Two upsets in metro baseball, softball quarterfinals

La Cueva’s Drew Watkins (23) high-fives a teammate in the dugout after scoring a run against Los Lunas in a metro baseball quarterfinal game Thursday at La Cueva High School.

La Cueva’s Dylan Blomker was a first-time All-Metro pitcher last season, though he was also a force at the plate. He has an important stretch of games coming up that could help decide his baseball path.

James Yodice James Yodice James Yodice Journal Staff Writer

Published March 20, 2025 - 7:33 p.m. Modified March 20, 2025 - 10:02 p.m.

Cibola’s baseball team and Sandia’s softball team were upset winners Thursday as the Albuquerque Metro Championships played out its quarterfinal round in both sports.

In baseball, No. 1 La Cueva, No. 3 Rio Rancho and No. 4 Sandia advanced to Saturday’s semifinals, along with the seventh-seeded Cougars, who topped No. 2 Cleveland.

In softball, No. 1 Cibola, No. 2 La Cueva and No. 3 Rio Rancho advanced to the semifinals, along with No. 5 Sandia which defeated fourth-seeded Cleveland in the quarterfinals.

The softball semifinals both are at Cibola on Friday afternoon. The Cougars face Sandia at 1 p.m., followed at about 3 p.m. by La Cueva and Rio Rancho.

The softball title game is noon Saturday at the field of the highest remaining seed.

Baseball is off Friday. The semifinals are 10 a.m. Saturday, with La Cueva hosting Sandia, and Cibola visiting Rio Rancho. The baseball final is 4 p.m. Monday.

BASEBALL: At La Cueva, the top-seeded team in the bracket doubled up No. 9 Los Lunas 8-4. Junior righty Dylan Blomker went the first six for the Bears (7-2) against the Tigers (6-5).

Los Lunas had the first run; La Cueva took the lead with three runs in the second inning. Drew Watkins and Brayden Likar both had RBI singles in that frame.

Leading 4-2 in the fourth, La Cueva broke it open. Braiden Reynolds drew a two-out walk, and scored on Reid Jacobson’s triple off the wall in center. Blomker scored Jacobson with an RBI single and a 6-2 lead.

Reynolds added a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth for an 8-2 edge. Blomker struck out a dozen batters in his six innings, yielding just two hits.

At Sandia, the Matadors (10-1) routed No. 5 Volcano Vista 12-2 in five innings.

Colton Floyd hit a two-run home run in the first for the Matadors. Anthony Condon added a two-RBI triple in the second for a 4-0 lead.

In the third, Sandia scored six runs on five hits, including a grand slam by Sylas Arrambide to left-center for a 9-0 lead.

At Rio Rancho, junior southpaw Dean Ellison twirled a complete-game, 91-pitch, nine-strikeout two-hitter, leading the Rams (9-2) past No. 6 Eldorado (7-3) and into the semis with a 2-0 victory.

Ellison and Jace Sanchez-Reynolds of the Eagles were involved in an outstanding pitching duel. It wasn’t until the bottom of the sixth that Rio Rancho finally broke through with its two runs.

In the Rio Rancho sixth, Jackson Roybal scored from second base on a dropped fly ball in the outfield to break the scoreless tie. Adrian Varoz singled home the second run moments later.

Cibola downed Cleveland, 5-2, in the last of the quarterfinals.

SOFTBALL: No. 1-seeded Cibola (9-0) beat Albuquerque High for the second time this season, this one a 5-2 decision.

AHS’ Raquel Waldrop staked the eighth-seeded Bulldogs (5-4) to an early lead with a long, two-run home run to straightaway center in the top of the first.

From there, Cibola pitcher Gaby Moncada shut down the Bulldogs.

Neveah Gaw drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the first for Cibola. Angelica Medina’s sacrifice fly tied the game the next inning, and Vanessa Romero’s RBI double moments later gave the Cougars the lead for good at 3-2.

Cibola added single runs in the third and fourth innings.

At La Cueva, the Bears swatted five home runs in a 12-2, six-inning victory over No. 7 Atrisco Heritage.

Senior shortstop Genesis Jaramillo and sophomore outfielder Elizabeth Hoggan both hit two home runs for the Bears (6-3). Jaramillo hit a pair of two-run shots, one in the third inning and the other to end the game in the bottom of the sixth.

Hoggan hit a solo homer in the fourth, and added a three-run blast in the fifth.

Brooklyn Eardley also went deep for La Cueva.

In her return to La Cueva, where she played the first two seasons of her prep career, Mel Macias hit a home run for the Jaguars.

At Cleveland, the Matadors pounded out 17 hits in an 11-1 victory over the Storm.

Liliana Villanueva and Natalie Uecker both went 3-for-5 with three RBIs, and Mia Duran also had three hits, with two RBIs.

Villanueva went the distance in the circle, striking out 14 Cleveland batters.

At Eagle Ridge Middle School in Rio Rancho, the Rams advanced to the semifinals with a 20-10 victory over Volcano Vista. Lilyrose Larrabee hit a pair of home runs for Rio Rancho and drove in six runs in the victory.

Four other players drove in three runs apiece, including Olivia Chavez who also hit a home run.

Rio Rancho scored 18 of its runs in the third and fourth innings.