Murphy reaches another coaching milestone
Rams beat Cibola; Valley wins in 7th
RIO RANCHO — No. 500 was awfully special. No. 400 was even better. Don’t be confused, there is an explanation.
First things first: Rio Rancho High School baseball coach Ron Murphy on Tuesday night won his 400th career game with the Rams, who beat visiting Cibola 5-1 in a District 1-6A game.
It is the second major coaching milestone for the 57-year-old Murphy this season. Including his years at St. Pius, Murphy won career game No. 500 in the 2017 season opener at a tournament in El Paso.
“This definitely means a lot more to me because it’s about Rio Rancho baseball, this program,” Murphy said. “This is more important.”
Murphy is the only baseball coach Rio Rancho has had in its two decades of existence. The Rams have won three state titles under Murphy.
“It was a good day to get to 400,” he said. “It was a good program win.”
The Rams (18-7, 5-2 in 1-6A) scored four of their five runs in the bottom of the second inning, on five hits.
That was more than enough for Rio Rancho junior righthander Bodhi Bolen, who threw a complete-game three-hitter against the Cougars (8-15, 0-8), and at one point retired 13 consecutive batters.
Rio Rancho closes the regular season Saturday at Piedra Vista. The Panthers (17-7, 3-3) are in town today to play 1-6A leader Volcano Vista (13-9, 5-1), a game that was postponed Tuesday.
Ironically, this game means next to nothing for the Hawks as it relates to the 1-6A district race. Win or lose against Piedra Vista, Volcano Vista will still play for the 1-6A championship at 10 Saturday morning at second-place Cleveland (19-6, 5-2). The Storm on Tuesday fell at home to Centennial, 7-4. Cleveland did not use either of its top two pitchers Tuesday, Ezra Acosta and Jack Murano, so the Storm will have everyone available for Saturday. Centennial (15-7) used a five-run second inning to key its victory.
DISTRICT 4-6A: Both Atrisco Heritage and Albuquerque High had games postponed Tuesday and pushed back to today. The Jaguars (16-6, 7-1) visit Rio Grande (7-15, 3-5) tonight at 6, and the Bulldogs (12-10, 7-1) are home at 4 p.m. against Highland.
AHS visits Atrisco Heritage on Friday at 4 p.m. in what amounts to the 4-6A championship game. The Jaguars won the first meeting against the Bulldogs.
Valley (15-8, 6-3) was the only winner from 4-6A on Tuesday. Adrian Sanchez hit a two-out, two-run double — on an 0-2 count — to right-center in the bottom of the seventh to walk off West Mesa, 4-3.
Daniel Romero-Martinez pitched into the seventh for the Vikings, and won his sixth game this season. Valley scored two runs in both the sixth inning and — after West Mesa took a 3-2 lead with two runs of its own in the top of the seventh — the bottom of the seventh.