The quarterfinals of baseball, and the first day of softball, saw the higher seeds go 12-0 as the Albuquerque Metro Championships kicked into high gear.
No. 1 Rio Rancho, No. 2 La Cueva, No. 3 Cleveland and No. 4 Volcano Vista advanced to Friday’s baseball semifinals following victories Wednesday.
All of the top eight seeds in the softball tournament won in the first round on Wednesday.
BASEBALL: The top-seeded Rams dispatched No. 9 Los Lunas 8-1, the second-seeded Bears overwhelmed No. 10 Cibola 15-0, the Storm edged No. 6 Sandia 4-3, and Volcano Vista outslugged No. 5 seed St. Pius 16-12.
On Friday at 3:30 in the semifinals, Volcano Vista will visit Rio Rancho and Cleveland goes to La Cueva.
At Rio Rancho, in a six-run first inning, Niko Alcala delivered a two-RBI double, and Casen Savage – in his second at-bat of the inning – drove home two more with a single.
Brandon Kosel and Dylan Droelle combined on a 1-hitter for La Cueva. Ater a leadoff single by the Cougars, the two retired the next 14 batters in a row. The Bears scored eight runs in the first. Jackson Hix had three hits, including a home run, for La Cueva. Christian Melo also went deep for the Bears, with three RBIs.
Austin Barela pitched into the seventh for Cleveland, and Joseph Stevenson came on to earn the save for the Storm as it held off the Matadors.
At Volcano Vista, Lucian Dixon and Regan Hall hit home runs, and Anthony Gonzales had three RBIs as the Hawks outscored St. Pius. Gene Trujillo, a UNM commit, and Lucas Martinez went deep for the Sartans.
CLEVELAND 4, SANDIA 3
Sandia 001 000 2 — 3 5 0
Cleveland 001 210 x — 4 7 0
Pitching: S, Zach Kmatz and Danny Santiago. C, Austin Barela, Joseph Stevenson (7) and Owen Bishop. Win: Barela. Loss: Kmatz. Save: Stevenson: Leading hitters: C, Jarren Villa 2-3, run; C, Silas Hilton 1-3, RBI. Records: C 10-1; S 6-3.
LA CUEVA 15, CIBOLA 0 (5)
Cibola 000 00 — 0 1 4
La Cueva 825 0x — 15 12 0
Pitching: C, Austin Griego, Aiden Harrison (2), Levon Van Ert (4) and Elias Mierra. LC, Brandon Kosel, Dylan Droelle (5) and Luke Reiter. Win: Kosel (3-0). Loss: Griego. Leading hitters: LC, Jackson Hix 3-3 HR, 2R, 2RBIs; Reid Jacobson 2-3 3B, 2RBIs; Christian Melo 2-2, HR, 3RBIs. Records C 6-6, LC 7-1.
SOFTBALL: Five of the top six seeds are from District 1-5A, and each won in the first round . Winners were No. 1 La Cueva, No. 2 Cleveland, No. 3 Volcano Vista, No. 4 Cleveland, No. 5 Cibola, No. 6 Atrisco Heritage, No. 7 Albuquerque High and No. 8 St. Pius.
The quarterfinals at 3:30 p.m. Thursday are St. Pius at La Cueva, Cibola at Rio Rancho (at Eagle Ridge Middle School), Atrisco Heritage at Volcano Vista, and Albuquerque High at Cleveland.
La Cueva’s Mel Macias pitched a no hitter, and she also drove in a pair of runs for the Bears, who overwhelmed No. 16 Del Norte 15-0 in three innings.
Ryen Herman drove in three runs, Mercedes Lovato was 4-for-4, and Avi Fierro struck out nine for the Storm, which defeated No. 15 Valley 12-2.
Jayci Johnson was 3-for-3 with four RBIs for Volcano Vista, Kylie Taff had three hits and three RBIs, and Shay Saladin also had three hits for the Hawks in their 15-3 victory over No. 14 Los Alamos.
At Eagle Ridge Middle School, middle infielders Mia Martinez and Ariana Hernandez each went 3-for-3 and combined to drive in seven runs as fourth-seeded Rio Rancho (6-2) made short work of Rio Grande (5-5), 20-5 in four innings.
At Cibola, the fifth-seeded Cougars rolled 11-1 against No. 12 Manzano. Zeyda Olvera pitched a 1-hitter over five innings, Jalyn Montes hit a grand slam, and Krista Healy added a two-run shot for the Cougars.
At Atrisco Heritage, the sixth-seeded Jaguars routed No. 11 Eldorado 16-1 in three innings. Desirae Atencio drove in three runs; Erikha Ibarra, Cam Jaramillo and Abrianna Chavez drove in two apiece, and Thur Na Lujan homered.
At Albuquerque High, Jazmyn Griego hit three home runs, drove in six and struck out 10 in the circle in an 11-10 victory over No. 10 West Mesa.
At St. Pius, the eighth-seeded Sartans scored eight runs in the sixth in a 9-1 victory over No. 9 Sandia.
