Under the lights once again

Professional baseball returns to Las Cruces Bulletin Staff Report The sound of bats smacking horsehide will once again resonate at Apodaca Park this summer as professional baseball returns after a two-year hiatus. The Las Cruces Vaqueros of the Pecos League welcome the White Sands Pupfish at 7 p.m., Friday, May 22 for their home opener. The team starts a six-game homestand Sunday, May 24 with four contests against the Alpine 06 Cowboys and two against the Roswell Invaders. The Pecos League regular season lasts through the end of July. The Vaqueros will play 70 games, 37 at home at Apodaca Park, 801 E. Madrid Ave., and 33 on the road. Twenty-six players make up the roster, including Las Crucens Nate Enriquez, an outfielder, and former New Mexico State University pitcher Michael Ormseth. The Vaqueros play in the league’s Southern Division along with White Sands, Roswell and Alpine (Texas). The Northern Division is composed of the Santa Fe Fuego, Las Vegas (N.M.) Train Robbers, Trinidad (Colo.) Triggers and Garden City (Kansas) Wind. In addition, the first game has been deemed “Monumental Opening Night,” as part of the continuing celebration of the one-year anniversary of the designation of Organ Mountains Desert Peaks National Monument. Former Las Cruces Vaqueros pitcher Chris Peacock lets loose from the mound at Apodaca Park in a 2012 game, the last season the Vaqueros fielded a team. The team, though, is back for 2015.