5th-seeded Rams suffer early KO in softball
No. 2 Matadors narrowly defeat Mayfield in baseball
The higher seeds mostly fared well Friday on the first day of the Class 5A state softball tournament.
No. 1 Carlsbad led the parade of teams into Week 2. The top four seeds, in fact, all advanced.
No. 5 seed Rio Rancho was the lone upset victim, losing 8-5 at home Friday to No. 12 Roswell. Victoria Sandoval doubled, homered and had four RBIs to lead the Coyotes, who overtook Rio Rancho with a five-run fourth.
No. 4 seed La Cueva received a complete-game four-hitter from sophomore pitcher Hannah Hunt, and Ashlyn Zapach smacked a two-RBI double as the Bears posted a 3-1 victory over No. 13 Atrisco Heritage.
No. 6 Cleveland rolled into Week 2, 10-0 in five innings over No. 11 Farmington. Mercedes Lovato had three hits and three runs for the Storm. Mya Pacheco drove in three runs for Cleveland.
Several other 5A metro entries saw their seasons end Friday. That included No. 10 Volcano Vista, which lost 7-3 at No. 7 Hobbs; No. 16 Sandia, which was ousted 7-3 by Carlsbad; No. 14 Manzano, edged 2-1 by No. 3 Alamogordo; and No. 15 Cibola, eliminated 5-3 by second-seeded Centennial.
In Class 4A, No. 5 Bernalillo, ■ No. 6 St. Pius and No. 9 Valley all advanced.
The Spartans scored five in the first inning, Analicia Trancosa hit a two-run home run in a four-run fourth, and Bernalillo defeated district rival Albuquerque Academy 14-4.
In Los Alamos, Angelica Carrillo had four hits and three RBIs for the Vikings, Aaliyah Penn added two triples and four RBIs, and pitcher Jersey Gutierrez struck out 10 in a completegame 3-hitter for Valley.
St. Pius routed Portales 13-3 to advance.
BASEBALL: Best-of-3 series opened Friday in Classes 5A and 4A.
Two lower-seeded 5A teams, No. 11 Centennial and No. 9 Farmington, had upset victories. The Hawks blanked No. 6 Cleveland, 9-0, with Santiago Garcia striking out 12 as he went the distance in a 2-hitter. The Scorpions, with Zach Raichel tossing a complete game, defeated No. 8 Rio Grande, 3-1.
The top seven seeds won, led by No. 1 Carlsbad, a 4-0 victor against Eldorado.
Second-seeded Sandia needed a run in the bottom of the seventh to escape with a narrow 5-4 win over 15th-seeded Mayfield. Jordan Martinez’s RBI single was the game-winner.
At La Cueva, the thirdseeded Bears pounded Piedra Vista 14-4. La Cueva scored seven runs in the first inning, including Jackson Kay’s two-RBI single. Kay later homered.
No. 7 Rio Rancho beat No. 10 Volcano Vista, 8-4. Eight consecutive singles in a sixrun fifth inning, the first seven off Hawks southpaw starter Regan Hall, sparked the Rams.
In 4A, Caeden Jojola struck out eight in a threehitter, and eighth-seeded Valley rolled, 9-0 over Belen. Robbie Nuñez belted a two-run homer for the Vikings.
Alex Gaeto struck out nine for No. 1 seed Albuquerque Academy, and also went deep and had four RBIs, in an 11-0 rout of Kirtland Central.
At St. Pius, Gene Trujillo swatted a pair of home runs, including a three-run shot in the first, in a 13-0 rout for the second-seeded Sartans over Ruidoso.
In Aztec, 12th-seeded Hope Christian upset the Tigers, 6-4. Sophomore righty Joe Marek struck out 16 Aztec batters, and Evan Bagon, with a tworun shot, and Matt Taylor, with a three-run homer, supplied the Hope offense.