The sixth-seeded Cleveland High School softball team faces No. 3 Alamogordo Thursday morning at 11 at the Shockyards in the Class 5A quarterfinals.
The defending champion Storm (20-6) advanced to what becomes a double-elimination tournament after their 10-0 rout of Farmington May 6 in the Round of 1`6. The Tigers (22-5) eked out a 2-1 win over visiting Manzano on Friday.
The Tigers defeated the Storm in early March, 4-1, at the Las Cruces Tournament.
The other match-ups Thursday, with all but the championship game (at Lobo Field) being played at Cleveland High: No. 1 Carlsbad (26-1) vs. No. 8 Mayfield (18-9); No. 4 La Cueva (19-6) vs. No. 12 Roswell (17-10); and No. 7 Hobbs (18-9) vs. No. 2 Centennial (21-6).
Mercedes Lovato paced the Storm offense with three hits against the Scorpions, and teammate Mya Pacheco had three RBIs.
No. 5 Rio Rancho (18-9) was upset on May 6 by No. 12 Roswell, 8-5. Madison Begaye, Kionna King and Mia Martinez socked first-inning home runs for the Rams, who held a 5-2 edge after three innings, but didn’t score after a third-inning RBI-double by Destiny Gonzales.
Thursday morning’s Storm-Tigers winner meets the Hobbs-Centennial winner at 3 p.m. Thursday. The loser of the Storm-Tigers match-up faces the loser of the Hobbs-Centennial game at 3 p.m. Thursday, with that game’s loser heading home.
Tickets are only available online (nmact.org) and cost $10 for adults, and $5 for students, senior citizens and military members.
Me and my shadow: Storm first baseman Lillian Paboucek awaits a throw in her team’s 10-0 rout of Farmington on May 6. (JB Gallegos photo)
