Rams walk off; Bears rout Hawks
RIO RANCHO — Rio Rancho had the last swing, and the last run, to get into the last game of the Albuquerque Metro Baseball Championships.
Tariq Levesque’s two-out, bases-loaded single in the bottom of the seventh scored Josh Clark with the winning run, as the second-seeded Rams beat No. 3 Cleveland 6-5 in the semifinals Thursday afternoon.
“We’ve played a lot of close games,” senior shortstop Garrett Gouldsmith said, “but we’ve come out with a lot of close wins.”
This one put Rio Rancho (11-2) opposite No. 1 seed La Cueva (7-1) at 1 p.m. Saturday at Santa Ana Star Field for the metro title.
And Gouldsmith was right. This was already the Rams’ fourth one-run victory of the season.
After Cleveland shortstop Treston Shallenberger tied the game in the top of the seventh with a two-run home run to left, Rio Rancho walked the Storm off.
Clark beat out an infield grounder to third to open the seventh against Storm starter and loser — and UNM recruit — Jack Murano (3-1). Gouldsmith struck out, and Zach Bravo grounded out for the Rams before Murano issued consecutive walks to Ethan Silcox and Clayton Kempski, who are both freshmen.
To that end, the Rams have found a healthy balance of youth — they started three freshmen Thursday — to go with veterans Gouldsmith, Levesque and Bravo.
Levesque, a left-handed hitter, took an outside fastball from Murano the opposite way, riding the wind, and the ball one-hopped the fence for a long, game-winning single.
“I was just looking to get a pitch to score a run,” Levesque said. “It was a fastball out and up and I just took it that way.”
Rams coach Ron Murphy credited his team for staying the course after Shallenberger extended the game.
“They could have put their heads down, but instead they got on the ball and figured it out and did the little things,” Murphy said.
Cleveland scored three first-inning runs off Bravo. Robert Healy’s two-run double down the left-field line made it 3-0.
Rio Rancho scored single runs in the first and third, then took the lead in the fourth.
Shallenberger’s two-out throwing error paved the way for three unearned runs. That inning also included two hit-by-pitches, a wild pitch that scored one run, another wild pitch on a strikeout, and a two-run single to left by Gouldsmith to break a 3-3 tie.
For No. 3 seed Cleveland (10-2), it was a rough day all around, with injuries to both its left fielders — first Giacomo Musante (hit in the head by a pitch) and then Josh Chapman, who crashed against the left-field wall on Levesque’s hit and chipped a tooth. — James Yodice No. 1 LA CUEVA 11, No. 4 VOLCANO VISTA 1 (6): Ryan Johnson and Richard Ware both homered for the Bears, and Ryan Phillips pitched five strong innings for La Cueva.
Ware’s three-run shot to center, part of a five-run outburst in the second inning, blew the game open and gave La Cueva a 7-0 lead.
University of Arizona recruit Jonathan Stroman is scheduled to start the Metro final Saturday for the Bears, possibly against the Rams’ ace, Bodhi Bolen.
No. 1 La Cueva, No. 2 Cleveland, No. 3 Volcano Vista and No. 4 Sandia won quarterfinal games Thursday. Today at 4 p.m. in the semifinals, Sandia is at La Cueva and Volcano Vista visits Cleveland.
For the Bears (7-0), Jessica McAlister had a pair of home runs, including a grand slam in the first inning, in their 12-2, five-inning victory over No. 8 Atrisco Heritage. Taylor Jones also homered for the Bears, as did Shannon Stein.
The Matadors (7-0) routed No. 5 Rio Rancho 15-5 in five innings. Victoria Reyes drove in five runs for Sandia, and Desiree Madrid plated three more for the Matadors.
At Cleveland, Adrianna Castillo was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh to give the Storm (4-6) a 12-11 victory over No. 7 Eldorado. The Eagles led the game early, 7-0. Ashlea Ortega, Castillo and Nycole Medina combined to drive in 10 of Cleveland’s 12 runs.
At Volcano Vista, the Hawks (7-0) outscored No. 6 Cibola 10-8, pushing across three runs in the bottom of the sixth.