2012 Las Cruces Vaqueros Season Recap - Casey Dill Leads an Incredible Turnaround

The 2012 Las Cruces Vaqueros season became one of the great turnaround stories in the early history of the Pecos League. Under manager Casey Dill, the Vaqueros went from a franchise trying to establish its direction to one of the best teams in the league, finishing 42-27, reaching the Pecos League Championship Series and coming within one victory of winning the championship.

For Las Cruces, it was the type of season that demonstrated exactly what independent professional baseball could become when the right manager and the right group of players came together. Dill built an aggressive, powerful team that could score runs in bunches and compete with anyone in the Pecos League.

The Vaqueros finished the regular season 42-27, good for second place in the league. Their .609 winning percentage reflected how consistently competitive Las Cruces had become. But the defining characteristic of the 2012 Vaqueros was their offense.

Las Cruces led the Pecos League with an incredible 728 runs and hit 111 home runs. In a league known for offense, the Vaqueros still managed to separate themselves from much of the competition. There were dangerous hitters throughout Dill's lineup, and opposing pitchers rarely received an easy inning.

Randy Wells was one of the team's biggest offensive weapons. Wells played in 67 games and hit .386, collecting 113 hits while scoring 91 runs. He hit 17 doubles, three triples and 14 home runs while driving in 80 runs. His combination of average, power and consistency made him one of the most difficult outs in the league.

Steve Rinaudo was equally important. Rinaudo hit .381 in 67 games and finished with 111 hits. He scored a team-high 99 runs, hit 25 doubles, nine triples and 18 home runs and led the club with 87 RBIs. He also stole 23 bases, giving Dill another player who could affect a game in virtually every way offensively.

Logan Lotti supplied some of the biggest power in the lineup. Lotti hit .360 with 95 hits and led Las Cruces with 22 home runs. He drove in 86 runs and scored 82 times. With Lotti and Rinaudo hitting in the same lineup, the Vaqueros had two players who combined for 40 home runs and 173 RBIs.

Jimmy Parque provided another dependable presence, hitting .332 with 97 hits, 20 doubles, nine home runs and 62 RBIs. Trevor Whyte hit .321 with 12 home runs and 62 RBIs, while Ryan Lauer hit .376 with 14 home runs and 56 RBIs in 57 games.

Jesse Olivar hit .354 and reached base consistently throughout the season. Kevin Wager hit .381 in 31 games and added seven home runs. Will Stramp hit .361, and the lineup seemed to produce another difficult matchup regardless of where opponents were in the batting order.

It was not a team built around one superstar carrying everyone else. Las Cruces simply had hitters everywhere.

The pitching staff did enough to allow that offense to win games. Erik Gonsalves and Derek Johnson each led the club with six victories. Johnson worked 73.7 innings and posted a 5.13 ERA while making 11 starts. Gonsalves made 13 starts and worked 72 innings.

Alfonso Cardenas became an important weapon out of the bullpen, going 5-0 with a 4.05 ERA in 32 appearances. Chris Peacock was one of the club's strongest regular pitchers, finishing 4-2 with an ERA just over 4.30. Justin Yackee appeared in 36 games, while Rich McNeal became the club's primary late-inning reliever and recorded eight saves.

Dill's team did not need perfect pitching every night. With an offense capable of putting enormous numbers on the scoreboard, the Vaqueros simply needed opportunities to stay within striking distance. Throughout the summer, they repeatedly found ways to do exactly that.

By the end of the regular season, Las Cruces had established itself as a legitimate championship contender. The turnaround was complete, but the Vaqueros still had unfinished business.

Their first playoff opponent was the Roswell Invaders.

Las Cruces swept Roswell two games to none, eliminating the Invaders and advancing to the Pecos League Championship Series. The victory put Dill and the Vaqueros in position to complete one of the most impressive seasons in franchise history with a championship.

Standing in their way were the Alpine Cowboys.

The championship series became a three-game battle between two of the strongest teams in the league. Las Cruces won one game, but Alpine took two and captured the Pecos League Championship. The Vaqueros' season ended one victory short of the title.

For Dill and his players, the loss was painful. They had won 42 regular-season games, swept Roswell in the playoffs and taken the championship series to its deciding game. The Vaqueros had transformed themselves into one of the league's elite teams but could not finish the final step.

What nobody fully understood at the time was that the championship loss would also represent the end of an era for professional baseball in Las Cruces.

The problem had nothing to do with the product Casey Dill had put on the field. From a baseball standpoint, the Vaqueros had just produced an outstanding season. The problem was that the professional baseball landscape in southern New Mexico was about to change dramatically.

The Tucson Padres of the Pacific Coast League announced they would relocate to El Paso, where they would eventually become the El Paso Chihuahuas. The arrival of Triple-A baseball just down Interstate 10 completely changed the situation for independent professional baseball in Las Cruces.

Las Cruces and El Paso were simply too close together for the Pecos League to believe that the Vaqueros could successfully compete long term with a new Triple-A franchise. Fans in southern New Mexico would soon have access to affiliated professional baseball in a new stadium only a short drive away. Sponsorships, media attention, ticket sales and the overall baseball market would inevitably be affected.

Ironically, the Vaqueros had reached their highest point on the field at almost exactly the same time that their future in Las Cruces became impossible.

The Pecos League made the decision to end the Las Cruces Vaqueros after the 2012 season.

But Casey Dill and many of the players who had built the Vaqueros into a championship contender were not finished.

Instead, they moved north to Las Vegas, New Mexico.

The relocation effectively transferred the foundation Dill had created in Las Cruces to a new Pecos League market. The manager who had taken the Vaqueros to the championship series would continue his career up the road, and players from the successful Las Cruces club followed him as the league began its next chapter in northern New Mexico.

That made the 2012 season both a beginning and an ending.

It was the season Casey Dill established himself as one of the early Pecos League's successful managers. It was the season Las Cruces produced one of the most powerful offensive teams in the league. It was the season the Vaqueros swept Roswell and came within one game of becoming Pecos League champions.

And it was the final season of the original Las Cruces Vaqueros era.

The final numbers tell the story of just how good the club was: 42 victories, 728 runs, 111 home runs, a playoff sweep of Roswell and a trip to the Pecos League Championship Series.

The Vaqueros did not leave Las Cruces because they failed on the field. They left immediately after producing their greatest season.

The arrival of Triple-A baseball in El Paso changed the economics and geography of professional baseball in the region, and the Pecos League understood that there was no realistic long-term path forward in Las Cruces.

Casey Dill and his players therefore packed up and headed north to Las Vegas, New Mexico, carrying the momentum of their remarkable 2012 season with them.

For Las Cruces, it was a bittersweet finish. The Vaqueros had finally become everything the organization hoped they could be, only to discover that their greatest season would also be their last. The attached 2012 statistics show Las Cruces finished **42-27**, led the league with **728 runs and 111 home runs**, swept Roswell **2-0**, and lost the championship series to Alpine **2-1**.