2019 Santa Fe Fuego Season Recap - The Final Season of the TJ Zarewicz Era

The 2019 Santa Fe Fuego season marked the end of another era at Fort Marcy Park. TJ Zarewicz returned to manage a team that continued to embody the offensive personality Santa Fe had developed over the years, but when the summer ended, it would also be Zarewicz's final season as manager of the Fuego. The year featured enormous offensive performances, unpredictable nights at Fort Marcy and another reminder of why Santa Fe had developed a reputation as one of the most difficult and entertaining places to play in the Pecos League. By 2019, everyone around the league understood what a game at Fort Marcy could become. Large leads could disappear quickly, both teams were capable of putting together enormous innings and no game ever seemed completely over until the final out.

The Fuego demonstrated that offensive personality immediately. Santa Fe opened the season with an 11-8 victory before losing its next game 24-14. Thirty-eight combined runs in one of the first games of the season provided an early indication that the familiar Fort Marcy slugfests were going to continue. Throughout the summer, the Fuego regularly found themselves in games where reaching double figures did not guarantee victory. Santa Fe could score enough runs to beat almost anyone on a given night, but the challenge was preventing opponents from producing the same type of offensive explosions.

Zarewicz understood the unusual nature of managing baseball at Fort Marcy. Traditional strategy could quickly become irrelevant when both teams were capable of scoring five or six runs in an inning. A manager couldn't become comfortable with an early lead, and bullpen decisions could change quickly when a seemingly routine inning suddenly turned into an offensive avalanche. Zarewicz was also willing to fill whatever role the club needed. During his final season, he appeared in games as a hitter and even took the mound when necessary, reflecting the realities of independent baseball and the versatility sometimes required to get through a demanding Pecos League schedule.

The centerpiece of the Santa Fe offense was Sherman Graves, who produced one of the strongest offensive seasons on the roster. Graves appeared in 50 games and collected 90 hits in 209 at-bats while scoring 58 runs. He hit 15 doubles, one triple and 19 home runs while driving in 59 runs. Graves finished with a .431 batting average and a .502 on-base percentage, giving Santa Fe a hitter who combined tremendous consistency with significant power. He wasn't simply producing occasional home runs. Graves was reaching base constantly and creating scoring opportunities throughout the summer.

Jose Camacho gave the Fuego another major power threat. Camacho appeared in 35 games and collected 51 hits while hitting 11 doubles and 16 home runs. He drove in 39 runs and finished with a .357 batting average. Brian Dansereau added 58 hits, 17 doubles, two triples and 13 home runs while driving in 49 runs. Jackson Webb hit 14 home runs and drove in 45, while Rick Phillips collected 78 hits, hit 12 home runs and stole 28 bases. Robert Garza added another 14 home runs and 55 RBIs. The result was a lineup with power from several different positions and very few places where opposing pitchers could relax.

That offensive depth made Santa Fe particularly dangerous at Fort Marcy. Pitching around one hitter often only created an opportunity for the next one. Graves, Camacho, Dansereau, Webb, Phillips and Garza could all change a game with one swing, while several other Fuego players provided additional power and speed. Santa Fe could score through home runs, extra-base hits, stolen bases and extended innings. Once the Fuego began cycling through the lineup, opposing pitching staffs sometimes had tremendous difficulty stopping the momentum.

One of the clearest examples came in June when Santa Fe exploded for 32 runs in a 32-7 victory. Thirty-two runs would have been an extraordinary performance for almost any professional baseball team, but by this point in Fuego history, Fort Marcy had already developed a reputation for producing scores that sometimes looked more appropriate for football. The 32-run performance wasn't the only enormous offensive night of the summer. Santa Fe also scored 24 runs in another victory and would eventually finish the season with an even larger offensive explosion.

The Fuego experienced both sides of those slugfests. Santa Fe won games 16-14 and 17-16, illustrating just how little margin for error existed even when the offense scored at an extraordinary rate. Sixteen runs could produce a two-run victory. Seventeen could be necessary to win by one. The Fuego also suffered losses in which opponents scored 20 or more runs. That was the reality of Santa Fe baseball. The same conditions that made Fort Marcy so favorable to the Fuego hitters could create enormous problems for the pitching staff.

Pitching remained the greatest challenge for Santa Fe throughout the season. Alexander Merithew carried one of the largest workloads on the staff, making 11 starts and throwing 70.1 innings while completing four games and finishing 5-5. His ability to work deep into games was particularly valuable because high-scoring contests could quickly exhaust a bullpen. Every complete game represented innings that other pitchers didn't have to cover later in the week.

Ross Mintzer provided some of Santa Fe's better starting pitching, going 4-1 in seven starts while throwing 41.2 innings. Logan Linder became one of the busiest members of the bullpen, appearing in 27 games and working 35 innings while striking out 43 hitters and walking only six. Julian Devora, Kenny Pierson, Jack Herzing, Cleveland Westbrook and others were also asked to cover innings throughout the summer as Zarewicz tried to find combinations capable of slowing opposing offenses.

There were nights when the pitching and offense came together. Santa Fe recorded a 13-0 victory and also won lower-scoring games such as 6-2, 2-1, 4-2 and 7-3. Those performances demonstrated that the Fuego could play a completely different style of baseball when the pitching staff controlled the game. The problem was maintaining that consistency throughout an entire summer. Too often, Santa Fe's hitters found themselves trying to overcome enormous deficits or attempting to protect leads in games where both teams were scoring almost at will.

