WEEK IN REVIEW
Piedra Vista High School is probably glad it has the summer to get away from the Cleveland Storm.
Three days after Cleveland beat the Panthers at the boys state golf tournament, the Storm on Friday afternoon advanced to the baseball program’s first state championship game, ripping Piedra Vista 10-2 at Isotopes Park.
“They showed up ready to go,” Cleveland coach Shane Shallenberger said of his team. “They were loose when they got on the field, and they weren’t tight at all.”
(For a complete game recap, see today’s main Journal sports section.)
Cleveland will faces La Cueva or Carlsbad in the final at 6 p.m. today at Isotopes Park.
The Storm ousted Volcano Vista 4-3 in eight innings Thursday night in the quarterfinals.
St. Pius lost 5-3 in Friday’s Class 5A semifinals to Goddard at Santa Ana Star Field. (See today’s main Journal sports section for a game recap.)
The Sartans beat Artesia 4-3 on Thursday in the quarterfinals.
Rio Rancho, Volcano Vista, Valley and Bernalillo were eliminated in Thursday’s quarterfinals.
The Rams (20-9), seeded eighth in 6A, fell 1-0 to No. 1 seed La Cueva. Rio Rancho, as it’s done most of the season, had four freshmen in the starting lineup against Bears starter Jonathan Stroman and went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
“We competed every pitch for the whole game. What an effort,” said Rams coach Ron Murphy, adding that 46 of the 50 players in the program will return in 2018.
No. 13 seed Valley (18-9) was beaten 9-0 by Carlsbad at Isotopes Park. The Vikings scratched out just two hits; their best chance to score a run was erased on a throw to the plate from the outfield.
Volcano Vista (15-12) had a senior-dominated team in this run to the state quarterfinals, but the Hawks lost their last two games to Cleveland.
In Class 4A, No. 6 seed Bernalillo overcame a four-run deficit in the top of the seventh Thursday at Rio Rancho High School, but third-seeded St. Michael’s scored a run in the bottom half to beat the Spartans 10-9.
“The boys fought, they fought the whole time,” Bernalillo firstyear coach Brandon Gilliard said. “Four runs in the seventh tells you who they are and how much they wanted it.”
Track and field
The first day of the state championships at the University of New Mexico saw four Rio West athletes win individual titles.
That list was led by Cleveland junior Amanda Mayoral, who ran to victory in what turned into the 3,200-meter final late in the day. (See the main sports section for details on that race.) Mayoral beat runner-up Reina Paredes of Rio Rancho by nearly a full 20 seconds. Andi Almodovar of the Rams placed fifth.
St. Pius’ Jacque Piñon was a dominant 5A 3,200-meter state champion, winning by 15 seconds. Today, both Piñon and Mayoral will try to add the 1,600-meter crown.
Earlier Friday, Volcano Vista’s Jericho Cleveland impressively won the boys’ 1,600-meter final, and Cleveland’s Kaylee Caldwell finished first in the girls’ long jump.
Another Storm athlete, Caitlin Barnard, entered the long jump as the No. 1 seed, but in a huge surprise she did not qualify for the finals.
A handful of other area athletes reached the podium Friday.
In the 6A boys long jump, Miles Brinson of Cibola placed third and Blaine Grant of Volcano Vista was fourth.
St. Pius’ Nikulas Skipp was third in the boys’ 5A high jump. Kyle Toya of Bernalillo was fourth in the 4A pole vault and the Spartans’ Davin Deuel was the state runner-up in the 4A high jump.
Rio Rancho’s Keshawn Banks was fifth in the boys’ 6A discus, and the Rams’ Kamirah Decker was third in the girls’ discus.
Domonic Fischer of West Mesa finished fourth in the 6A high jump, and Trevlyn Monk of Volcano Vista was fourth in the girls’ 6A long jump.
Field events continue at 8 a.m. today; the remaining running finals start at 11 a.m., all at UNM.
Golf
Tuesday was a day of wideranging emotions as the state tournaments ended. First and most noteworthy, three Rio West athletes won individual titles.
Ben Wells, a Volcano Vista senior who left baseball after his freshman season to take up golf competitively, won a three-hole playoff against Gadsden’s Travis Olson at the Nancy Lopez Golf Course at Spring River.
It was his third tournament win of the season.
Cleveland sophomore Jacque Galloway won the 6A girls tournament by 14 shots. She won state last year, also by 14 shots.
At The Canyon Club in Albuquerque, St. Pius junior Ashlee Garrett posted a commanding seven-shot victory at the Class 5A state tournament.
But there was more heartbreak for the Sartans. For the second consecutive year, they suffered a crushing second-day team loss to Artesia. Last year it was in a playoff, this year it was a single shot.
The Cleveland boys captured the Class 6A championship in Roswell, defeating Piedra Vista by three shots. But, that’s only because a Panthers player signed for an incorrect score, disqualifying himself and costing his team the blue trophy.
The Storm girls led after the first day of the tournament, but struggled on Day 2 and finished third behind La Cueva and Las Cruces.
Individuals who earned AllState accolades (top six) from the Rio West area were: Cleveland’s Corey Haught (tied fifth in 6A boys); Cleveland sophomore Elexiss Gutierrez, the runner-up to Galloway; Sabrina Galfano of Volcano Vista, who was fifth in 6A girls; St. Pius’ Aidan Thomas, third in 5A boys; and Cindy Herrera, who tied for fifth from St. Pius in 5A girls.
Softball
The story from the first day of state (Thursday) was No. 12 seed Cleveland. The Storm upset No. 5 Las Cruces 11-8 in a play-in game, then edged No. 4 Sandia 4-3 later in the day Thursday as the double-elimination part of the event kicked in.
Cleveland was beaten 8-1 by La Cueva on Friday morning, but the Storm came back later to outscore Atrisco Heritage 9-7 in the consolation bracket.
But Cleveland’s season finally ended, 9-8 to Oñate late Friday afternoon.
No. 8 seed Cibola fell in the 6A first round, 7-1 to Carlsbad.
Bernalillo was seeded No. 4 in Class 4A, but the Spartans were ousted from the tournament on Thursday after playing three games.
A 1-0 loss to Cobre on Wednesday knocked Bernalillo into the losers’ bracket. On Thursday, the Spartans stayed alive with an 8-1 victory over Hope Christian, and then a 4-3 victory over Robertson.
But in its third game of the day Thursday, Bernalillo was beaten 2-1 by the tournament’s No. 1 seed, Silver. ■