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2022 Roswell Invaders Season Recap - Roswell Stuns Trinidad and Defeats Tucson to Win the Pecos League Championship
The 2022 Roswell Invaders were not the best regular-season team in the Pecos League. They weren't even the best regular-season team in the Mountain Division. Roswell finished fourth, entered the playoffs needing to win on the road and played the entire postseason with a remarkably short 18-player active roster. At one point, the Invaders came within one strike of being eliminated in Trinidad. And when it was all over, Roswell was champion of the Pecos League. :contentReference[oaicite:0]{index=0}
The 2022 season became one of the greatest postseason runs in Roswell franchise history. Manager Lance Myers and the Invaders survived Garden City, produced an unbelievable ninth-inning comeback against Trinidad and then traveled to Tucson for a championship rematch against the Saguaros, the same team that had denied Roswell the title one year earlier. This time, the ending was different. Roswell defeated Tucson two games to one and captured the fourth Pecos League Championship in franchise history.
One Year After Coming So Close
The story of the 2022 championship really began in 2021. Roswell had made an improbable postseason run that summer and reached the Pecos League Championship Series against the Tucson Saguaros. The series went five games, and Tucson won it.
Roswell came extraordinarily close to another championship but ultimately watched the Saguaros celebrate. That made 2022 personal. The Invaders wanted another opportunity.
Manager Lance Myers returned as Roswell's player-manager. Myers had taken over the Invaders in 2021 and immediately guided the club to the championship series. The next objective was obvious: get back there and finish the job.
The Pecos League realigned for 2022. Tucson moved from the Mountain Division to the Pacific Division, meaning Roswell would no longer have to go through the Saguaros to win the Mountain Division.
The Mountain Division included Roswell, Alpine, Austin, Weimar, Santa Fe, Trinidad, Garden City and Colorado Springs. The top teams would battle through the Mountain Division playoffs for the opportunity to face the Pacific Division champion.
Roswell and Tucson were now on opposite sides of the bracket, creating the possibility of something everyone around the league understood immediately: a championship rematch.
Nothing about the beginning of the season suggested Roswell was headed toward a championship. The Invaders struggled badly during the first several weeks and had fallen to 4-10 by June 16 after a 7-3 loss to Tucson.
The following games finally began moving the season in the right direction. Roswell defeated Colorado Springs 14-3 and then began producing the type of offensive performances that would become a trademark of the team. The Invaders beat Santa Fe 22-9 and Colorado Springs 9-2 and 14-3.
Then came one of the most interesting regular-season games of the year. Roswell faced Tucson in Trinidad and destroyed the Saguaros 16-2. Anthony Moore threw six innings to earn the victory. It was only one regular-season game, but it proved something important: Roswell could beat Tucson.
Roswell gradually recovered from its difficult start. The Invaders weren't dominant and were never going to run away with the Mountain Division, but they became dangerous.
On June 28, Roswell went into Garden City and defeated the Wind 13-4. Anthony Moore earned the victory while Lance Myers went 2-for-3 and Juan Montes went 3-for-4. That victory would become more meaningful later because Garden City was developing into one of the strongest teams in the Mountain Division.
Roswell continued battling through July. On July 9, the Invaders played one of the wildest games of the regular season against Austin and won 25-11 in ten innings. Jonathon Bigley went 6-for-7, scored six runs and drove in six, while Robert Morosetti went 6-for-6, scored four times and drove in three.
The Invaders had an offense capable of changing a game very quickly. That ability would eventually save their season.
Dillan Smith Leads the Offense
Dillan Smith led Roswell with one of the strongest offensive seasons on the roster. Smith played 46 games and hit .402, collecting 80 hits in 199 at-bats. He scored 53 runs and produced 17 doubles, three triples and three home runs.
Smith drove in 50 runs and stole 30 bases. Perhaps most impressively, he struck out only 14 times in 199 at-bats.
Juan Montes became one of Roswell's most complete offensive players. Montes hit .405 in 43 games and collected 68 hits, including 17 doubles, three triples and eight home runs. He drove in 47 runs and scored 66.
Montes was especially dangerous once he reached base. He stole 42 bases in only 43 games, drew 33 walks and was hit by 20 pitches, helping him produce a .540 on-base percentage. His combination of power, speed and ability to reach base made him a nightmare for opposing pitchers.
Robert Morosetti hit .364 in 37 games and produced 59 hits, nine doubles, five triples and nine home runs while driving in 45. Morosetti scored 49 runs and became another major piece of a deep Roswell lineup.
