail again, going on for the 89-77 win. Essein had a giant game, scoring 28 points, pulling in ten rebounds and dishing out five assists. Kelly was big underneath with 21 points and TJ Lucero had a great game off the bench dumping in 16 points.

The Trojans will next face #6 ranked Casper College who enters the tournament as the number two seed from the north with an impressive 28-2 record. The Region IX Tournament will be played in Sheridan, Wyoming. TSJC’s opening game is set for Thursday at 1pm.

Track team has another great showing at nationals

The Trojan track team was in Pittsburg, Kansas last weekend for the NJCAA National Indoor Meet. The Trojans had another great showing with the men finishing in seventh place and the women in 18th. Individually the Trojans brought home a pair of national titles and eleven All-American honors.

Eight TSJC athletes participated in the two-day event at Pittsburg State University’s Prentice Gudgen Complex. Derek Holdsworth led the way for the team, defending his 2018 national titles in the 800m and the 1000m. Godfrey Chama pushed Holdsworth in the 800m, coming across the line less than a half a second behind to finish in second place. Chama also placed fourth in the 600m. Benadine Chelimo finished fourth in the 3000m and seventh in the mile, and Toni Moore was eighth in the 3000m. Finally, the Trojan Distance Medley team of Chama, Dontavis Moore-Ford, Alejandro Salazar and Holdsworth finished fourth.

This was another great showing for the Trojan runners, but they are not done as they will now head outside for the 2019 Outdoor Track and Field season with will culminate at the national championships in May.

Baseball starts Region Play 6-0

The Trojan baseball team moved to their record to 10-9 this week with six straight wins over conference opponents at Central Park. Trinidad is undefeated at home so far this season and will hope that streak continues as they play their next 12 games in Trinidad.

This past week the Trojans played Southeast CC from Nebraska to start the week and then Northeastern JC to end it. They topped the Storm by scores of 6-5, 3-2 and 14-1 and the Plainsmen by scores of 13-9, 10-3 and 11-7.

In the games with the Storm early in the week, the first two games were tight, low scoring affairs. In game one, Guillaume Beaudry picked up his first college win in relief and Vance Ferraro got the save. RBI’s were provided by Ivan Arce, Jose Macias and Luis Flores. Game two was a pitching duel throughout. TSJC got a great start from Elvin Cordero who struck out five over five and two-thirds innings, but the win went to Jeron Petterson who had three strikeouts of his own late for TSJC. The Trojans walked the game off in the seventh when they got a bases loaded walk from Ethan Hammond. On Tuesday Trinidad finally got the bats going. TSJC plated 14 runners in the game and Kevin Gutierrez and Jose Macias each hit shots that left the park. Bohdi Bolen went the distance for the win, allowing only one unearned run while striking out three.

On Friday a towering home run from Fernando Cortez keyed a big sixth inning for the Trojans as they outlasted the Plainsmen 13-9. Kevin Gutierrez had another big game as he drove in three runs. Anthony Durbano had a strong showing on the hill, striking out seven over six innings of work, and Ferraro struck out five of the six batters he faced to secure his second save of the week. On Saturday the teams faced each other for a doubleheader that saw the temperatures dipping into the 30’s most of the afternoon. TSJC managed the elements well, getting people on base and moving them around to score. Beaudry again got the win in relief in the first game, and Bolen got another strong start in the final game for the victory. Ferraro finished the week off with his third save.

TSJC will host ASU JV early in the week if the weather allows, and then will welcome Region IX opponent Western Nebraska (4-7, 1-2) to town this coming weekend. The single 9-inning game on Saturday is set for a first pitch at 3pm and Sunday’s double header should start at noon.

Lady Trojans finish season at .500

The week started with a high and finished with a low for the Lady Trojan basketball team. They defeated Otero on Tuesday evening to earn the right to host a first-round playoff game, only to drop that game over the weekend, ending the year with a 14-14 record.

Tuesday night was exciting as the Trojans showcased their best defensive performance of the season to run past Otero 73-61. The Trojans dominated most of the game with four starters finishing in double figures. Cassia Mccaskill put in 16 to lead the way, followed by Shaylynn Choate and Destinee Vigil, each with 15 and Hannah Gilmore who had 12 points and 13 rebounds. TSJC had five steals in the contest and forced 15 turnovers.

Via their win on Tuesday the Trojans became the fourth seed in the region playoffs and earned the right to host the fifth seed, Otero. Similar to the game earlier in the week, the defense showed up in a big way, but unlike Tuesday’s game the Trojan offensive attack was missing in action. The Trojans forced more turnovers, 19, and had more steals, 9, but they never could find a way to get points on the board. The TSJC shot just over 30% in the game and not a single starter reached double figures. Kate Rohr lead the team in scoring off the bench with 10 as they fell 51-42.

The season came to an end with the team going 14-14 and it was the third straight year they earned the right to host a first-round playoff game. The Trojans will lose an exceptional class of sophomores. All of these players are great leaders in the classroom, on campus and on the court. Thanks to Shaylynn Choate, Destinee Vigil, Cassia Mccaskill, Linsi Calvo, Hannah Gilmore and Julia Trujillo for two great years at TSJC.

Softball lights up new scoreboard at Southside

TSJC’s new scoreboard was in place and operational for the six games at Southside Park this week, and the Trojans tried to burn all of the lights out in the first week of use. TSJC and their opponents combined for 132 runs in the six-game stretch. TSJC won four of those and scored 68 runs in the process.

The games on Tuesday were with Luna Community College. TSJC won both by scores of 15-7 and 26-18. In the second game the Trojans actually trailed by 11 runs early, but fought back for the victory. Teddi Garcia and Gabryella Williams got the wins in the circle and the Trojans got home runs from Rachel McKinley and Sheyanne Sandoval.

Region IX play started on Friday afternoon as the Trojans hosted the Cougars of Western Nebraska Community College. Despite the windy conditions the Trojans controlled play in both games to win by scores of 9-3 and 10-5. Garcia and Williams again picked up the wins. Williams had a great couple of games at the plate as well, finishing with a pair of home runs and eight RBIs. On Saturday the temperature dropped and the results shifted in favor of the Cougars as they battered the Trojans by scores of 9-1 and 22-7. Six TSJC errors contributed to the outpouring of WNCC runs. Sandoval had a great week at the plate for the Trojans, hitting .636 with 14 RBIs and four home runs.

TSJC is now 10-7 overall and 2-2 in conference play. They will travel to La Junta on Thursday to take on the 13-3 Rattlers from Otero. TSJC will then return home for games with Clarendon College on Saturday at noon and 2pm.

Some photos from the week

Quote of the Week -

"Being negative only makes a difficult journey more difficult. You may be given a cactus but you don’t have to sit on it." - Joyce Meyer

GO TROJANS!

#DMGB - Doesn’t Matter Get Better

Mike Salbato

Athletic Director
Trinidad State Junior College