Tigers storm, Eagles breeze into baseball quarterfinal

Los Lunas rallied its way into the quarterfinals of the 5A State Baseball Championship, with a victory over Volcano Vista that has the New Mexico Activities Association reviewing behavior by the Hawks following several ejections.

Meanwhile, Belen advanced in 4A after a dominating effort in the best of three series against Aztec.

Los Lunas Tigers

The pressure was on 11th-seeded Los Lunas (19-10) after the Tigers dropped the opening game in their best of three series in Albuquerque at No. 6 Volcano Vista. However, it was the Hawks (20-9) who cracked down the stretch. In the end, LLHS grabbed a 15-8 victory in the “if” game that sends Los Lunas to the 5A quarterfinals against Cleveland.

That final game has been described as “ugly,” with VVHS players and coaches yelling and gesturing at the umpires as the game got out of hand, obviously unhappy with the officiating.

There were three ejections, including two Hawks’ players and possibly a coach. One VVHS player had to be held back as the contest ended.

The New Mexico Activities Association has confirmed they are reviewing the actions by Volcano Vista.

The heat was squarely on Los Lunas to start, trailing 4-0 after two innings.

“We made a few mistakes early on—kicked a few balls,” said LLHS coach Paul Cieremans while praising pitcher Kaiden Reese for keeping the game close.

That’s when the players and coaches held an impromptu meeting, with the message, “Hey, we can do this; we kept pushing, kept pushing, didn’t give up.”

The Tigers scored seven runs in the fourth inning, three in the fifth and five more in the sixth to put the game away. Jasiah Byers had six RBIs, coming through with clutch hits twice with the bases loaded.

Jonah Utash arrived about game time after playing in the first round of the state golf tournament. It was a day to remember. Utash, who was third in golf after the first round, pitched two shutout innings to end the game.

With the contest out of reach, the fireworks reached a crescendo in the Hawks’ dugout, described as “embarrassing.” While Cieremans didn’t want to comment about the Hawks’ behavior, he did praise his players’ restraint.

“Our boys were well behaved,” he said. “They played the game correctly, did the right thing.”

All but forgotten is how Los Lunas reached that pivotal point. On Friday, Volcano Vista posted a 12-1 victory, with LLHS having more errors than hits, three to one.

The next morning, Los Lunas scored five times in the first inning and went on to a 9-6 victory to force a deciding game. JJ Utash had a home run and five RBIs for the Tigers.

The third and deciding game was to be played immediately following, but lightning and heavy rain postponed it until Monday. That’s when the pyrotechnics really started.

Now, LLHS will play No. 3 Cleveland at 7 p.m. Thursday in Albuquerque at the Jennifer Riordan Spark Kindness Sports Complex.

“They have great pitching, and they can hit the ball. We’re in for a fight,” Cieremans said.

The Tigers, making their first quarterfinal appearance in years, will need to be at their best, losing to the Storm 12-1 in early March.

“We’ve been growing all year round. Gradually we’ve been getting better and better,” said Cieremans. “We’ve had team success because they don’t quit.”

Belen Eagles

If the 4A field needed more proof that third-seeded Belen (20-8) is a legitimate contender, they got it with the way the Eagles handled Aztec.

BHS mercy-ruled the Tigers (17-11) Friday, 13-3, and Saturday morning,12-2, to move into a quarterfinal meeting against Albuquerque Academy.

In game one, Belen fell behind in the third inning, but quickly tied it and put the contest away with ten runs combined in the fourth and fifth innings. Damian Avila had a pair of doubles and five runs batted in, with the Eagles continually getting clutch hits with two outs and runners in scoring position.

Christian Wilson “was extremely effective,” on the mound, tossing just 66 pitches and giving up only three hits. Eagles head coach Tom Wisneski said, “We played really good defense.”

The Eagles closed out the series Saturday morning, with another outstanding hitting display. Brysen Soiles blasted a home run in the fifth inning, and Diego Avila won it with a bases loaded hit in the fifth inning. Logan Gonzalez pitched a complete-game victory.

“We’re right back where we were last year,” Wisneski said about a return to the quarterfinals.

The Eagles 14-7 loss to Artesia has been a motivating memory.

“We’ve been talking about this all year,” the coach said. “We felt we had a chance to get to the state championship game. This year, we feel like we not only have a chance to get to the championship game, but we feel we have a chance to win it.”

The next step is at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday against No. 6 Albuquerque Academy at Jennifer Riordan Spark Kindness Sports Complex in Albuquerque. On April 13, the Eagles defeated the Chargers 7-2.

Wisneski has no concern about hitting.

“I don’t think there’s a (pitcher) in New Mexico who is going to stifle us,” he said. “Base-running concerns me a little bit and our pitchers throwing strikes, after Christian Wilson, concerns me.”