2024 Roswell Invaders Season Recap - A 20-30 Team Reaches the Playoffs but Falls Short of Roswell Expectations

The 2024 Roswell Invaders season was unusual. The Invaders finished the regular season with a losing record at 20-30, lost 60 percent of their games and never established themselves as one of the best teams in the Mountain Division. And yet, when the regular season ended, Roswell was going to the Pecos League playoffs.

That was possible because of the 2024 playoff format. The Mountain Division consisted of ten teams, and six of those ten teams qualified for the postseason. Roswell grabbed the sixth and final playoff position despite finishing ten games below .500.

For a franchise with four Pecos League championships and a long history of postseason success, simply getting into the playoffs at 20-30 wasn't enough to make 2024 a successful season. But once Roswell got there, the Invaders gave the Tucson Saguaros much more of a challenge than their regular-season record might have suggested.

The result was a strange ending to a disappointing year. Roswell wasn't particularly good during the regular season, but for two playoff games the Invaders showed flashes of the type of team they had hoped to become.

Garrett Totty Takes Over in Roswell

The 2024 season began with a new manager. Garrett Totty was hired to take over the Invaders after spending the previous three seasons managing the Garden City Wind. Totty had experienced considerable success in Garden City, with his Wind teams qualifying for the playoffs in each of his three seasons as manager, including a 36-10 regular season in 2022.

He also had a previous connection to Roswell, having played for the Invaders during his Pecos League playing career. Roswell entered the season hoping Totty could help restore the franchise following a disappointing ending to 2023.

The Invaders had gone 29-23 in 2023 but missed the playoffs for the first time in franchise history after collapsing during the second half of the season. Totty was brought in to get Roswell back into the postseason.

Technically, he accomplished that goal. But the path the Invaders took to get there wasn't what anyone had envisioned.

Read the announcement naming Garrett Totty manager of the Roswell Invaders.

A Different Mountain Division Playoff Format

The 2024 Mountain Division consisted of Alpine, Austin, Blackwell, Garden City, North Platte, Pecos, Roswell, Santa Fe, Trinidad and Tucson. Ten teams competed in the division, and the Pecos League announced before the season that six of those ten teams would qualify for the playoffs.

That significantly expanded the postseason field and ultimately became extremely important for Roswell. The Invaders didn't need to finish near the top of the division. They needed to finish sixth.

View the original 2024 Roswell schedule announcement and Mountain Division playoff format.

An Inconsistent Beginning

Roswell opened the season at Joe Bauman Stadium against the Austin Weirdos. The Invaders lost Opening Night 10-7 and then lost again the following night, 13-11. They finally picked up their first victory on June 1 with a convincing 15-3 win over Austin, then followed it with a 7-4 victory over Pecos.

The early games established a pattern that would follow the Invaders throughout much of the summer. Roswell could score. The problem was preventing the opponent from doing the same thing.

There were plenty of nights when the Invaders' offense produced enough runs to win and still came away with a loss. That became particularly obvious in June.

Runs Everywhere

The 2024 Invaders played some extraordinarily high-scoring games. Roswell lost 20-18 to Tucson on June 16, then scored 24 runs against Santa Fe the following night and won 24-13. The Invaders beat Santa Fe 17-11 on June 18 and 16-10 on June 19 before Santa Fe turned around and beat Roswell 19-16 on June 20.

Over that five-game stretch, Roswell scored 91 runs and still only went 3-2. It illustrated the fundamental problem with the 2024 club. There was plenty of offense. There wasn't enough consistent run prevention.

Luis Moreno Leads the Roswell Offense

Luis Moreno put together an outstanding season at shortstop. Moreno played 48 games and hit .392 with 67 hits in 171 at-bats. He scored an incredible 67 runs in only 48 games while producing 15 doubles, three triples and six home runs.

Moreno drove in 51 runs, drew 36 walks and stole 15 bases. His combination of average, extra-base power, speed and ability to reach base made him one of Roswell's most important offensive players.

View Luis Moreno's official 2024 Pecos League stats.

Jose Sanchez Drives in 58 Runs

Jose Sanchez provided another major bat in the Roswell lineup. Sanchez hit .388 in 42 games. His 69 hits led the Invaders, and he added 18 doubles, one triple and six home runs.

