Cruces crashes the bracket
Bulldawg baseball knocks off Centennial, softball takes down No. 2 Alamogordo as Las Cruces High teams shake up state tournament play.
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Hello and happy Sunday!
I’m hoping your weekend was great and hopefully this column adds to that! I wanted to update you all after the first weekend of the Softball and Baseball state tournaments is now complete. Good news is, most of our Las Cruces area teams are still alive!
But first, let’s have a chat. Nmprepcosports is a reader-supported publication. I go as far as you all will take me. Let that soak in a bit. You all are a part of this project, just as much as I am. Without you, there’s no nmprepcosports! For just $5 a month, or $50 a year, you can continue to help build this publication up. We’ve already got a solid foundation — thanks to y’all! That equals to my 120 total subscribers, where 6.67% are paid members. May seem like a low percentage, but it’s a number I’m blessed with. I encourage you to upgrade to a paid subscriber if you are a free sub right now, and if you’re new to Substack, please explore the paid membership. Thank you all — let’s dig into some baseball and softball talk now!
Softball - no Las Cruces area teams eliminated after first weekend of state
It was a competitive weekend in the New Mexico 5A softball world and eight teams are still alive in hopes of raising the blue trophy on May 16.
No. 1 Mayfield
The Trojans had a scare in their opening play-in game, surviving the Rio Rancho Rams. Mayfield was down 4-2 heading into the final frame of the game and ended up scoring three runs in the bottom of the seventh to evade the 1-16 upset.
Freshman pitcher, Audrina Guillen earned the win but it wasn't easy. She gave up three earned runs, four hits, but also had nine strikeouts. Guillen pitched all seven innings and only walked two batters.
It’s fair to say, the Trojans are a very young team. They have a ton of sophomores in their lineup and only have two seniors on their entire roster. Despite that, Mayfield has some serious talent.
Against Rio Rancho, sophomore Ausaundra Roberto went 2-for-4 and also got on base after being hit by a pitch. Guillen, junior Brisa Quintana, senior Dallas Bencomo and sophomore Genesis Angel each had a RBI — which of course was crucial in this tight game.
After securing the 5-4 win over the Rams, the Trojans moved on to the double elimination portion of the bracket. There they faced the all-to-familiar No. 9 Centennial Hawks. I must admit, I had some lack of knowledge here and didn’t know most teams played right away (the same day) after their respective play-in game.
I’ve seen and heard Mayfield is notorious for their home runs. The Trojans have 88 home runs on the season — which is also why they struggled against Rio Rancho. They had no round-trippers in that game.
Things were back to normal for the Trojans in game two — where maybe the sense of a familiar opponent added to their confidence.
Mayfield had seven dingers against the Hawks, two of those came from Bencomo (2-for-2, with three RBIs).
Junior Jayleen Ponce went 3-for-4, knocking in two RBIs, scored once and had one home run of her own.
Mayfield defeated their district foe, 16-6. They stay in the winners bracket and now will take on No. 5 Cleveland on Thursday, May 14, at Cleveland High School (Cleveland’s field is the host site for the remainder of the tournament, UNTIL the championship game)
No. 10 Las Cruces
The Bulldawgs probably had the biggest upset in the young tournament. Cruces took down No. 2 Alamogordo in the winners bracket, 3-1, and now will take on No. 6 Piedra Vista on May 14 at 9:30 a.m.
The 10-seeded Dawgs handled business in their play-in game versus No. 7 Albuquerque, winning 10-2. They had a six-run second inning and had a total of 13 hits. Eight RBIs were registered for Cruces — junior Leah Pacheco had a 3-for-4 day and counted three RBIs of her own. Pacheco also was in the circle for the Dawgs, pitching a complete game. She earned herself 17 Ks, only walked one and gave up just three hits.
Cruces remained in Alamogordo for a Saturday morning game against the host school. They were first to get on the scoreboard and led 3-0 all the way up till the bottom of the sixth— where the Tigers scored one but it was their lone run of the matchup.
