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Prep baseball: Los Lunas dominates Volcano Vista over two-game series
What transpired over the past two days at Volcano Vista was not indicative of a typical 8- vs. 9-seed matchup.
No. 9 Los Lunas (18-10) dominated the No. 8 Hawks (15-13) in back-to-back games on their home field, winning the best-of-three series by a combined 29-1.
The Tigers finished the job on Saturday morning, rolling past Volcano Vista 14-0 in a five-inning, mercy-rule shortened game to advance to the Class 5A quarterfinals against top-seeded La Cueva on Thursday at 7 p.m.
According to Tigers coach Paul Cieremans, his team entered the tournament with something to prove after a late season district loss to Rio Grande might have lowered their seeding.
“We definitely got a little chip on our shoulder because of where we sat, but we’re OK with it,” he said. “You’ve got to beat the best to be the best, right?”
Five different players had multi-hit games for Los Lunas, led by Allen Galaviz and JJ Utash with three apiece.
In addition to a balanced lineup, the Tigers relied on timely baserunning and a slew of Volcano Vista errors — six in total — to cruise to victory for the second consecutive day.
Los Lunas began to pull away during a five-run third frame that saw the Tigers bat around while the Hawks used three different pitchers.
The Tigers batted around for a second time while plating six in the decisive fifth inning.
Meanwhile, Los Lunas starter Kaiden Reese allowed three hits while striking out seven over five shutout innings.
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Volcano Vista’s best scoring opportunity came in the third, when it loaded the bases with one out following two walks and an error. Reese responded by striking out the next two batters to end the threat.
The Tigers seem to be trending upward at just the right time. After beginning the season with an 8-7 mark that included a 10-5 loss to the Hawks, Los Lunas is 10-3 since the beginning of April.
“We have a good team and we played well throughout the season. A lot of close games, a lot of tough teams if you look at our schedule — so it kind of prepared us for this game,” Cieremans said. “Plus, we’re hungry.”
