Rams shortstop Ryan Casados dives back to first base after singling in the third inning. He led the Rams with two hits and scored their lone run Wednesday. (Mike Sandoval photo)

All things considered, they should have played that ballgame on March 8, despite snow on some of the field.

At least that day didn’t have a wind howling at 25 mph or more.

But the teams had rescheduled that game to be played Wednesday, in spite of that horrendous wind, and the Rams (17-2) saw their 15-game winning streak come to an end as the visiting Matadors (8-5) pulled off a 7-1 victory.

After Sandia, which lost a 7-4 game to the Rams at RRHS during the Metro tournament, scored a run off Rams starter Seth Lee (3-1) in the first, the Rams tied it on a triple by Ryan Casados, who knotted the game at 1 on a balk by Sandia starter Zach Kmatz.

The Rams went without a run after that, leaving two base runners in the second, third and sixth innings, and the bases loaded in the fifth.

Sandia batters used the strong wind, blowing to left field, to their advantage, as Aiden Griego’s fly ball that headed toward left fielder Elijah Castaneda got blown way over his head for a 3-run homer.

A three-run sixth inning closed out the scoring, with the Rams out-hit 11-8 in what was their fifth ballgame in seven days. Casados led the attack with two hits, with his three-bagger the team’s only extra-base hit.

Lee remained a trouper, despite the circumstances.

“Any other day, they would have been routine fly balls,” he said. “You know, I can’t change what the ump’s calling and I can’t change how the weather is, how bad the ball was carrying today, I just had to keep my composure and keep throwing.

“It was just a tough day; a tough day, for sure.”

Believe it or not, the junior right-hander said, “I actually really enjoyed pitching today. I still think I did what I could, and I don’t think I had many faults today. … I want the big games – and I’m willing to take the losses.”

Extra innings: This coming week, the Rams are home Tuesday at 6 p.m. to meet Cibola, and then play at Cleveland on Friday, also with a 6 p.m. start. It’ll be the first Rams-Storm district encounter; RRHS beat CHS 4-3 in the Metro championship game on March 26.

… The Storm had their game in Farmington rained out Tuesday, and that decision was made before the bus was to leave CHS. The Storm play their 1-5A opener Friday at 4 p.m. at Cibola.