Eldorado is hitting its stride at just the right time

The 2026 prep baseball season began with both the Sandia Matadors and Eldorado Eagles in transition.

So far, it’s Eldorado that has more smoothly navigated its changes.

“The pieces we needed to work on are starting to flourish at the right time,” Eldorado coach Ambrose Romero said after an 8-6, 13-7 District 2-5A doubleheader road sweep of Sandia on Saturday afternoon.

As the two rivals, who met in last May’s Class 5A state baseball final, shared a field for this key doubleheader on Saturday, there was a definite contrast on display. First Sandia, a roster that was forced to absorb several major personnel hits, and hasn’t yet been able to duplicate the type of magic that propelled the Matadors to a 2025 championship — a title that came at Eldorado’s expense.

“We took it personal, because they did take a championship ring away,” Eldorado senior catcher Sully Wilson said. “They took everything from us.”

On the other hand, there are the Eagles, whose promising newcomers have allowed them to adeptly fill their roster holes to mix with returning veterans, and Eldorado has quietly stitched together one of the best seasons of anyone in 5A.

Eldorado’s sweep allowed the sixth-ranked Eagles (17-4, 4-2) to leapfrog the Matadors (11-11, 3-3) into second place in the 2-5A standings behind La Cueva (18-3, 6-0). It also puts Eldorado in excellent position, with a strong finish during the final two Saturdays of the regular season — versus Manzano and Santa Fe — to probably secure a first-round home series in the 5A playoffs.

“It’s a whole different team, but we’re finally figuring out how to play together,” said Wilson, who had a monster day at the plate with seven hits in the two games. “We always preach that we’ll be ready in May.”

And that is fast approaching.

The Eagles had an early and ugly loss to Cibola. There was a metro semifinal loss to Rio Rancho. And, most recently, a pair of 2-5A losses to La Cueva.

Eldorado scored the first six runs of Game 1 before having to hold off hard-charging Sandia, which had the tying run at the plate in the seventh. The Eagles scored three in the first, three more in the fourth.

Wilson had three hits and an RBI in the opener. This game also featured the following statistical oddity: Eldorado’s Maddox Gonzales drove in three runs in his first three plate appearances without the benefit of a hit. He brought in runs on a fielder’s choice ground ball, drove in another with a sacrifice fly and was also hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

“We had to get these two wins over a special team like that, feels amazing,” said senior centerfielder Tim Kamphuis, who belted a two-run homer in Game 2 during a monster eight-run sixth inning for the Eagles. “I took it very personal what they did to us last year. (Today) meant a lot to us.”

Speaking of Game 2, Sandia was leading 6-3 into the fifth inning. The Matadors scored four in the fourth, with RBI hits from Kyle Wormington, Xavier Newsom-Gonzales and Andy Jaramillo.