Most importantly, Sanchez drove in 58 runs, the highest total on the club.

View Jose Sanchez's official 2024 Pecos League stats.

Lucas Scott Provides the Power

Lucas Scott supplied much of Roswell's power. Scott hit .318 while playing 46 games and collected 56 hits, including 19 doubles and a team-high 11 home runs.

Scott drove in 57 runs and drew 40 walks. Between Moreno, Sanchez and Scott, Roswell had three hitters who combined for 166 RBIs.

View Lucas Scott's official 2024 Pecos League stats.

More Production Throughout the Lineup

The Invaders had several other productive hitters. Shane Morrow played 48 games and hit .311 with 57 hits, eight doubles and 10 home runs while driving in 40. Brett Lindsay hit .400 in 26 games, collecting 40 hits in 100 at-bats.

Robert Malone hit .349 with 38 hits, five home runs and 22 stolen bases in 30 games. Jonathan Cavazos scored 45 runs, drove in 30 and drew 38 walks.

There was enough offense on the roster to make Roswell dangerous.

View the complete 2024 Roswell Invaders statistics.

The Pitching Couldn't Match the Offense

The biggest reason Roswell finished 20-30 can be found on the pitching side. There were some strong individual performances, but the starting rotation struggled to consistently keep Roswell in games.

Jorge Canez was excellent out of the bullpen, posting a 3.70 ERA in 16 appearances while striking out 28 hitters in 17 innings and recording two saves. Kobe Head went 2-1 with a 3.60 ERA in 18 appearances and struck out 37 hitters in 30 innings.

Wilbur Rodriguez struck out 50 hitters in only 20.1 innings and recorded three saves, while Jordan Rodriguez went 3-0.

But the starting rotation struggled. Jacob Young threw a team-high 61.2 innings but finished 2-4 with a 7.44 ERA. Brandon Lopez went 3-2 with a 7.58 ERA over 48.2 innings. Alex Bolton went 1-8 with an 11.70 ERA in 10 starts, while Oscar Paredes went 1-5 with an 11.40 ERA.

The Invaders could hit their way through some of those problems. They couldn't do it consistently enough to become a winning team.

View Roswell's complete 2024 hitting and pitching statistics.

Two Important Wins Against Tucson

One of Roswell's most encouraging stretches came against the team it would eventually face in the playoffs. On June 25, Roswell defeated Tucson 6-5. The following night, the Invaders beat the Saguaros again, 7-6.

Those games demonstrated that Roswell could compete with Tucson. The Invaders were not as consistent as the Saguaros over the course of the regular season, but Roswell had enough offense to make individual games against Tucson dangerous.

That would become important later.

Trying to Stay Above the Playoff Line

Roswell spent much of July doing something that was unusual for a franchise with four Pecos League championships. The Invaders weren't fighting for first place. They were fighting for sixth.

Every win mattered because sixth place was the final postseason position. Roswell picked up important victories throughout July, including an 18-12 win on July 6, a 24-14 victory on July 9, a 12-5 win on July 13 and a 17-9 victory on July 15.

On July 19, the offense erupted again as Roswell defeated Santa Fe 26-7. But consistency remained impossible to find.

The Invaders lost 12-1 to Alpine on July 22, lost 5-1 the following night and then lost 19-12 on July 24. Roswell was stumbling toward the finish line.

Roswell Gets Win Number 20

On July 26, the Invaders traveled to Tucson and picked up one of their most important victories of the season. Roswell defeated the Saguaros 6-5.

Brandon Lopez delivered one of his best starts of the season, throwing seven innings and striking out seven while allowing six hits. Jonathan Cavazos went 2-for-4.

The victory moved Roswell to 20-29. The Invaders lost 7-6 the following night and finished the regular season at 20-30.

Twenty wins. Thirty losses. In most seasons, that wouldn't look like the record of a playoff team.

In 2024, it was enough.

The Sixth and Final Playoff Spot

Roswell officially qualified for the Mountain Division playoffs as the sixth seed. The Invaders' own franchise history records the season simply: Roswell went 20-30 and qualified for the sixth playoff spot in the Mountain Division.

There was certainly value in returning to the postseason after missing it entirely in 2023. But there was also no avoiding the reality of the record.

