Youth baseball got a big boost in Cortez this summer, and it only appears to be getting stronger.
The U13-14 Cortez Raptors began play this season in the Sandy Koufax League, which is part of the American Amateur Baseball Congress, with boys from Cortez and Dolores.
In what started out as just putting together a team of baseball crazed 13- and 14-year-olds to hit the diamond, the Raptors simply kept winning.
We had talked for years about what it takes to get a successful program, Raptors coach Robert Laymon said in regards to speaking with assistant coach Matt Betts. He suggested these kids need more exposure and more playing time. We just got together and said, How are we going to do this?
Laymon and his assistants decided to play in baseball-rich Farmington, N.M., in the SKL. Other than the Farmington teams, there were fellow New Mexico teams Aztec and Shiprock, and a Durango team.
The Raptors had 13 players, 10 of which were age 14. They qualified for the post-season at the Farmington City Tournament.
The Raptors bit and clawed their way to the championship game against familiar foe, the Farmington Sting. After trailing 4-1 in the second inning, Laymon told the boys to pick it up. The Raptors responded with six runs in the bottom half to take a 7-4 lead and then the bats erupted, as Cortez went on to win the Farmington City Tournament title 26-7.
We just continued to hit the ball. The Sting are one of their (Farmington) top teams, said Raptors catcher Andrew Laymon, 13, who also saw time at pitcher, and at second and third base.
The Raptors advanced to the Colorado state tournament in Durango, where they opened with the hometown Devils.
However, home field proved too much with the Devils dooming the Raptors, 12-0. The loss put Cortez in the elimination bracket against Bayfield. The Raptors were facing extinction, trailing 3-0 in the bottom of the seventh with two outs. But Cortez had not yet begun to fight, as it pulled off the impossible by scoring four runs with two outs to win the game 4-3. With the Raptors escaping Bayfield, that burst of momentum carried them through the losers bracket and into the championship game with another shot at the Devils. Cortez was riding high and jumped out to a 5-1 lead before a one-hour rain delay. When play resumed, Durango battled back to tie the game and scored the winning run in the bottom of the seventh to edge Cortez, 6-5.
Although the Raptors finished second at state, they qualified for the South Plains World Series qualifying tournament in Farmington to play against teams from across the country. Thats where the Raptors season ended on July 21, in a 9-4 loss to the Farmington Rivercats.
It was a lot stronger competition, Robert Laymon said. We know what our weaknesses are and what we need to do to strengthen them. It was a lot of fun. The kids have come a long way. Its just tremendous to see the growth on these kids.
Laymon and the coaches plan to lead the Raptors in the coming years to the U15-16 Mickey Mantle League up through the Connie Mack League.
Were developing kids not just for (Montezuma-) Cortez High School, but also for Dolores. Theres kids that go to both schools, Robert Laymon said. For them to come together and mesh together and play ball, was great to see.
Konnar McGee, Randy Haley, Dayne Black, Joe Whyte, Kellen Gatzke and Bridger Brenner controlled the infield along with Andrew Laymon.
The outfield was run by Eddie Martinez, Raudy Castillo, Kevin Morales, Taren Lanier and Ian Roberson.
It was incredible, Andrew Laymon said about the season. I think we did tremendous for a team coming from here.
Andrews coach and father agrees.
No one thinks of Cortez in baseball, until we showed up, Robert Laymon said.
Reach Bobby Abplanalp at bobbya@cortezjournal.com.