Coach grapples with playoff pressure

Metro meets Mesa State in schoolsâ first RMAC tournament appearance

By Nick Garner
The Metropolitan

Though none of them have experienced the pressure of playoffs, the Metro Roadrunnners appear more than equipt at handling obligitory pre-playoff questions, deftly dishing veteran cliches.

And if Metro continues to play at the level it maintained throughout its most successful season in nine years, the Roadrunners might be answering the call of regional Division II tournament action.

ãItâs just a game like all of the others that we have played this season,ä coach Vince Porreco said. ãWe need to go out and play the games, not the opponents. If we get caught up in pressure, we will not play like we have all season.ä

On May 1, the No. 2-seeded Roadrunners (31-18 overall, 20-6 RMAC) will play their first ever RMAC tournament game. They will face No. 3 seeded Mesa State (28-24, 16-12), a team the Roadrunners swept in a four-game series at Auraria Fields in March. The first pitch is at 10 a.m. at Sky Sox Stadium in Colorado Springs.

The Roadrunners did not walk away with the regular season series easily. Metro had to come back in the bottom of the seventh inning in the first two games and hold off late charges by the Mavericks to win the last two games.

ã(Mesa State) will be pumped,ä senior catcher Pat Maxwell said. ãNo team likes to be swept, especially since we had our two come-from-behind wins against them.

ãWe are going to go out (May 1) and the entire tournament and play like we have all season long,ä Maxwell said.

Maxwell was the hero in Game 2 on March 22, hitting his first home run of

the season, a three-run bomb to give the Roadrunners a 5-4 win and earning Metro the first dayâs sweep of Mesa. It was more of the same on
March 23. This time, the Roadrunners led throughout, winning 7-5 and 4-2.


If the Roadrunners win the game with Mesa State, they will play the winner of the Fort Hays State (40-12, 22-6) and New Mexico Highlands (22-22, 12-10) contest. That game is set to be played on May 2 at 1 p.m.
Fort Hays State was one of the tougher series the Roadrunners faced all season. Metro went into Hays, Kan. on April 11-12 and split with Fort Hays, which at the time kept Metro in a tie for first with Hays.

In Game 1, the Roadrunners were held to two runs on two hits and lost 4-2. In the Game 2 that same day, the Roadrunners offense was held in check by the Tigers pitching, losing again 6-4. The next day, junior pitcher Kevin Watson pitched a shutout and Metro won 4-0.

In the last game of the four game series, Metro scored early and held off Hays in a 5-3 win.

Metroâs series with New Mexico Highlands was cut short due to bad weather, but the Roadrunners were able to take a game from the Cowboys.

ãIt hurt us not to play,ä Porreco said. ãWe had nothing to lose, but everything to gain from this series. We could have gone in and lost all four games, we still would be the No. 2 seed.ä

After the tournament is completed, the winner may not be able to advance to the regionals.

ãOnly four teams are able to advance on to regionals,ä Porreco said. ãWe have a good chance of being one of those four teams. With our record (31-18) we have a shot, but we need to play well.

ãIf we take the RMAC tournament, that will only improve our chacnes of getting on as an at-large bid.ä