La Cueva sweeps pair from Eldorado
Top-ranked Bears now brace for visit from No. 2 Clovis next weekend
No. 1 took care of its business Saturday. Next up: a showdown with No. 2.
Class 6A’s top-ranked La Cueva Bears swept a District 2-6A baseball doubleheader Saturday afternoon against visiting Eldorado, winning 5-4 and 3-0 as La Cueva prepares for a visit from No. 2 Clovis next weekend to determine the regular-season champion and probably the top seed for the state tournament.
La Cueva (20-2, 8-0) won its 19th and 20th consecutive games.
In Game 1, the Bears got two runs in the third inning to open the scoring. Austin Schlagel drove in Jack Pineda with a single, and scored himself moments later on a ground ball.
La Cueva was up 2-1 in the bottom of the fourth when it scored three times. Dawson Burton, Pineda and Ben Schoneman all drove in runs.
Eldorado cut the deficit to 5-4 in the top of the seventh on Zack Hofman’s RBI single to right with the bases loaded. Another Eagle runner tried to score from second base, but was mowed down at the plate by a one-hop strike from right fielder Burton.
Hunter Boyden (8-0) gave up just two hits in six-plus innings in Game 2 for La Cueva, and Phoenix Autrey drove in two of the Bears’ three runs.
Schlagel earned the save in both ends of the doubleheader.
La Cueva plays host to Clovis for two games at 1 p.m. Saturday.
The Wildcats (19-3, 6-0) play host to Sandia (12-7, 3-3) for two games on Tuesday. That creates a potentially tricky pitching/pitch count situation for Clovis, since it has to turn around and play La Cueva twice on Saturday.
Manzano (11-11, 3-5) swept a pair of 2-6A games from visiting Santa Fe on Saturday, 1-0 in nine innings and 6-4.
In the opener, Monarchs southpaw Mitchell Parker struck out 20 Demons in 8⅔ innings of work, and he also drove in the game’s only run. The 20 Ks were one off the state record.
■ From District 1-6A on Saturday, Piedra Vista won 6-2 at Cleveland, and Volcano Vista downed Cibola 7-2.
Piedra Vista (17-7, 6-0) moved within one victory of locking up the 1-6A title after junior Nate Swarts, a junior who has committed to New Mexico State, shackled the Storm on five hits while striking out 10.
Swarts (7-0 with a sub-1.00 ERA) gave up a two-run homer to Treston Shallenberger in the first inning, but no Cleveland (12-9, 3-4) hitter got beyond second base after that. Two of the five hits were infield hits.
The Panthers turned a 2-1 deficit after three innings into a 5-2 lead when they sent 10 batters to the plate in the fourth, knocking out Storm starter Jack Murano (1-4).
The Hawks (14-8, 4-2) travel to Piedra Vista on Tuesday. Bailey Columbus drove in a pair of runs Saturday for Volcano Vista, which scored five runs in the first two innings. Columbus also was the winning pitcher.
■ In 2-5A, Albuquerque Academy (16-8, 10-1) clinched that district title with two wins Saturday over Del Norte. The Chargers have won eight straight games.
SOFTBALL: Sandia would have had a chance to clinch the 2-6A title on Friday at Clovis, but two games were postponed. There is no make-up date as yet. Sandia (14-4, 6-0) leads La Cueva (13-6, 4-2) and Manzano (12-9, 4-2) by two games in 2-6A.