Pueblo Azteca earns 2 wins at 'Nuch tournament despite weather delays, midnight start time
The second day of the 43rd annual Andenucio Tournament was a bit chaotic, to say the least, but the Pueblo Azteca Blue team found a way to win both of their games and remain undefeated in the tournament so far.
The day started off with great weather but conditions soon turned cloudy and wet.
The Azteca's first game against Burkburnett at Runyon Sports Complex was delayed nearly an hour but the two teams still completed the game on time. Their second game against Greeley saw its own hour-and-a-half rain and lighting delay and the weather created poor field conditions, causing a switch to another field and leading to a midnight start time.
Azteca Blue cruises in first game against Burkburnett
In the first game of the day, the Azteca Blue team had Pueblo West standout and 2023 South-Central League MVP Andrew Plutt on the mound. Azteca gave up an early unearned run in the first inning, but Plutt was cruising the rest of the game, keeping batters guessing by changing speeds and locations each at-bat.
The Azteca's offensive performance was largely reminiscent of its first game of the tournament: Almost every player that went up to bat reached base at some point in the game, and the home team put up a seven-run third inning to go up 9-1. Plutt shut down Burkburnett's batters in the top of the fifth inning and Azteca ended the game on the eight-run rule in five innings with a 9-1 final score.
More: Pueblo Azteca 'Blue' team earns commanding win in Day 1 of Andenucio tournament
A field swap and a midnight start time
After a quick break between games, the worst of the weather hit. Around 8 p.m., teams and fans were asked to seek shelter due to lighting in the area. At approximately 9 p.m., the decision was made to move the game to Rawlings Field at Colorado State University Pueblo due to the field's condition after the rain.
However, another tournament game was already taking place on the CSU Pueblo field, so the delay ultimately pushed the Azteca's game against the Gojo's to a midnight start time.
Once the game finally got started, Michael Casillas took the mound for the Blue team and was stellar, only giving up one run over the course of seven innings.
The Azteca would help their pitcher by scoring three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to give Casillas a 4-1 lead going into the top of the seventh. Casillas then struck out the side to end the game and give the Azteca Blue team their third win of the tournament.
“I feel good, it’s 2 in the morning right now but I can still pitch,” Casillas said after the late-night game.
The team is now 3-0, largely thanks to Casillas’ superb efforts at the plate, on the field and in this game, on the mound.
Day 1 at the 'Nuch: Pueblo Azteca 'Blue' team earns commanding win in Day 1 of Andenucio tournament
“I'm glad that we got that win, but we got two more tomorrow that are important to us,” Casillas said.
Casillas said the long break in between games Friday could have been a bump in the road, but the team stayed together and focused on the task at hand.
“We just stayed together as a team, after we got here (at CSU Pueblo's Rawlings Field) we just went through the same routine that we do when we come to the field. It's nothing different. We are a good team so we could do anything at any time.”
With Friday's wins, Azteca will head home and seek to play two more games Saturday with the goal of advancing to Sunday's finals. The Blue team will take on CO Rockies Scout at 5 p.m. on Andenucio Field, then Grand Junction at 7:30 p.m.
“There are some good teams on the other side,” Casillas said. “But I'm confident in this team. We still got two big ones tomorrow to win but I want that No. 1 seed.”
If Azteca Blue wins both games Saturday night, they will finish with a perfect 5-0 record in the American Division of the ‘Nuch’ Tournament and earn the No. 1 seed in the division, positioning them to face the second-place team from the National Division on Sunday afternoon.
Jim Dilorio Memorial Tournament award goes to Dave Dudley
Just before the weather delay, there was a special presentation on Andenucio Field for the 23rd annual Jim Dilorio Memorial Tournament award recipient.
The award is given out each year during the Dilorio tournament, which is held simultaneously with the Andenucio tournament on Father’s Day weekend. The award is meant to recognize an individual’s achievements and impact both on and off of the baseball field.
This year’s recipient of the award was Dave Dudley.
He was joined on the field by previous award winners as well as members of the Dilorio family.
More: Pueblo Aztecas look to finish the job this year at the 'Nuch'
Christopher Abdelmalek is a sports reporter for the Pueblo Chieftain and can be reached at cabdelmalek@gannett.com or on Twitter: @chowebacca.
This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Azteca snags 2 wins at 'Nuch despite wild weather, midnight start time
