La Cueva’s Ashlyn Zapach, left, slides into home before Atrisco Heritage catcher Isabella Garza can grab the throw at La Cueva. (Mike Sandoval for the Journal)
Like its baseball counterpart, the top four seeds are into the semifinals of the Albuquerque Metro Softball Championships, and three of them hail from District 1-5A.
Volcano Vista, Cleveland, La Cueva and Rio Rancho won quarterfinal games on Thursday. At 4 pm Friday in the semis, no. 4 Rio Rancho will travel to No. 1 Volcano Vista, and No. 3 La Cueva is at No. 2 Cleveland. The championship game is 10 am Saturday.
NO. 3 LA CUEVA 9, NO. 6 ATRISCO HERITAGE 8: At La Cueva, senior first baseman Ashlyn Zapach clubbed a game-winning grand slam to left field for the Bears (3-2) — it just happened to come in the fourth inning.
Her slam, on an 0-2 pitch, put La Cueva up 9-2 on the visiting Jaguars (7-3).
“It was definitely a little high and inside, but I took it the right way,” Zapach said.
That would be the final bit of offense for the Bears, and as it turns out, they needed every bit of that insurance as La Cueva watched Atrisco Heritage score six runs in the final three innings. The Jags even had the potential winning run on first base in the top of the seventh before a pop fly ended the game.
“We realize that with this young of a team, every run matters,” Bears coach Ron Romero said.
The victory carried multiple layers of meaning for La Cueva. Atrisco Heritage had just whipped the Bears 9-1 last Saturday, for starters. And the Bears had a 9-3 lead earlier last week against Volcano Vista, but eventually blew the lead and lost the game, 15-14.
So for a young team, closing out Thursday against the Jags was important, psychologically.
“It was kind of nerve-racking,” Zapach said of the final couple of innings. “No one is really comfortable with any amount of lead right now.”
La Cueva scored two runs on a bloop single in the first inning, but Atrisco Heritage tied it 2-2 in the top of the third.
La Cueva countered with two runs in the bottom of the third for a 4-2 lead. On three consecutive pitches, Zapach doubled to right-center, Lilly Montoya had an RBI single to center, and Genesis Jaramillo drove in a run with a single to right.
— James Yodice
NO. 2 CLEVELAND 9, NO. 10 MANZANO 1: At Cleveland, sophomore Avi Fierro scattered three singles, struck out seven and walked only one Monarch as the defending state champion Storm (9-2) advanced.
After scoring an unearned run in the third, the Storm sent eight batters to the plate in the fourth and took full advantage of three errors by the Monarchs (3-4) to plate four runs. Alivia Hughes and Mercedes Lovato had RBI singles in that outburst.
Eight Cleveland batters came to the plate in the sixth, scoring four runs again — three unearned — to put the game well out of reach.
Lovato, Tavia Fragua and Aubrey Jaramillo each had two of the Storm’s 10 hits. Cleveland played errorless ball on a windy afternoon, but Manzano committed six miscues, leading to six unearned runs.
— Gary Herron
NO. 1 VOLCANO VISTA 10, NO. 9 VALLEY 0 (6): In a battle of unbeatens, junior right-hander Dayna Herrera (5-0) threw a six-inning perfect game for the Hawks, striking out nine as Volcano Vista (9-0) got home runs from Ana Armijo, Sixx Arnold and Mackenzie Vela in a win over the Vikings (6-1).
NO. 4 RIO RANCHO 11, NO. 5 CIBOLA 6: At Eagle Ridge Middle School, the Rams (4-5) scored the game’s first eight runs in a victory over District 1-5A rival Cibola (4-4). Kionna King and Labraida Tenorio homered for Rio Rancho; King drove in three runs, Kayla Reed and Ariana Valenzuela two apiece.
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