Rams baseball team advances to semifinals

ALBUQUERQUE — The Rio Rancho High School baseball team beat Centennial 5-3 Thursday morning to advance into a 4 p.m. Friday semifinal at the Jennifer Riordan Spark Kindness sports complex.

The Rams (23-6) got an RBI-single from junior second baseman Alex Gallegos to take a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the sixth, and junior shortstop Wyatt Tinker added an RBI double to make it 5-3.

Sophomore Logan Sunstrom pitched two scoreless innings in relief to earn the win.

The Rams took the lead in the third. Tinker was hit by a pitch, and Dean Ellison hit an opposite-field double to left, sending Tinker to third.

Noah Serna then sent a bullet through the box into center field, scoring Tinker and Ellison. Matt Cook struck out for the second out, and with Jackson Roybal batting, Serna was nabbed trying to steal third.

The second-seeded Rams added to their lead in the fourth. Roybal drew a walk, and Brayden Bustillos ran for him. Sunstrom sacrificed him to second, and Gallegos sent him home with a single to right.

The Hawks (22-7) tied the game in the fifth, when third baseman Cook dropped a popup, setting the stage for a game-tying, three-run homer by Cole Alons.

Brandon Segal pitched the first five innings for the Rams.

The Rams will next face No. 6 Sandia, which defeated No. 14 Cibola 10-7 in the 1 p.m. quarterfinal game.

In Thursday’s other quarterfinal games, Cleveland meets Eldorado at 4 p.m., and defending state champ La Cueva faces Los Lunas at 7 p.m.