Rio Rancho baseball brings Halloween to the field in sixth annual holiday game

RIO RANCHO — A hot dog at third base, a cheerleader playing first with a rapper stepping into the batter’s box?

That was the scene at Rio Rancho High School Baseball Field on Wednesday, as Rio Rancho baseball put on the sixth annual “Garrett Gouldsmith Halloween Costume Baseball Game.”

It was an evening full of haunting base hits and screaming strikeouts, as each player in the program came decked out in their Halloween best. The Rams turned into the Goblins versus the Ghouls, with a cast of characters in each lineup.

Behind an excellent pitching performance by the Mad Hatter, both teams battled for Halloween honor. Mr. Incredible came to play, impersonating his son Dash by sprinting all the way home from first base to score, while a grandma stepped up to the plate to prove that she could swing more than just a cane.

A dinosaur brought his prehistoric game back to life with an RBI knock, but it wasn’t quite deep enough to bring home Ham Porter, who may have had too many S’mores pregame.

Defensively, a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader was making all the plays like it was Sunday Night Football over at first base. In the middle infield, stepbrothers Brennan and Dale made quite a team at second base and shortstop. Did they just become best friends?

Each character’s appearance was met with some quips from the PA announcer, such as “That swing was downright scary,” “Down swinging goes the cow; that was utterly ridiculous,” and “Aaron Judge can’t come through in October once again.”

Each play got a rise out of the great crowd on hand, embracing the festive spirit on and off the diamond.

Aside from the game, the baseball boosters put on a “Trunk or Treat” in the parking lot and even turned the batting cages into a haunted house for the kids in attendance.

RRHS Field turned into a madhouse, with the price to get in being simply a canned food item or non-perishable donation, with the program donating the contributions to charities in the area.

Doing good, having fun and hitting some home runs in the process. The essence of the holiday spirit.

“We had an awesome night of baseball, trunk or treating, and Halloween scares,” the Rio Rancho baseball boosters stated on Facebook following the event. “Thank you all for your support.”

Rio Rancho baseball will continue its fall ball scrimmages before opening up its season in February 2026.