A 20-30 regular season was disappointing for the Roswell Invaders. This was the franchise that had won Pecos League championships in 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2022.

Simply being the sixth-best team in a ten-team division was not the standard Roswell had established over its history.

View the Roswell Invaders year-by-year franchise history.

A Strange Playoff Series Against Tucson

The sixth-seeded Invaders drew Tucson in the playoffs, but there was an unusual twist. Although Tucson was the higher seed, the playoff games were played at Joe Bauman Stadium in Roswell because Tucson could not host the series while scoreboard construction was taking place at its stadium.

That meant the 20-30 Invaders essentially received home playoff games against the higher-seeded Saguaros. Roswell intended to take advantage of the opportunity.

And despite ultimately losing the series, the Invaders gave Tucson a run for its money.

Roswell's Offense Shows Up in the Playoffs

The postseason was only two games, but several Invaders delivered strong performances. Josh Walker went 3-for-7 with a home run and two RBIs. Shane Morrow went 3-for-10 with a home run and drove in five runs.

Luis Moreno went 3-for-8 with a double and four RBIs. Jonathan Cavazos reached base repeatedly, collecting two hits and six walks. Robert Malone scored three runs and stole three bases.

The Invaders weren't simply happy to have qualified. They made Tucson work to eliminate them.

View the complete 2024 Roswell Invaders playoff statistics.

Tucson Ends Roswell's Season

Ultimately, Roswell couldn't turn the competitive series into a victory. Tucson won both games and eliminated the Invaders.

The official Roswell franchise history records the result simply: the 2024 Invaders finished 20-30, qualified for the sixth playoff spot and lost two games to Tucson.

That was the end of Roswell's season. There was no deep playoff run and no championship, but the Invaders had at least made Tucson earn the series.

For a team that had spent much of the season fighting merely to stay above the postseason cutoff, that competitive playoff performance provided one positive way to end a difficult year.

2023 vs. 2024 - A Strange Form of Progress

2023 Record: 29-23
2023 Result: Missed Playoffs

2024 Record: 20-30
2024 Result: Qualified for Playoffs as Sixth Seed

Roswell won nine fewer games in 2024 than it had in 2023. Yet the Invaders made the playoffs.

The difference was the postseason format. Six Mountain Division teams qualified in 2024, and Roswell did just enough to claim the final position.

It was postseason qualification without regular-season improvement.

Individual Numbers Couldn't Hide the Team Record

There was legitimate talent on the 2024 Invaders. Luis Moreno hit .392 with 67 runs and 51 RBIs. Jose Sanchez hit .388 with 69 hits and 58 RBIs.

Lucas Scott hit 11 home runs and drove in 57. Shane Morrow hit 10 home runs. Brett Lindsay hit .400. Robert Malone hit .349 and stole 22 bases.

Kobe Head posted a 3.60 ERA, while Jorge Canez posted a 3.70 ERA.

But the Invaders couldn't turn those individual performances into enough victories. The final record remained 20-30.

A Playoff Team - But Still a Disappointing Season

There are seasons when making the playoffs is enough to define success. For the Roswell Invaders, 2024 wasn't one of them.

Yes, Roswell returned to the postseason after missing it in 2023. Yes, the Invaders gave Tucson a competitive series. Yes, the lineup contained several of the better offensive players in the league.

But Roswell finished ten games below .500. The Invaders reached the postseason because six of the ten Mountain Division teams were allowed into the playoff field. They were the sixth one.

For a four-time Pecos League champion, that represented a significant decline from the standard the franchise had established.

The offense was good enough to produce enormous nights. The pitching wasn't consistent enough to sustain winning streaks. Roswell could beat Tucson 6-5 one night and lose 7-6 the next. They could score 18 runs and lose. They could score 16 runs and lose. They could score 13 runs and lose.

That was the 2024 Roswell Invaders: dangerous enough that nobody wanted to face them on the right night, inconsistent enough to lose 30 games, fortunate enough to have a playoff format that gave them another opportunity and competitive enough in the postseason to remind Tucson that the sixth seed wasn't going to disappear quietly.

The Invaders made the playoffs. But for Roswell, 20-30 was still a disappointing season.

And as it turned out, the franchise had not yet reached the bottom.