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Prep baseball, softball seasons end this weekend
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Some of the puzzles have been solved. Others still need to find a solution over the next few days.
The baseball and softball regular season for schools in the metro area will be over come Saturday afternoon, ahead of the announcement of postseason brackets on Sunday by the New Mexico Activities Association.
A reminder: when two teams (or even three teams) tie for first place in either sport, the team with the head-to-head run differential advantage is the automatic qualifier for state. However, that does NOT necessarily mean they will be the higher seed for the playoffs. The NMAA seeds based on overall résumé, based on its criteria points.
Here’s a rundown of how local baseball districts stack up headed into the weekend:
Class 5A’s most competitive district, 1-5A, will, as usual, not be completely determined until the last couple of days.
Cleveland has a 7-2 record and leads the league by one-half game over Rio Rancho (6-2), and the Storm won the first meeting 5-4 as the rivals are scheduled to meet for a second time on Friday at Rio Rancho. The Rams also visit Farmington on Saturday.
District 2-5A has La Cueva with a two-game lead over Eldorado and Sandia. The Bears need to beat the Matadors once in their doubleheader on Saturday to secure the outright 2-5A title. (Note: Sandia beat La Cueva in a late March meeting in the metro semifinals, only to forfeit the result later the same day because of a pitch-count violation.)
Sandia could win the district if it sweeps La Cueva, but it’s not entirely that simple. The problem for the Matadors is, they were swept earlier this week by Eldorado. A three-way tie for first is possible if Sandia wins twice, and the Eagles sweep Santa Fe, also Saturday.
Rio Grande, coming off a big win last Friday over Los Lunas, had a chance Wednesday to claim the 5-5A automatic qualifying bid if the Ravens defeated West Mesa. Starting Wednesday, the Tigers were 7-1 in league play, Rio Grande 6-1. The Ravens have the run differential tiebreaker over Los Lunas.
The metro area’s two Class 4A districts already have regular-season champions, with St. Pius having locked up first place in 5-4A, and Albuquerque Academy taking 6-4A.
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East Mountain has enjoyed a terrific regular season in Class 3A, but the Timberwolves had their 14-game winning streak snapped last weekend in Roswell, dropping both ends of a District 4-5/3A doubleheader to New Mexico Military Institute, 8-0 and 6-3, and NMMI jumped over East Mountain into first place in the league and the Colts leading by a game.
NMMI to clinch the playoff bid will need to win at least one game of its doubleheader Saturday at Ruidoso. East Mountain closes with two games against Bosque School. Both NMMI and East Mountain look to be in line for first-round byes in the Class 3A playoffs.
SOFTBALL: Cibola in District 1-5A can clinch the regular season outright if it beats last-place Volcano Vista on Friday. The Cougars lead Piedra Vista by a game, and swept the Panthers in league play. Piedra Vista closes with Farmington.
La Cueva is unbeaten (8-0) in 2-5A, but the Bears aren’t there yet. Sandia (6-1 in district, pending a Wednesday rescheduled game against Eldorado) can still catch La Cueva and possibly win the district, but the Matadors would have to upset the second-ranked Bears twice at home on Saturday in order to accomplish that.
In 5-5A, Los Lunas has finished its regular season. The Tigers went 7-1 in league play. Atrisco Heritage is 6-1, and closes Friday with Albuquerque High. If there is a tie for first, Los Lunas and the Jaguars split two district games, with the Tigers having the run differential edge.
In 4A, Academy clinched the 6-4A title on Tuesday with a win over Bernalillo. St. Pius in 5-4A leads Belen by a game; the Sartans need only to defeat last-place Highland later this week to clinch first by themselves.
