Storm baseball advances in 3 games in first round

RIO RANCHO — This is something a baseball team hates to see in a best-of-three playoff series: losing the opener at home.

It had happened before for the Cleveland Storm, the No. 4 seed in this year’s Class 5A postseason. The Storm lost their May 7, 2022, first game to visiting Centennial, 9-0, then swept Saturday’s games, 11-10 in eight innings and 11-1. Cleveland then lost in the quarterfinals to La Cueva, 8-6.

So, CHS coach Shane Shallenberger had agonized like this before. This time, the Storm (20-9) rallied to sweep Saturday’s two games to advance into a 5A quarterfinal game at 4 p.m. Thursday, May 15, vs. No. 5 Eldorado (21-7). The Class 5A Nusenda Credit Union quarterfinal and semifinal rounds are being played at the Jennifer Riordan Spark Kindness complex on Albuquerque’s West Side.

Saturday’s championship game is slated for 6 p.m. Saturday, May 17, at Santa Ana Star Field, aka Lobo Field.

Storm 7, Mayfield 3One of seven seniors on this year’s CHS squad, infielder/pitcher Gabe Nelson wasn’t about to let his prep playing days end in the Shock Yards.

He had at least one RBI in each of the three first-round games and had two RBI singles in three at-bats in the game that ended No. 13 Mayfield’s season Saturday afternoon. And Nelson moved from the hot corner to the mound for the seventh inning to relieve starting pitcher Peyton Noel with a 7-1 lead.

“We hadn’t extended him … and thought it was time for a change,” Shallenberger said of the decision to end Noel’s day. Before Nelson got the final out, Treven Polanco headed to the bullpen — with two on and one out.

“If we had to (go to Polanco), we had to,” he added.

Thanks to a couple of bad hops and an error, when Nelson fanned Michael Montoya for the final out, the bags were loaded and Montoya was the potential tying run. The Trojans also left the bases filled in the sixth inning.

“I was just pitching to contact,” Nelson explained. “I really wasn’t too worried; we had a big lead. … I just did my job and got it done. I was hoping my defense would make plays.”

After spotting the Trojans (16-12-1) the game’s first run in the first inning, Cleveland got a two-out double by Anthony Del Angel in the bottom of the frame. He sped to second on a wild pitch and scored on Nelson’s first single of the game.

The Storm took advantage of a passed ball and a wild pitch to make it 3-1 after two innings, with Francisco Hernandez supplying an RBI single, and soon scoring on the passed ball.

An Owen Bishop single in the third led to another run on a groundout from Caleb Sandoval.

A three-run fourth inning ended Cleveland’s scoring. Gunner Carey had a solo homer, another scored on a ball hit by Bishop to third that was misplayed, and the team’s seventh run of the game scored on Nelson’s second single.

“The good thing is, our kids fought hard the whole time,” said Shallenberger. “I think we were in the game every inning today, physically and mentally. I’m most proud of that — it’s hard to win a double-header.”

Storm 3, Mayfield 1In Cleveland’s must-win game, which began at 10 a.m. Saturday, The Storm scored all the runs they’d need to force a third game after scoring twice in the second inning. Hernandez singled and later scored on a wild pitch; Carey singled, stole second, went to third on a passed ball and plated when Josiah Armijo reached on an infield error.

The Storm made it 3-0 when Del Angel’s high fly to left was dropped for an error and he scored on a single by Nelson.

Mayfield spoiled southpaw Xavier Vasquez’s shutout bid in the fourth on a two-out walk and an RBI double.

Vasquez wound up with a two-hitter, striking out five and walking five.

The Storm didn’t exactly tear the cover off the ball; Nelson, Hernandez, Ben Herman, Carey and Armijo had one hit each off Nolan Matejcek.

“So proud of him — he pitched a complete game,” Shallenberger lauded of Vasquez, who stepped up when his team couldn’t afford another loss.

Mayfield 9, Storm 7In a game that wasn’t completed until more than four hours after it began — rain and lightning sent players indoors Friday — a big four-run second inning helped the hosts take a 5-1 lead, and Nelson’s two-run homer in the fourth made it a 7-4 game. But the Trojans rallied for three runs in the fifth and solo runs in the sixth and seventh for a 9-7 lead.

Jarren Villa started on the mound for Cleveland, removed in the disastrous fifth inning after giving up 10 hits and being charged with the first seven Trojan runs (four earned).

The hero of the game for Mayfield was reliever Brady Ochoa, who came on to pitch the final three innings and retired the Storm three-up, three-down in each frame.

Nelson led the Storm with two hits and three RBIs.

Extra inningsTo the surprise of nobody, Del Angel was named the District 1-5A Player of the Year and led the All-District first team, which included his CHS teammates Villa and Nelson. Xavier Vasquez, Caleb Sandoval and Francisco Hernandez were named to the second team, while Bishop and Polanco earned honorable mention status.

… This is the seventh season the Storm have won 20 or more games, including 2023, ’24 and now ’25.

… The Storm and Eldorado met in the Metro tournament March 22, won by the Eagles 7-4 in nine innings. Shallenberger said he wasn’t sure who his starting pitcher would be for that one. Eldorado eliminated No. 12 Organ Mountain after 1-0 and 5-1 victories over the weekend. The Eldorado-Cleveland winner heads to a semifinal game at 7 p.m. Friday, meeting the winner of the La Cueva-Los Lunas quarterfinal contest.