Jonathon Bigley played 47 games and collected 63 hits. His 19 doubles led the team, and he also hit five triples and nine home runs while driving in 48 and scoring 52 times.
His .636 slugging percentage reflected the damage he could create throughout the lineup.
Jack Matero played only 31 regular-season games but was extraordinarily productive. Matero hit .433, drew 24 walks and was hit by 16 pitches. His on-base percentage reached .590.
Matero added 11 doubles, two triples and two home runs while driving in 30.
Myers wasn't simply making decisions from the dugout. He was playing first base. Lance Myers appeared in 40 regular-season games. His batting average was only .272, but that number badly understated his offensive value.
Myers drew an incredible 57 walks in only 125 at-bats and was hit by another 10 pitches. That produced a .536 on-base percentage. He scored 46 runs and stole 11 bases.
As the postseason approached, Myers would be asked to do even more with less.
Matt Rodriguez hit .345 with eight home runs and 45 RBIs. Colton Adams scored 60 runs, drew 45 walks and stole 23 bases. The Invaders had speed throughout the lineup, power, hitters who could reach base and the ability to score in bunches.
That offensive depth became critical because Roswell's path through the playoffs would leave virtually no margin for error.
Roswell finished the regular season 27-22, which put the Invaders in fourth place in the Mountain Division. There would be no easy postseason path. Roswell would have to travel and beat teams that had finished ahead of it.
The Invaders would also have to do it with one of the shortest postseason rosters imaginable. The official Invaders franchise history records that Myers played the entire postseason with only 18 active players.
There wasn't much depth available if someone got hurt, little room to shuffle the pitching staff and few options coming off the bench. Myers had his group, and those players were going to have to carry Roswell as far as they possibly could.
First Stop - Garden City
Roswell's postseason began against the Garden City Wind at Clint Lightner Field. Garden City had been one of the strongest teams in the Mountain Division, and the fourth-place Invaders were going to have to eliminate them on their own field.
Roswell put itself in position to sweep the series, but Garden City hit a walk-off home run to extend the matchup to a deciding Game 3. That could have been a devastating loss.
Instead, Roswell regrouped. The Invaders won the deciding game and eliminated Garden City two games to one. The fourth seed was moving on.
The next opponent was unexpected.
Trinidad Stuns Alpine
The Trinidad Triggers entered the postseason as the third seed and eliminated Alpine. That created an unlikely Mountain Division Championship Series between fourth-seeded Roswell and third-seeded Trinidad.
One of them was going to the Pecos League Championship Series. The matchup turned into exactly the type of series the standings suggested it might become. Neither team could get away from the other, and eventually everything came down to Game 3 at Central Park in Trinidad.
Two Outs - Two Strikes - Season Almost Over
This became the defining moment of Roswell's entire season. Trinidad had the game in hand, carrying a two-run lead into the top of the ninth inning.
Roswell was three outs away from elimination, then two outs away, then one out away. Finally, the Invaders were down to their last strike.
One more strike and Trinidad would be Mountain Division champion. One more strike and Roswell's season would be over. One more strike and there would be no rematch with Tucson.
But the final strike never came.
The Invaders rallied. With two outs in the top of the ninth, Roswell scored three runs. A two-run deficit became a one-run lead, and a season that appeared finished suddenly had life again.
Trinidad had been one strike away from the Pecos League Championship Series. Instead, Roswell had stolen the lead.
The Invaders finished the comeback and won 7-5. Dillan Smith went 4-for-5 with two RBIs. Jonathon Bigley went 3-for-5 and drove in three. Jonathan Fleckenstein earned the victory, and Kenny Stewart recorded the save.
Roswell had done the nearly impossible. The Invaders were Mountain Division Champions.
That ninth inning changed the history of the franchise. Had Trinidad thrown one more strike, Roswell's 2022 season would have ended as a nice playoff run by a fourth-place team.
There would have been no championship series, no Tucson rematch and no fourth Roswell championship.
Instead, the Invaders survived. And waiting for them was exactly the opponent they wanted.
The Championship Rematch - Roswell vs. Tucson
The Tucson Saguaros had dominated the Pacific Division, finishing the regular season 34-8. They had also defeated Roswell in the 2021 Pecos League Championship Series.
Now they would meet again. The entire 2022 Pecos League Championship Series would be played at Kino Stadium in Tucson.
Roswell was the fourth-place Mountain Division team. Tucson was 34-8. The Saguaros had home field. Roswell had 18 active players and a team that had already survived two elimination series.
