The starting shortstop from La Cueva High School’s state championship baseball team in the spring will be staying close to home for college.
Senior Akili Carris over the weekend announced on his Twitter page that he had verbally committed to play for the University of New Mexico and new coach Tod Brown, who took over the program earlier this year.
“I met the coaching staff, I loved the coaching staff, and I thought it was the best fit for me and my family,” said the 6-foot-2, 180-pound Carris, 17.
Carris hit .441 last spring for the Bears, with 10 doubles, two home runs and 34 RBIs. He led La Cueva in hits and RBIs for the season, which ended with the Bears beating Hobbs in the Class 5A final in June. Carris was perhaps La Cueva’s biggest impact player in the postseason.
“They really want to get local talent from New Mexico,” Carris said. “… It’s the Lobos. I’ve always been a fan of their basketball team, of their football team, of their baseball team. Now it seems that baseball has grown so much in the last 10 years that it’s a great opportunity for me and for other kids in the area.”
FOOTBALL JUGGLING: A COVID-19 “breakout” — according to coach Stephen Johnston — at Manzano, which has put nearly 50 players into quarantine, has forced some schedule changes for several metro programs in Week 5.
Manzano’s District 2-6A opener on Friday night at Milne Stadium against Albuquerque High was canceled. Both were coming off their bye weeks. And for district standings purposes, it will go down as a no contest.
But AHS quickly lined up a replacement game on Monday, against Volcano Vista, which was supposed to have its scheduled bye week.
The Hawks and Bulldogs will play at 7 p.m. Friday at Milne. Volcano Vista was missing a game, having had to cancel on Carlsbad the week before last for COVID reasons. Albuquerque High already had one team, Highland, cancel a game on it, although that was not COVID related. That was a forfeit victory for the Bulldogs.
MIDSEASON CHANGE: The Albuquerque High girls soccer team last spring reached the Class 5A state championship game.
But the Bulldogs have recently had an unexpected head coaching change, just a couple of weeks into the fall 2021 season.
Sara Torrez resigned last Thursday, AHS athletic director Chad Jones said, and has been replaced by Paul Grant.
Efforts to reach Torrez for comment were not successful. She did not return a text message on Monday.
SORT OF LIKE METROS: Friday afternoon’s Highland High cross country meet has assembled a tremendous field.
It is, in essence, the Albuquerque metro championships meet, only without the title.
All 13 of the Albuquerque Public Schools programs, plus Albuquerque Academy, Rio Rancho, Cleveland and St. Pius, are scheduled to run on Friday.
The boys start at 4 p.m., with the girls at 4:30 p.m., both at Bullhead Park.
The actual metro championshps are scheduled early next month.
