La Cueva, Sandia, East Mountain sweep doubleheaders

La Cueva and Sandia remained perfect in District 2-5A baseball on Saturday.

Class 5A’s top two ranked prep teams both swept league doubleheaders, with the Bears taking two from Eldorado, and the Matadors winning a pair against Manzano.

LSU commit Dylan Blomker, a junior right-hander, tossed a five-hitter for La Cueva in the opener Saturday, a 4-1 victory for the Bears.

Blomker (4-0) struck out 11 and walked no one (but did hit four batters) in his complete game.

La Cueva (16-3, 4-0) scored two runs in the first and two more key insurance runs in the fifth against the Eagles (12-7, 2-2).

Damon Saavedra’s RBI double to left-center scored Brayden Likar, who had singled to open the game.

Two long fly balls, the first by Braiden Reynolds, the second by Everett Burdett, scored Saavedra from second for a 2-0 lead.

The Eagles answered with a run in the top of the second, and it stayed 2-1 until the fifth.

Jackson Smith reached on an error, and he moved to third on an infield single. A stolen base left runners at second and third.

Reynolds, who broke New Mexico’s single-season RBI record last season and who was in action Saturday for the first time in 2½ weeks, since the end of the metro tournament, doubled both runners home with a hard ground ball up the middle.

Game 2 was close into the fifth inning, with La Cueva leading 2-1.

But the Bears not only broke it wide open, but walked it off, with nine runs in the fifth for an 11-1 victory and the sweep.

There were a pair of three-run home runs in this outburst for La Cueva.

Drew Watkins hit a long homer to right field to make it a 6-1 lead for the Bears. Later, leading 8-1, Reynolds ended the game with a three-run home run to left-center.

Burdett went four innings on the bump to get the win for the Bears, who face the two Santa Fe schools, Capital and Santa Fe, the next two Saturdays, before a crucial season-ending doubleheader against Sandia on May 3.

The Matadors on Saturday won 12-2 and 13-11 against the Monarchs.

Sandia (16-3, 4-0) led 3-2 in the fourth inning of Game 1, but scored four runs in the fourth and five more in the fifth to end the game. Colton Floyd doubled home a pair of runs and had three RBIs total, Jeremiah Bustillo also drove in three, and Charles Armijo hit a solo homer in the win.

Sandia was leading 13-4 in Game 2; Manzano made it tight with six runs in the seventh. Armijo also went deep in the second game for the Matadors, and Floyd delivered an early two-run single to stake Sandia to the lead. Anthony Condon also hit a home run in Game 2 for the Matadors.

At Sandia Prep on Saturday, East Mountain, ranked No. 2 in Class 3A, dominated a District 4/5-3A doubleheader against the Sundevils, winning 16-3 and 17-2 to maintain first place in that league.

The Timberwolves pounded out 32 hits in the two games, including 22 in Game 2 — and a dozen of those 22 were extra-base hits.

East Mountain (14-5, 5-0) scored seven runs in the second inning and six more in the fourth in the opener on Saturday.

Chris Moya had five RBIs on two doubles in the win; Cole Hitchcock and Charlie Birdwell each drove in a pair of runs, and Zane Davis went 3-for-3.

East Mountain had five runs in the first en route to another lopsided win in Game 2.

The first three batters all had hits, leading to two runs, and moments later Quinlan Gwyther tripled home two runs with a shot down the right-field line.

The Timberwolves had four triples and eight doubles in Game 2. Birdwell had a pair of triples and doubles to lead the way and drove in three runs. Rylen Radosevich also drove in three, on a double and triple.

SOFTBALL: As with the 2-5A baseball race, La Cueva and Sandia both swept doubleheaders on Saturday and remain tied for first place in league play. Each is 4-0 in district.

The Bears swatted 30 hits in a 14-0, 15-3 rout of Eldorado. The Matadors rolled 15-0 and 21-3 against Manzano. Liliana Villanueva homered for Sandia in both games. In Game 1, six Matadors had multiple-hit games. In Game 2, Briana Trujillo was 3-for-4 with a pair of triples, and Natalie Uecker was 3-for-3 with three RBIs.