BLUE TROPHY DAYS
Baseball, softball, track and field to decide state champions this week
Prep state champions to be decided in three sports over the next three days
This journey started nine months ago. Now the 2017-18 prep sports calendar is down to its final three days.
State championships in baseball, softball and track and field will be handed out Friday and Saturday. Here’s a sketch:
Baseball
Atrisco Heritage pushing La Cueva to the limit last weekend in their round of 16 best-of-3 series only served to prove what coaches have felt all along, that Class 6A is extraordinarily deep this season.
The Bears open Week 2 of their title defense tonight at 7 at Isotopes Park against Cleveland in the quarterfinals. These two teams played in the championship game 12 months ago.
At Santa Ana Star Field tonight at 7, Volcano Vista will try to score a run for the first time this year on Piedra Vista’s vaunted pitching staff. The Panthers are likely to send out hardthrowing senior Chase Silseth to the hill.
“He’s the best pitcher in the state,” Hawks coach Kevin Andersh said. “We’re going to attack him a little differently than we did last time (a 3-0 loss in district play) and hopefully put the ball in play.”
The 4 p.m. quarters are Rio Rancho-Centennial (Isotopes Park) and Clovis-Carlsbad (Santa Ana).
From 5A, St. Pius, Belen and Albuquerque Academy remain in the hunt. The Chargers were down to their final strike last weekend against Santa Teresa before a walkoff grand slam by Markus Parrish saved their season.
The Sartans arguably are playing the best baseball of anyone in 5A, including defending champ and No. 1 seed Goddard. “The boys are seeing the ball well. They’re fun to watch,” coach Matt McCoy said.
And today (10 a.m. at Santa Ana) they will try to avenge a regularseason defeat to Deming in a March tournament, “where everything kind of came to a head and we had to figure out who we were,” McCoy said.
Hope Christian is the No. 1 seed in 4A, with Silver and Robertson both capable of challenging for a blue trophy.
Softball
The depth of the Class 6A field can perhaps best be illustrated by talking about a team that didn’t even get a postseason invitation.
Cibola won 16 games, beat the No. 2 and No. 5 seeds in this tournament — Rio Rancho and Sandia — and yet still didn’t qualify.
“It’s up for grabs,” said Michelle Carter, coach of fifth-ranked and District 2-6A champ Sandia. “I don’t think there is one team out there that is a for sure thing.”
District 1 champion Volcano Vista and coach J.J. Garcia have the top seed. Rio Rancho is the 2 seed.
There are four-play in games — in both 6A and 5A — this morning, with the four schools that received byes taking on those winners this afternoon, all at Cleveland High’s complex.
The defending 6A champion, La Cueva, plays the host Storm in one of those play-in games.
It is single elimination this morning, then double-elimination the rest of the way, up to the noon final Saturday at Lobo Field.
“The talent level is more evenly balanced among all these teams this year,” said Carter.
Valencia County has a pair of 5A threats, including third-seeded, and battle tested, Valencia.
“Anybody 1 through 6 can win this thing if they get hot,” said Jaguars coach Jeff Young.
Los Lunas also has a first-round bye; Artesia is the No. 1 seed, followed by a young Lovington group.
The 5A final is 10 a.m. Saturday at Lobo Field.
Bernalillo, which opened play in the Class 4A bracket on Wednesday, is, by seed (2) expected to advance to Friday’s title game. Behemoth Silver has the top seed in 4A; the Lady Colts, one of New Mexico’s great prep dynasties, have won seven straight championships in the third-largest division.
In Class 1A-3A, Dexter, the 1 seed, is chasing a fourth consecutive blue trophy.
Track and Field
This weekend the state will send off two of its all-time most decorated runners — Manzano sprinter Jordan Byrd and Cleveland distance specialist Amanda Mayoral.
Classes 4A, 5A and 6A open their state meet on Friday morning at the University of New Mexico complex.
On Saturday, just after noon, Byrd will try to accomplish a very rare feat indeed: winning the 100-meter dash in every one of his four seasons. The San Diego State football signee also will be heavily favored in the 200.
The Oklahoma State-bound Mayoral will run the 3,200-meter final on Friday, and perhaps both the 800 and 1,600 on Saturday. It is unknown if she’ll do all three.
This weekend will also give fans a chance to see Taos’ Jonah Vigil; the last time he was at UNM, in midApril, he ran 46.99 seconds in an electrifying 400-meter performance at the Marilyn Sepulveda Meet of Champions — the first sub-47 second run in state history in that event.