Pacheco was once again dealing for her team. In game two, she had eight strikeouts, didn’t give up any walks and gave up five hits — all off of 85 pitches. An effective outing for the junior.
Senior Denae DiMatteo went 2-for-3 and scored one run. Senior Cami Munda and junior Erica Silva were the other two to score the few but important runs for their team.
With two upsets in two days, the Dawgs will look for upset number three of the tournament on Thursday. Las Cruces has two state championships in program history, the last coming in 2018 under head coach Alex Lopez. The Dawgs were the 7-seed that year, upsetting No. 1 Volcano Vista twice in the championship games to claim the state champion trophy. History might be repeating itself…
No. 3 Organ Mountain
The Knights earned a 4-1 win in the play-in game versus No. 14 Cibola. They fell to Piedra Vista in the first round of the winners bracket, 7-5.
Senior Hannah Justus earned the win against the Cougars. She went for six strikeouts, two walks and gave up four hits.
Organ Mountain registered 12 hits and were led in batting by freshman Natalie Menchaca, who went 3-for-3, scored twice and had one double.
Against Piedra Vista, the Knights led for for the first half of the game 4-0. In the sixth inning, the Panthers scored three, and in the seventh they knocked in the tying run. The game would go an extra inning, where the Knights were outscored 3-1.
Justus was again in the circle for Organ Mountain but gave up five earned runs and eight hits. She struck out two and walked three. She made up for it in the batters box, going 3-for-4, with one RBI.
Senior Arriana Fuentez did her best to add to her team’s offense, earning herself a 2-for-4 performance, scoring one run, had one RBI and one double.
The Knights now have an uphill battle, as they move to the losers bracket and have a May 14 matchup against No. 2 Alamogordo at 12 p.m. They will have to win four games in a span of two days to get back to where they want to be, which is the championship game on Saturday, May 16.
No. 9 Centennial
Centennial’s chance as being the three-peat state champions is in jeopardy. The Hawks technically upset No. 9 Volcano Vista in the play-in game (I say “technically”, because it’s a game I and most expected them to win). They claimed the 10-4 win. But, they were outmatched against their cross-town rival, Mayfield, in the first round, where they lost 16-6.
The Hawks grabbed themselves 15 hits against Volcano, knocking in eight RBIs. They homered four times and hit for three doubles. Sophomore Kendra Martinez went 3-for-4, with four RBIs and two four-baggers.
Two freshmen were in the circle for Centennial. Jada Lopez and Madison Sanchez. Lopez faced 17 batters, counted one K, walked three, gave up one home run and had three earned runs. Sanchez gave up no earned runs and walked one — all off of 18 batters faced. Sanchez would grab the win. Each pitcher gave up four hits.
In their matchup with Mayfield, the Hawks’ young pitchers struggled. Giving up a combined 15 hits and seven home runs. Lopez went 4.1 innings, while Sanchez pitched 1.1 innings.
Centennial had two homers of their own (one by senior Addie Moccia and Sanchez). They just couldn’t match Mayfield’s sticks, where the Hawks only had seven hits.
The young Centennial team now will play No. 4 Los Lunas on Thursday at noon. They too will have to win four games to get to the championship games — a very familiar place for them. They will have to correct themselves against Los Lunas first and of course will have to go through their well-known district foes to get there.
Baseball - two Las Cruces area teams still alive
No. 12 Las Cruces
Cruces baseball is probably the talk of the state tournament right now. They swept No. 5 Centennial 2-0 to move on to the quarterfinals, and now a single elimination bracket.
I’ve also heard from sources that this may be current head coach, Gil Padilla’s final season as the Dawgs’ head honcho. If that’s true, it would make sense why Cruces came out with so much added energy in its series against its rival.
Padilla has been the leader of the Dawgs for decades, only making it once to the state championship back in 2003. It’s been awhile since Cruces has made it out of the round of 16 — and simply quite a long time since they’ve been relevant in late postseason games.
In the series versus Centennial, the Dawgs didn’t allow one single run to be scored on them (game one: 1-0, game two: 2-0). Centennial is no joke either, their known for their dynamite offense. It was a spectacular performance by Cruces’ pitching staff and defense.
