2022 Trinidad Triggers Season Recap - A Remarkable Turnaround Ends in Ninth-Inning Heartbreak Against Roswell
The 2022 Trinidad Triggers season became one of the biggest turnaround stories in franchise history. After finishing 19-31 in 2021, Trinidad came back in 2022 with a much stronger roster, a dangerous offense and enough pitching depth to return to the Pecos League playoffs. The Triggers finished the regular season 25-18 based on the recorded decisions on the schedule and then made a dramatic postseason run that carried them all the way to the Mountain Division Finals. By the end of the year, Trinidad had gone from a struggling club to a team that came within one inning of advancing to the Pecos League Championship Series.
The improvement was especially impressive because the season did not begin smoothly. Trinidad lost its first three recorded games before responding with victories of 14-4 and 14-12. From there, the Triggers began to find their identity. They won several close, high-scoring games, including 11-10, 9-7 and 16-15 victories, while also showing the ability to overwhelm opponents offensively. The lineup eventually became one of the deepest and most productive in the Mountain Division, giving Trinidad a chance to win almost every night even when games turned into the type of offensive shootouts that had long been associated with Central Park.
Adam Purdy became one of the biggest offensive stories of the season. Purdy played 38 games and collected 76 hits in 173 at-bats, finishing with a .439 batting average. He scored 59 runs, hit 16 doubles, three triples and four home runs while driving in 40 runs. Purdy also reached base at a .520 rate and posted a 1.156 OPS, making him an ideal player to set the table for the power hitters behind him. His ability to hit for average, reach base and create pressure with his speed made him one of the most complete hitters on the Trinidad roster.
Zach May provided the power in the middle of the lineup. May hit .346 while playing 42 games and led the Triggers with 18 home runs and 57 RBIs. He also scored 65 runs, collected 13 doubles and finished with a .472 on-base percentage, .772 slugging percentage and 1.244 OPS. May had already established himself as one of Trinidad's most dangerous hitters during the 2021 season, but in 2022 he developed into the premier power threat on the team. His ability to change a game with one swing gave the Triggers a constant threat whenever runners reached base.
David Arza added another outstanding bat. Arza hit .414 with 63 hits, 14 doubles, one triple and eight home runs while driving in 42. He finished with a .511 on-base percentage and a 1.189 OPS. Yasushi Sanematsu was nearly as productive, hitting .397 with 54 hits, seven home runs and 42 RBIs while posting a 1.163 OPS. Peter Bocchino gave Trinidad another major power bat, hitting .356 with 13 home runs and 56 RBIs. With Purdy, May, Arza, Sanematsu and Bocchino all producing at a high level, opposing pitchers rarely had an easy place to work through the Trinidad batting order.
The power of the offense was obvious throughout the schedule. Trinidad won games by scores of 25-9, 21-12, 18-6 and 16-4 before producing its biggest offensive performance of the season on June 28. The Triggers scored 31 runs in a 31-6 victory. The following night, Trinidad showed it could win a completely different type of game by pulling out a 9-8 victory. That ability to win both blowouts and one-run games became an important part of the 2022 team's identity.
The pitching staff also improved enough to support the offense. Derrick Sylve became one of Trinidad's main starting pitchers, finishing 5-2 while providing significant innings, while Nino Kruhek also carried a large starting workload. Pierce Smith became an important late-inning option and finished the regular season with seven saves. Trinidad did not suddenly become a low-scoring pitching team, but it had more arms capable of keeping games within reach and finishing close victories than it had in 2021.
The final weeks of the regular season were important because Trinidad finished with momentum. After going through several difficult stretches in July, the Triggers responded with a late run that included victories of 8-5, 8-0, 4-0 and 8-5. Those back-to-back shutouts were particularly encouraging. The same club that had built its reputation around offense was showing that it could also win games when pitching became the dominant factor. By the end of the regular season, Trinidad had completed its turnaround and earned another opportunity in the Pecos League playoffs.