The extreme swings were visible throughout the schedule. Santa Fe could struggle through a losing stretch and then suddenly turn around and win several consecutive games. The Fuego produced victories of 10-3, 8-6, 13-0, 14-7, 24-4 and 11-5 during one strong stretch, demonstrating just how dangerous the team could become when its offense and pitching were working together. At other points, Santa Fe allowed 20 or more runs and had little chance of producing enough offense to keep pace.

That inconsistency followed the Fuego into July. Santa Fe would win several games in a row only to immediately enter another difficult stretch. The club won games 13-9, 10-7 and 12-6, later produced three consecutive victories by scores of 2-1, 4-2 and 14-4, and showed that it was capable of winning both slugfests and traditional low-scoring games. But those successful stretches were frequently interrupted by games in which opposing offenses overwhelmed the pitching staff.

The contrast between Santa Fe's home and road games could sometimes be striking. On the road, the Fuego demonstrated that they could win games 2-1 or 4-2. Back at Fort Marcy, the scoreboard could once again begin moving at a completely different pace. That contrast reinforced the reputation the ballpark had developed throughout the league. Teams didn't simply travel to Santa Fe expecting to play another road game. They arrived knowing they might be entering one of the wildest offensive environments on the schedule.

For the fans, that unpredictability had become part of the Fuego experience. A five-run deficit wasn't necessarily a reason to give up. A five-run lead wasn't necessarily a reason to relax. An inning could begin quietly and suddenly turn into a parade of baserunners, pitching changes and runs. Fort Marcy had become the home of the slugfest, and the 2019 Fuego continued that tradition throughout the summer.

Despite the difficult stretches, Santa Fe continued competing through the final weeks. The Fuego produced victories of 7-3 and 4-2, later scored 20 runs in another win and went on the road to record a 17-6 victory on August 1. The season then returned to Fort Marcy for its final weekend, providing one last opportunity for the 2019 team to demonstrate its offensive personality.

Santa Fe lost 9-8 on August 2, another one-run game that fit perfectly with the identity of the Fuego. One night later, the offense provided an unforgettable conclusion to the season. Santa Fe scored 33 runs in a 33-6 victory. After an entire summer filled with extreme scores, huge innings and unpredictable baseball, the Fuego finished their season by producing one of their largest offensive performances of the year.

The 33-run finale was also significant because it brought TJ Zarewicz's final season as manager of the Santa Fe Fuego to an end. There was something fitting about the Zarewicz era concluding with the Fuego scoring 33 runs at Fort Marcy. During his time managing the club, he had been part of an era in which Santa Fe's reputation for extreme offensive baseball became firmly established throughout the Pecos League. His teams understood that they were rarely out of a game offensively, but they also understood that no lead at Fort Marcy could ever be considered completely secure.

Zarewicz had managed in an environment unlike almost any other in independent baseball. He dealt with huge offensive innings, unpredictable pitching situations, constant roster movement and the everyday challenges associated with operating a Pecos League team. His willingness to appear in games himself during 2019 illustrated the hands-on nature of the job. When the season ended, his tenure managing the Fuego ended with it.

The lasting strength of the 2019 team was unquestionably its offense. Graves hit .431 with 90 hits and 19 home runs. Camacho hit .357 with 16 home runs in only 35 games. Dansereau hit .352 with 17 doubles and 13 home runs. Webb hit 14 home runs. Phillips collected 78 hits, hit 12 home runs and stole 28 bases. Garza added 14 home runs and drove in 55. Those numbers explain how Santa Fe was capable of scoring 24, 32 and eventually 33 runs in individual games.

The Fuego lineup could be overwhelming. The challenge was finding enough pitching to support it. When Santa Fe received strong pitching, the team could dominate. When the pitching struggled, games frequently turned into the type of enormous slugfests for which Fort Marcy had become famous. That balance between explosive offense and unpredictable run prevention defined much of the 2019 season.

The season also became historically significant for reasons nobody could have anticipated when the final game was played. The 2019 campaign would become the final traditional summer of Fuego baseball before the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the following season. Nobody leaving Fort Marcy after the 33-6 finale could have known that the normal rhythm of summer professional baseball in Santa Fe was about to be interrupted.

At the time, the focus was simply on the conclusion of another unusual Fuego season and the end of Zarewicz's tenure as manager. Santa Fe had experienced another summer of enormous offensive performances, difficult pitching nights and games that reinforced Fort Marcy's reputation throughout the league. The Fuego could look unbeatable one night and struggle the next, but they were almost never boring.

The 2019 Santa Fe Fuego season wasn't defined by a championship. Instead, it represented the conclusion of another chapter in the franchise's history. TJ Zarewicz managed the Fuego for the final time. Sherman Graves produced an outstanding offensive season. Jose Camacho, Brian Dansereau, Jackson Webb, Rick Phillips and Robert Garza helped create a lineup loaded with power, while Merithew, Mintzer, Linder and the rest of the pitching staff attempted to survive one of the most difficult pitching environments in the league.

Most of all, the season reinforced exactly what Santa Fe Fuego baseball had become. Fort Marcy remained the home of the slugfest. The Fuego won 16-14 and 17-16. They scored 24 runs in one victory, 32 in another and finished the season by scoring 33. No score ever seemed too large, and no lead ever seemed completely safe.

When the 2019 season ended, the Fuego were preparing to move beyond the TJ Zarewicz era. What nobody knew was that professional baseball everywhere was about to face a much larger interruption. That made 2019 not only Zarewicz's final season managing Santa Fe, but also the final chapter of the Fuego's first uninterrupted run of summers at Fort Marcy Park.

It was an appropriate conclusion to an era defined by unpredictable baseball, enormous offensive performances and a ballpark where anything could happen.

At Fort Marcy Park, no lead was safe.