No. 2 Rams, No. 3 Storm home Friday for first round of state

RIO RANCHO — The field is set for the Class 5A Nusenda Credit Union State Baseball Championships, and No. 2 Rio Rancho and No. 3 Cleveland open the first-round best-of-three series at home at 4 p.m. Friday. (Game 2 at both stadiums is set for 10 a.m. Saturday, with the third game -- if necessary -- to follow.)

On Friday, the District 1-5A champion Storm (20-6) meet the team they beat in the first round last season, Piedra Vista (13-13), which advanced when the Storm forfeited their quarterfinal berth due to a pitch count violation. The Panthers, the 14 seed this season, were then eliminated by Rio Rancho in the quarterfinals.

Also on Friday, the District 1-5A runner-up Rams (22-4) face the No. 15 Clovis Wildcats (13-12).

Here’s what happened last week, when the Rams slipped out of first place in the district and were passed by the Storm:

Cleveland 12, Rio Rancho 2: Storm infielder Jacob Brevig had a day on the diamond he’ll never forget.

He swatted a three-run homer and drove in five runs in one of the biggest games for his third-ranked Storm, a 12-2 whipping of Rio Rancho on the Rams’ diamond.

Brevig said he’d never hit a homer before, and his three-run bomb on April 30 followed a three-run homer by teammate Silas Hilton, each coming on the first pitch in the at-bats from Rams senior Dylan Archuleta.

It wasn’t a good day for Archuleta, who walked three batters in the first inning and was gone after facing 10 batters in the Storm’s six-run third, of which only two runs were earned. Those six runs came off just three hits, as “Archie” walked two more and hit a batter.

Relievers Keegan Burke and Noah Serna each allowed three runs in the six-inning affair, ended early because of the 10-run mercy rule.

New Mexico State-bound Jaden Davis allowed just four hits to the Rams, who had beaten the Storm twice before. Davis fanned five and left with a runner at first and one out in the sixth; Joseph Stevenson came on and induced Ryan Lewis to hit into a game-ending double play – started by shortstop Brevig.

“I’ve never hit a home run before,” Brevig, the ninth batter in the CHS lineup, said. “Not even in Little League. That’s something we needed to get done; that was a really big game for us. … We need to take care of business on Senior Night.”

Davis was nearing his pitch count, hence his removal.

“Coach told me I only had nine more pitches left,” he said of coach Shane Shallenberger’s sixth inning visit to the mound. “My slider was working today, and my fastball was working; back and forth. My coaches say, ‘First-pitch strikes are key;' first-pitch strikes lead to outs, to be sure.”

“I just feel like we’re starting to peak at the right time,” Shallenberger said. “This group has overcome some adversity and is starting to understand they do have some resiliency. I’m proud of that fact.

“We’re not playing as individuals, we’re playing as a team,” he said. “This group is really close, and they are starting to believe in each other. Even when they make mistakes, they’re able to come back.”

The win at Rio Rancho snapped the Rams’ four-game winning streak over the Storm.

Rams coach David Gomez was disappointed but acknowledged “a really great game by Jaden Davis; he pitched his butt off, so New Mexico State’s got a good one for sure. … They came ready to play — it was as simple as that.”

Every Storm hitter in the lineup except Davis had at least one hit in the 12-hit attack; Jarren Villa led the way with three hits, Josiah Armijo and Brevig added two apiece.

Nothing was solved by the game’s outcome, though. The Rams and Storm went into their May 3 regular-season finales tied for first place in District 1-5A.

Cleveland 13, Atrisco Heritage Academy 0: Villa scattered four hits and struck out eight as the Storm celebrated Senior Day with a win big enough to give them the district crown because of the tiebreaker.

Hilton had a stellar day, going 4 for 4 with another homer; Davis and Josiah Armijo each went 2 for 2, and Anthony Del Angel also hit a home run.

It was the fourth game in a row in which CHS scored at least 10 runs, and it gave the Storm their sixth 20-win season in school history.

Rio Rancho 9, Volcano Vista 7: Also on Friday, and hearing reports on how the Storm-Jaguars’ game was progressing, the Rams rallied from an early deficit to top the Hawks.

The Hawks jumped on lefty Ellison with one out in the first inning, with a double and a home run for a 2-0 lead.

The Rams made it 2-1 on a two-out solo homer by Wyatt Tinker in the third, only to see Volcano Vista added another two-run homer off Ellison to make it 4-1.

The Rams benefitted from three walks in the fourth, when a two-run double by Bryson Martinez tied the game at 4.

Archuleta socked a three-run homer for a 9-6 lead, and Casen Savage moved from center field to the mound to shut down the Hawks over the final two frames for a save.

The Rams, who had been alone in first place in the district standings until that 12-2 loss to the Storm, needed to win by six to claim the district title by tiebreaker, decided by runs scored vs. their other three 1-5A opponents. The Rams went into their May 3 game at Volcano Vista at plus-47; the Storm were plus-42 as they headed into the May 3 game with visiting Atrisco Heritage Academy. The maximum plus-runs from a game are set at 10, whether a team wins by 10 of 110, so the final “plus” was 49 for the Rams, 52 for the Storm.

EXTRA INNINGS: The other first-round series are No. 16 Mayfield (12-14) at No. 1 La Cueva (22-3); No. 13 Hobbs (14-12) at No. 4 Organ Mountain (21-5); No. 12 Las Cruces (16-10) at No. 5 Sandia (19-7); No. 11 Los Lunas (17-9) at No. 6 Volcano Vista (19-7); No. 10 Centennial (19-7) at No. 7 Carlsbad (19-7); No. 9 Eldorado (18-8) at No. 8 Rio Grande (21-5).

… If they advance, the Storm’s quarterfinal game on May 16 will be at 7 p.m. vs. the winner of the Volcano Vista-Los Lunas series; the Rams’ quarterfinal meeting on the 16th will be at 10 a.m. vs. the winner of the Carlsbad-Centennial series. The quarterfinals are at the Jennifer Riordan Spark Kindness Sports Complex.

… The Storm and Rams could meet in a 6:30 p.m. semifinal contest May 17 at Santa Ana Star Field. The 5A championship game is at 7 p.m. Saturday, May 18, at Santa Ana Star Field.

… Rio Rancho has been the 1 or 2 seeds in three of the past four seasons. The Storm haven’t been seeded as high as a 3 since 2019.