Scorpions sting Storm at Shock Yards; Storm bounce back with W at Cibola

RIO RANCHO — There’s not a lot of the proverbial “wiggle room” these days in high school baseball.

It’s the last week of the regular season, and the City of Vision’s two teams, probably all but assured of home field advantage for the first round’s two-of-three series May 9-10, are battling to finish first in District 1-5A. (The top eight seeds in the 16-team bracket get home games for the first round.)

Cleveland played at Volcano Vista Tuesday afternoon, then visits Rio Rancho at 4 p.m. Friday, May 2, in what could be the contest to determine the 1-5A champion. The Storm have won their last four meetings with the Rams, including twice this season and in a state semifinal showdown last May.

Cleveland had its fate in its own hands only to fall a game behind the Rams after a crushing home loss last week. But, three days later, a big win by the Storm and a devastating loss at Cibola by the Rams left the city’s teams with two district losses each as they headed into the season’s final week.

“We got a tough row to hoe,” CHS coach Shane Shallenberger said.

Storm 11, Piedra Vista 1In an important game to avenge their 4-1 loss on the Panthers’ diamond on April 8, Jarren Villa hit a three-run homer in the third inning and went 4 2/3 innings on the mound, making for a happy Senior Day April 25 at the Shock Yards.

“It felt good,” Villa, one of seven CHS seniors, said. “I stuck to my approach, got the pitch I wanted. It felt pretty good.”

He felt pretty good on the mound, too. “My fastball (87 mph frequently) was working, my breaking ball was working pretty good,” he said.

When he departed, he had fanned nine Panthers and walked three, giving up four hits and an unearned run.

“We just needed to bounce back from the (loss to Farmington); can’t let it drag us down,” he said. “We came out with a lot of energy.”

“It’s more about the energy and the focus we show up with,” added Shallenberger.

The energy began early as the Storm (17-7, 6-2) scored four runs in the first inning and never looked back. Anthony Del Angel singled home a run, Gabe Nelson plated two with a triple and Francisco Hernandez added an RBI single.

The Storm added five runs in the third, with Gunner Carey and Nelson each having RBI singles to go with Villa’s three-run bomb.

PVHS scored its run in the fifth thanks to a passed ball on Villa’s ninth and final strikeout of the game. He left with runners at the corners; Nelson walked a Panther to load the bases, then struck out Elijas Barton to make the score 9-1.

Cleveland ended it via the mercy rule in the fifth.

Owen Bishop started the rally with a one-out single and scored on Del Angel’s triple to the wall in left-center. Nelson struck out and pinch-hitter Larry Vigil was hit by a pitch.

Hernandez had a 0-2 count, nearly struck out on a checked swing, then lined a single to left to send Del Angel home and end the game in exactly two hours.

Hernandez and Nelson led the hit parade, each going 3 for 4 and combining for five RBIs. Villa, Del Angel and Carey added two hits apiece.

Farmington 17, Storm 3One week after a key District 1-5A win over city foe Rio Rancho, which elevated the Storm into first place of the district, another loss to a Four Corners team — this time at the Shock Yards — dropped them into second place.

Anthony Del Angel homered twice in the loss, with his first long ball coming in the bottom of the first to cut the Scorpions’ lead to 4-2.

Farmington tuned what had been a two-run lead after four frames into a 11-4 lead after scoring five times in the fifth.

FHS added two runs in the sixth to make it 13-4, and Del Angel clubbed a three-run shot in the Storm’s half of the inning for 13-7, only to see the Scorpions put another crooked number — another 5 — on the scoreboard in the seventh.

Del Angel and Gabe Nelson led CHS with two hits apiece in the Storm’s seven-hit offensive.

Xavier Vasquez started the game on the mound for the Storm and gave up a home run to the Scorpions’ leadoff hitter, and the game went downhill from there.

He was tagged with the loss, scattering five hits and allowing four runs before departing in the third. Trevor Polanco took over in the second and went 3 2/3 innings, giving up seven runs, although only two were earned, and also uncorked four wild pitches.

Anthony Tafoya came to the mound in the sixth, giving up seven runs, five earned; Noah Segura got the final two outs in the seventh.

“I’m not discrediting Farmington,” Shallenberger said later. “They hit the ball well, they did some good things — we also made a lot of mistakes (four errors among them) — and they capitalized on them.”

Extra innings“Sooner than later,” Del Angel, often the second baseman who can play multiple positions when 100% healthy, will have his sights set on Norman, Oklahoma, in the fall of 2026. He committed to playing at Oklahoma University as a freshman, saying he’ll play any position the Sooners need him. “It was the campus, the environment, just the overall vibe there. Everyone there was very inviting.”

… Look for the first round of the state tournament for the Storm to start with a best two-out-of-three series at the Shock Yards and RRHS on Friday, May 9. Games 2 and 3 (if needed), will be played Saturday, May 10.