Storm beat Rams 12-2 in baseball

RIO RANCHO — Cleveland High School senior 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 No. 2 Rio Rancho on the Rams’ diamond.

Brevig said he’d never hit a homer before, and his three-run bomb 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.”

The Storm’s eight seniors were applauded before the Rams’ 11 seniors Tuesday before their Senior Day.

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.”

“That’s the guy right there,” Brevig said. “He’s the guy people need to be scared of.”

“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.”

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.

“A couple good swings by Cleveland put us out of it pretty quickly, and more power to them for having good swings right there,” he said. “(Archuleta) ran his pitch count up pretty high in the first, which made it really tough to get out of the third. And then, when you face the nine hole, and you challenge that guy.

“They came ready to play — it was as simple as that,” is how Gomez summed it up.

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 go into Friday’s regular-season finales tied for first place in District 1-5A, and if they both win/lose, the tiebreaker comes down to run differential against the other teams in the district. The Rams had a plus-five lead over Cleveland after Tuesday’s contest.

The Rams (21-4, 6-1) are at Volcano Vista, while the Storm (19-6, 6-1) play host to Atrisco Heritage Academy. Both games start at 4 p.m.

EXTRA INNINGS: The win at Rio Rancho snapped the Rams’ four-game winning streak over their city foe. It was the third game in a row in which CHS scored at least 10 runs.

… The Class 5A baseball bracket will be released Sunday by the NMAA (nmact.org). The Rams and Storm will likely have home games Friday and Saturday in the best-of-three first round.