{"id":40047,"date":"2022-06-14T22:18:55","date_gmt":"2022-06-15T04:18:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/gallegos-named-sjbl-player-of-the-year\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T02:53:25","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:53:25","slug":"gallegos-named-sjbl-player-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/gallegos-named-sjbl-player-of-the-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Gallegos named SJBL Player of the Year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Ignacio
Ignacio shortstop Jacob Gallegos prepares to gun out an opposing base runner at IHS Field. He was recently named first team All-SJBL and SJBL Player of the Year. (Joel Priest\/Special to the Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Going into the 2022 season, his first as a high school varsity baseball head coach, Duke Baker knew multiple primary pieces to Ignacio\u2019s puzzle were already in place. He also knew there were a few needing finessing to create the desired fit.<\/p>\n

But there was one completely missing, one upon which any number of skippers would have constructed their lineups.<\/p>\n

\"Ignacio\u2019s
Ignacio\u2019s Eppie Quintana slides safely into second base during road action at Sargent. Used as a pitcher, catcher and even an infielder during 2022, Quintana was recently named first team All-SJBL. (Joel Priest\/Special to the Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

And with senior Gabe Tucson concentrating this spring on honing his college-caliber hoop game, Baker plus assistants Isiah Valdez and Lawrence Toledo Sr., were left lacking a mound ace as well as a first baseman.<\/p>\n

Confident in junior Eppie Quintana\u2019s right arm to replace Tucson\u2019s left as IHS\u2019 No. 1 option on the bump, the Bobcats\u2019 brain trust still needed an able glove at first \u2026 and early on, the coaches found one.<\/p>\n

One which just recently was named to the first-team All-San Juan Basin League: Rylan Maez.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year he \u2026 was the bullpen catcher; that\u2019s all he played,\u201d Baker said of Maez. \u201cWell, they put him in the outfield \u2013 I think he said \u2013 one game \u2026 but we moved him to first at the beginning of the year, and he did amazing for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was (going to be in the) outfield, but \u2026 he went from that to being one of the best basemen in the league. He\u2019s come a long ways from where he started; Rylan\u2019s a monster at first \u2026 can pick it like no other.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got to play with what you\u2019ve got,\u201d said Maez, who solidified Ignacio\u2019s right side with second baseman\/brother Marcus. \u201cThat\u2019s about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur defense was lockdown,\u201d Baker said. \u201cMarcus and Rylan, those boys are stepping up \u2026 rising to the occasion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also named first-team All-League as infielders were Nucla sophomore Steele Arnold and Dove Creek freshman Sheldon Gardner. DCHS sophomore Gage Buffington received a second-team nod.<\/p>\n

IHS shortstop Jacob Gallegos earned not only a first-team selection, but was also named SJBL Player of the Year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat kid \u2026 he\u2019s amazing. Plays great defense, is a team player and a great captain,\u201d Baker said. \u201cAnd he\u2019s young! It\u2019s well-deserved, for sure. Jake\u2019s always there, and Eppie and Phillip \u2013 those boys are always on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eppie Quintana was voted first-team All-SJBL as a pitcher, while his sophomore brother Phillip Quintana received second-team nods as a catcher. Phillip was also the Bobcats\u2019 No. 2 pitcher (with sibling Eppie usually receiving) and proved vital in helping Ignacio win the league title and reach the 32-team CHSAA Class 2A State Tournament\u2019s Sweet 16, when the \u2019Cats fell 6-1 at Wiggins in the Region VIII championship.<\/p>\n

WHS then lost the Quadrant I finale 16-1 to top-seeded Limon, which went on to complete an undefeated season by clipping Colorado Springs St. Mary\u2019s 3-2 in the final. LHS was won 46 straight since an extra-innings loss to Rye in 2019.<\/p>\n

NHS seniors Brayden Magallon and Josh Flint were named first- and second-team All-SJBL, respectively, as pitchers, while DCHS sophomore Hunter Daves also was chosen second-team All-League. First-team catcher went to Nucla senior Jarret Sinks; Dove Creek junior Kendall Gardner copped honorable mention status.<\/p>\n

Though pressed into playing third base late in the season, IHS sophomore Devante Montoya manned center field for the majority of it and was a certain first team All-League pick among the loop\u2019s fly-chasers. Also honored as such were DCHS senior Ryan Jarmon and NHS senior Josh Alexander, while Mustangs senior Gage Owen received second-team praise.<\/p>\n

Nucla senior Carson Gardner earned first-team All-SJBL as a designated hitter, while Dove Creek junior Cole Taber was a first-team utility-player pick with Flint earning an honorable mention.<\/p>\n

Despite driving Ignacio (15-8, 4-2 SJBL) to 10 more victories than the program managed last year, SJBL Coach of the Year went to NHS\u2019 Randy Gabriel rather than Baker. And though Baker was nonplused, he nonetheless expressed congratulations.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis team, they\u2019re an amazing group,\u201d Baker said. \u201cAnd Randy\u2019s an amazing coach; I love the guy. For the, you know, (Class 1A) playoffs I wished him good luck and he wished me good luck, told me what a good team we have.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd look at what they accomplished!\u201d he continued. \u201cAs a team we did things people never thought we could.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stunned 14-4 by, ironically, Dove Creek in the 1A-District 1 championship, Gabriel\u2019s Nucla Mustangs soon made amends by eliminating Trent Daves\u2019 Bulldogs 13-3 in the state quarterfinals. DCHS (2-4 San Juan Basin) ended up 12-10 overall, while NHS (3-3 SJBL) finished 15-8 after then losing 18-0 to top-seeded Merino in four innings of semifinals action.<\/p>\n

Merino then completed their school\u2019s maiden title-winning season edging 6-seed Holly, 4-3, in 10 innings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sophomore shortstop anchored Ignacio\u2019s defense<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40048,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[470,1235],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-40047","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-baseball","tag-ignacio"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40047","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40047"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40047\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84527,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40047\/revisions\/84527"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40047"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=40047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}