Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Tucumcari baseball coach Dennis Dysart talks to several players as they go through warm-up routines on a chilly Saturday morning on the baseball field.
Tucumcari baseball was scheduled to resume Tuesday after nearly the entire 2020 season was wiped out by COVID-19.
The Rattlers played only two games last year before the state shut down schools and canceled spring sports because of the pandemic. On Tuesday, coach Dennis Dysart's young team was scheduled to open the 2021 season at home with one varsity game and one junior-varsity game against West Las Vegas, weather permitting. (The games were after the Quay County Sun's deadlines.)
Dysart said 11 players have shown up for practices so far since the first official practice began April 5, with five more still involved in basketball season.
But the Rattlers have just two seniors - outfielder, catcher and first baseman Josh Infante and shortstop, outfielder and pitcher Joey Dysart, who was an all-district player two years ago.
"We're a very young team, and we don't have a lot of varsity-type talent. But we'll work with them, keep them encouraged and get out there and play as well as we can, see what we can do," coach Dysart said.
Dysart said he has an intriguing pitcher combination with his son, Joey Dysart, and Johnathan Blea, who also plays first base and third base.
"He and Jonathan are different-type pitchers," he said. "Jonathan is more of a junkball type pitcher, where he can throw all types of different pitches. Joey's going to be more of a speed pitcher. Hopefully, we can work the two together and get different combinations that will give batters trouble."
One thing Dysart said he's appreciative of is his assistant coaching staff.
"One of our strengths is we have Mike Russell and Manuel Blea as assistant coaches," he said. "Mike's an excellent field manager, and he'll be coaching third. Blea's a great help with the infielders and outfielders. He'll be coaching first base."
Tucumcari's next home games will be May 6 and May 11 against Clayton and Santa Rosa, respectively. District competition begins May 22 with a road doubleheader at Dexter, then a home game against East Mountain. New Mexico Military Institute and Sandia Prep also are in Tucumcari's district.
Because of the reconfiguration of sports schedules due to the pandemic, the Rattlers are scheduled to play games through at least June 17 - nearly a month after graduation.