The Dawgs would score in the second inning of game one, it was all they needed to earn the win.
Senior Gunnar Guardiola pitched a complete game, giving up five hits, striking out six, walked none and only hit one batter — all this off of 84 pitches.
Junior Hunter Parmeter was the Dawg who batted in the lone run. He went 2-for-3. Senior Armando Gonzalez was the one to score the run for Cruces, while he went 1-for-2. In total, the Dawgs had seven hits and no errors on defense.
In game two, it was Gonzalez’s turn to deal and produce for his team on the mound. Like his counterpart in Guardiola, Gonzalez too went seven innings. He gave up just three hits, walked two and struck out two. Gonzales had a total of 87 pitches.
Senior Isaiah Borunda led his team on offense. Going 2-for-4, scored one run and had one RBI — important scoring in a tight game and series. Borunda also had one stolen base.
The energy was there for the Dawgs the entire series. Centennial had a runner on third and second in the final at-bat. Cruces remained calm and collected two outs in a row to achieve the upset.
Cruces now will face No. 4 Piedra Vista on Thursday, May 14 at 7 p.m. I believe they will play on field one at the Jennifer Riordan Spark Kindness Sports Complex. Winner of that game will play either No. 1 Rio Rancho or No. 8 Mayfield. A trip to the 5A semifinals is on the line.
No. 8 Mayfield
Speaking of Mayfield, they too handled business in the round of 16. Sweeping No. 9 Los Lunas 2-0. They head to the quarterfinals and will face the top seed of the tournament.
In game one, the Trojans had to handle some adversity early on. They went back and forth with the Tigers in the early innings, being down 1-0 at the end of one, and down 4-3 at the end of three.
Mayfield recorded five hits, but had no errors compared to Los Lunas’ five errors.
Senior Isaac Seldner made the start for the Trojans on the mound and earned himself the win. Senior Brody Ochoa earned himself the save. Mayfield won game one 6-4.
Game two, the Trojans offense exploded for 10 runs in a 10-0 win and run-ruled the Tigers.
Junior Brad Springer picked up the win and threw a total of 73 pitches.
*Mayfield didn’t input their full stats for this series.
No. 11 Organ Mountain
The Knights were eliminated from state playoffs after losing two games to No. 6 Carlsbad. Losing game one 9-2 and game two by a score 4-3.
Organ Mountain failed to produce any offense early on in game one and didn’t score until the sixth inning — by then, the damage was done by the Cavemen, who were up 6-0 before the sixth started.
The Knight pitching crew consisted of three pitchers who entered the matchup. All together, they allowed 11 hits, eight earned runs, walked eight and had three Ks.
On the offensive side, Organ Mountain had six hits, one double and two triples. Junior Sean Estenson was 2-for-3, with one RBI and one triple.
Game two featured a closer game. The Knights led 2-1 at the end of two. Carlsbad would score two in the fourth and one in the fifth, which equaled to the final score of 4-3.
Senior Alex Venegas was the lone pitcher for the Knights. Venegas gave up six hits, three earned runs and had six strikeouts. Organ Mountain’s defense had one error.
Senior Ryo Rivera was 2-for-4 with two RBIs.
Organ Mountain finishes the season at 16-12.
No. 5 Centennial
Heading into the final stage of the season, I felt the Hawks had the best chance for a long postseason run. Even choosing them to sweep the Bulldawgs in the opening state tournament series. I was wrong.
For the entire season the Hawks were well above the national average, in terms of hits (according to Maxpreps), but this series their sticks were non-existent.
They lost game one, 1-0. Only counting five hits, two of those hits coming from senior Israel Molina (2-for-3).
Pitching-wise, Centennial went through three pitchers. The Centennial pitching featured six strikeouts, gave up four walks and seven hits.
Game two only saw two runs from Cruces, who won 2-0. Those came in the fifth inning.
Sophomore Trevor Alons pitched for the entire game. He recorded nine strikeouts, and only two walks. A solid execution by a young athlete.
A good season by the Hawks, who end their season at 24-4.