Centennial shut out again, eliminated as 5A baseball heads to quarterfinals

Aside from Las Cruces’ pitching dominance, there wasn’t much about the opening weekend of the Class 5A baseball playoffs that moved the needle.

The 12th-seeded Bulldawgs shut out No. 5 Centennial for the second consecutive day, and a 2-0 victory Saturday propelled Las Cruces into next week’s quarterfinals in Albuquerque.

The other seven top seeds join the Bulldawgs in the quarters.

The Thursday quarterfinals look like this: No. 1 Rio Rancho versus No. 8 Mayfield at 4 p.m., and No. 2 Cleveland against No. 7 Eldorado at 7 p.m., both at Santa Ana Star Field.

The other two quarters Thursday are at the Riordan Complex on the West Side, with No. 3 La Cueva facing No. 6 Carlsbad at 4 p.m., followed by the Bulldawgs and No. 6 Piedra Vista at 7 p.m.

Armando Gonzalez twirled a three-hitter for Las Cruces in its win over the Hawks. The Bulldawgs scored both their runs in the fifth.

The top-seeded Rams (23-5) spotted Atrisco Heritage the first two runs but won comfortably, 12-2 in five innings. Wyatt Tinker homered and drove in three runs for Rio Rancho.

Down the road at Cleveland, the Storm (25-3) ousted Sandia with an 8-1 victory. Cleveland put up four runs in the top of the first, which was more than enough run support for Treven Polanco who tossed five solid innings. Peyton Noel doubled twice and drove in a pair of runs for the Storm.

No. 3 La Cueva outscored Hobbs 30-2 in two games; the Bears (25-3) romped 13-1 in Game 2 of this series on Saturday morning.

Dylan Blomker drove in four runs for La Cueva, including a bases-clearing, three-RBI double in the first inning, and Everett Burdett struck out 11 in five innings of work. Mikey McMullan had three RBIs for the Bears.

Piedra Vista (24-4) had 20 hits in an 18-8 rout of Clovis. Kyle Murphy went 4-for-4 with five runs to lead the Panther offense, which put the Wildcats away with seven runs in the first.

No. 6 Carlsbad (18-10) is into Week 2 after a tight, come-from-behind 4-3 win over Organ Mountain. In the fourth inning, EZ Lopez and Ricardo Herrera each drove in a run in the fourth to put the Cavemen ahead for good.

Eldorado (24-4) pounded Rio Grande 16-2 to get to Week 2. Sully Wilson belted a pair of home runs for the Eagles, who finished with 20 hits and jumped on Rio Grande early with a six-run first inning.

Eldorado belted four home runs. Sebastian Mestes went deep and had four RBIs, and Maddox Gonzales hit a homer and drove in three.

In Las Cruces, Mayfield (20-7-1) shut out Los Lunas 10-0 as Brad Springer surrendered just one hit and struck out seven in a complete game. Aden Garcia doubled and had four RBIs for the Trojans.

From Class 4A, ninth-seeded St. Pius (15-12) authored another fantastic finish and ousted No. 8 Grants on Saturday, winning Game 2 of their series 7-3. Diego Trujillo’s two-RBI triple was the key blow in the seventh for the Sartans who next play No. 1 Artesia.