The matchup looked favorable for Tucson. Roswell didn't care.
Game 1 - Roswell Takes Control
The Invaders immediately announced that the championship series would not be a repeat of 2021. Roswell won Game 1, 6-3.
The Invaders had gone into Tucson and taken home-field advantage away from the Saguaros. Suddenly, Roswell was one victory away from the championship.
Game 2 - Tucson Answers
Game 2 looked painfully familiar. Tucson defeated Roswell 5-4. The one-run loss tied the series and created a winner-take-all Game 3.
It also brought back memories of 2021. Roswell had come to Tucson the previous year believing it could win the championship and had left without it. Now the Invaders were back in the same city against the same opponent with everything again coming down to one game.
The final game belonged to Anthony Moore. With the Pecos League Championship on the line, Moore delivered the biggest pitching performance of Roswell's season.
Moore threw eight innings, allowed only five hits and struck out five while keeping Tucson's powerful lineup under control. Roswell took command of the game and never gave it back.
The Invaders won 5-2. The series was over. The rematch belonged to Roswell.
Roswell had done it. The Invaders were Pecos League Champions for the fourth time.
2011 Pecos League Champions 2013 Pecos League Champions 2015 Pecos League Champions 2022 Pecos League Champions
Seven years had passed since Roswell's previous championship. The drought was over, and this championship had come in a completely different way than anyone could have predicted.
Roswell hadn't dominated the regular season. The Invaders finished fourth. They had to go through Garden City, nearly saw their season end in Trinidad and were down to their final strike.
Then they had to travel to Tucson and beat a 34-8 Saguaros team on its home field. They had to do it with an 18-player active roster.
The championship also produced a unique individual accomplishment. Jonathan Fleckenstein became the first player in Pecos League history to win three league championships.
Fleckenstein had previously been part of the 2017 High Desert Yardbirds championship team and the 2018 Bakersfield Train Robbers championship team. Now he added the 2022 Roswell Invaders.
Lance Myers also became a two-time Pecos League champion, having previously won with the Alpine Cowboys in 2019 before managing Roswell to the title in 2022.
The championship also belonged to Lance Myers. Managing in the Pecos League requires far more than filling out a lineup card, and that became particularly true during Roswell's postseason run.
The official franchise history records that the Invaders played the entire playoffs with only 18 active players. That required Myers to maximize virtually every player available to him.
Pitchers had to give innings. Position players had to stay in the lineup. The bench was short. There was little room for injury or fatigue. Myers himself remained in the lineup at first base throughout the postseason.
Roswell didn't have the deepest postseason roster. It didn't have the best regular-season record. What it had was enough.
A Championship Built on Survival
There have been Roswell teams with better regular-season records and Roswell teams that entered the postseason as favorites. The 2022 Invaders weren't one of them.
They were 27-22 and finished fourth in the Mountain Division. They had only 18 active players for the postseason. They went on the road to Garden City and survived a three-game series.
Then they went to Trinidad and found themselves two runs behind in the ninth inning of the deciding game. They reached two outs, two strikes and the final strike of their season.
And they refused to lose.
Three ninth-inning runs turned elimination into a Mountain Division Championship. That sent Roswell back to Tucson.
One year earlier, Tucson had ended Roswell's championship dream. This time, Roswell won Game 1, Tucson won Game 2 and then Anthony Moore took the ball in Game 3 and delivered eight championship innings.
Roswell won 5-2. The Invaders had their revenge, their fourth championship and one of the most improbable postseason runs in Pecos League history.
From Fourth Place to First Place
The 2022 Roswell Invaders proved why simply qualifying for the Pecos League playoffs can be enough. Once the postseason begins, the regular-season standings no longer matter.
Garden City learned that. Trinidad came within one strike of ending Roswell's season and learned it in the most painful way possible. Tucson entered the finals at 34-8 and learned it too.
Roswell survived them all.
The defining image of the season wasn't the fourth-place regular-season finish or the 27-22 record. It wasn't even the difficult beginning to the year.
It was a team in Trinidad with two outs in the ninth inning, down two runs and down to its final strike. Everything that happened afterward existed because Roswell found a way to keep that at-bat alive.
Three runs later, the Invaders were Mountain Division Champions. Three games later, they were Pecos League Champions.
The 2022 Roswell Invaders started the playoffs as the fourth-place team in the Mountain Division.
They finished them as the best team in the Pecos League.