The postseason began with one of the most difficult assignments in the league. Trinidad traveled to Alpine to face the Cowboys at Kokernot Field. The Triggers lost the opening game 10-7 and immediately found themselves one loss away from elimination. Instead of folding, Trinidad responded with one of its best games of the year, beating Alpine 8-1. The Triggers then completed the comeback with a 7-5 victory in the deciding game, winning two consecutive elimination games on the road and advancing to the Mountain Division Finals.
Roswell was waiting in the Mountain Division Finals, but unlike the Alpine series, these games were played at Central Park. Trinidad opened the series with an 8-7 victory on August 9. That win put the Triggers one victory away from reaching the Pecos League Championship Series for the first time since 2016. Roswell responded in Game Two, winning another high-scoring battle 12-10 and forcing a winner-take-all third game.
The deciding game on August 11 became one of the most heartbreaking games in Trinidad Triggers history. Roswell scored four runs in the third inning, but Trinidad kept fighting. The Triggers had scored twice in the second, added another run in the third, tied the game with a run in the sixth and then moved ahead with another run in the eighth. After eight innings, Trinidad led 5-4.
Three outs separated Trinidad from advancing to the Pecos League Championship Series.
Roswell refused to let its season end. The Invaders scored three runs in the top of the ninth inning, turning Trinidad's 5-4 lead into a 7-5 deficit. Pierce Smith was charged with the loss after allowing the three ninth-inning runs, while Jonathan Fleckenstein earned the win for Roswell and Kenny Stewart recorded the save. Trinidad could not answer in the bottom of the ninth, and the season ended with a 7-5 loss at Central Park.
The final box score showed how little separated the two teams. Roswell finished with seven runs and 12 hits, while Trinidad finished with five runs and 12 hits. Adam Purdy had one of the best games of his season when Trinidad needed it most, going 4-for-5 and scoring a run. Zach May went 2-for-4 and drove in two runs, while Yasushi Sanematsu added two hits and an RBI.
The pitching staff had also done enough to put Trinidad in position to win. Justin Nathasingh started and worked five innings, allowing four runs, three earned, while striking out four and walking nobody. Dakota Rodd then struck out all three hitters he retired in a scoreless inning, Corey Wills added 1.2 scoreless innings with three strikeouts and Trey Clark recorded another scoreless out. Through eight innings, the plan had worked. Trinidad had fought back from an early deficit and carried the lead into the ninth.
The last three outs proved to be the hardest ones to get.
The loss became even more painful because Roswell went on to win the 2022 Pecos League championship. Trinidad had been eliminated by the eventual champion and had been only a few outs away from being the team that advanced. A different ninth inning at Central Park might have completely changed the way the 2022 season is remembered.
Even with the heartbreaking finish, the season represented a major achievement for the organization. Trinidad went from 19 wins in 2021 to a winning record, a playoff series victory at Alpine and a trip to the Mountain Division Finals. Purdy hit .439, Arza hit .414, Sanematsu hit .397, May hit 18 home runs and Bocchino added 13. The offense regained the power and depth that had characterized some of the best Trinidad teams in franchise history, while the pitching staff improved enough to win meaningful games late in the season.
Most importantly, meaningful August baseball returned to Central Park. The 2021 season had been about bringing traditional professional baseball back to Trinidad after the disruption of 2020. The 2022 season was about bringing a contender back. Fans were no longer simply watching the Triggers complete another summer. They were watching a team battle for a place in the Pecos League Championship Series.
That is what made the ninth inning against Roswell hurt so much. Trinidad had come so far in only one year. The Triggers survived an 0-3 start, developed one of the best offenses in the division, earned a playoff berth, went into Alpine and won two consecutive elimination games, then beat Roswell in the opening game of the Mountain Division Finals. After eight innings of the deciding game, Trinidad was still ahead.
Roswell scored three runs in the ninth and won 7-5.
The 2022 Trinidad Triggers did not win the Mountain Division or the Pecos League championship, but the season restored the franchise as a legitimate contender. After the struggles of 2021, the Triggers again looked like the organization that had regularly competed for championships during its strongest years. Trinidad had gone from 19-31 to playing one of the most important games in franchise history only one summer later.
The final inning was heartbreaking, but getting to that inning was the accomplishment.
