Rams advance to state finals


By Eric Maddy
The SCORE

For Rio Rancho to advance to the championship game of the Class 5A state baseball tournament for the second time in three years, Josh Walker had to do in the Sandia Matadors for the second time in three weeks.

Walker hit a grand slam and threw three innings of relief Friday to lead the Rams to a 7-5  victory over the Matadors.

The Matadors, who rallied late to eliminate Las Cruces High 17-12 on Thursday, had played a tight defensive game at Rio Rancho on April 15. The Rams won that game 4-3 as Walker allowed the go-ahead run to score in the top of the seventh only to drive in the game-winning score in the bottom of the inning.

That action was different for both teams in the rematch, but the final result was the same in the state semifinals at Isotopes Park in Albuquerque.

The Rams, 25-4, chased Sandia starter Mark Hendrick with seven runs in the top of second inning. Winning pitcher Robert Rodela (5-2) led off with a walk, and courtesy runner Mike Apodaca moved to second on a single by Bryer Muller. Ben Matheson singled to center to bring in Apodaca, who initially broke back to the bag but still scored easily.

After Ethan McCranie struck out, designed hitter Joe Sena walked to fill the bases. Kris Martinez took advantage, singling to center to bring in Muller and moving everyone up a base. Leadoff batter Devon Conley made it 3-0 when his grounder to short was thrown away by Sandia’s Aaron Sandoval in an attempt to force out Martinez.

That left the bases still loaded, but it didn’t take the red-hot Walker long to clear them. He hit a 2-0 pitch over the wall in left-center field just to the left of the 383-foot sign for a grand slam, sending Muller to the showers and the Rams to the championship game at 7 p.m. Saturday against either La Cueva or Las Cruces Onate for all intents and purposes.

The Bears and Knights were to play later Friday.

Rodella, meanwhile, retired the first six batters he faced before allowing a leadoff single in the third to right fielder Kevin Collier that ignited a three-run rally. G.J. Jones followed up with a double to center field that got by a diving Walker. Ninth-place hitter Justyn Jones then drove home the first Sandia run with a sacrifice fly to right-center.

Leadoff batter Sean Gahan followed with a single to center, scoring Lopez. After Rodela retired designated hitter Nicasio Gonzalez on a line out to center field, Sandoval hit the ball over Walker’s head to the base of the wall some 412 feet from home plate. His triple brought in Gahan to narrow the margin to 7-4.

The Matadors added another run in the fourth. Jake Flores singed, moved to third on Jacob Groth’s double and scored on Collier’s sacrifice fly off Alex Wehner, who started Rio Rancho’s 13-4 victory over Eldorado the day before in the quarterfinals. Wehner retired the next two batters to get out of the jam.

Walker wasn’t overwhelming in his performance, but effective enough in holding off the Matadors. He hit the Gahan, the first batter he faced, to lead off the fifth inning before retiring the next three batters. Sandia also added a run in the sixth when Walker walked back-to-back hitters to lead off the sixth before giving up a one-out RBI single to Justyn Jones.

Walker allowed a two-out single to Robert Gunther and a walk to Jake Flores. Groth got a solid shot to right center, but Devon Conley, who moved to center field when Walker came in to pitch, made a diving catch in right-center to end the game.

No matter the final opponent, Rio Rancho will have a chance to gain a measure of revenge. Onate eliminated the defending champion Rams from the tournament in the semifinals last year, and La Cueva beat Rio Rancho 7-1 on March 31.

STORY WILL BE UPDATED WITH QUOTES.