It was pretty cold Friday morning before the Cleveland High baseball team began its second game of the young season.
In other words – actually, in these very words – coach Shane Shallenberger, his staff and players didn’t have to remove an inch of snow as they’d done Thursday before the opener.
The results were the same: Cleveland began the season with a 2-0 record.
The Storm rallied to beat Los Lunas 8-6 Thursday, then kept 2021’s state runner-up, Hobbs, in check Friday for a 5-1 victory.
Cleveland opened the scoring with two runs in the first on RBI-singles by Malachi Jaramillo and Logan Kinter.
After the Eagles (1-1) scored their lone run in the third, Jaramillo tripled home starting pitcher Jace Dominic and Kinter sent Jaramillo home with a sacrifice fly for a 4-1 Storm lead.
Roman Branaugh walked, stole second and scored the game’s final run on a sac fly off the bat of Chase Tyler in the sixth.
Dominic (1-0), a southpaw, pitched four innings and gave up five hits, striking out three and walking four. Kinter (1-0; he got Thursday’s win) retired nine of the 10 batters he faced, fanning five, to earn a save.
The Storm close out their fourth annual round-robin Saturday afternoon at 2:30 vs. Roswell. (There are also games at 9:30 a.m., Hobbs vs. Belen; and noon, Piedra Vista vs. Los Lunas, on Saturday.)
The Storm are busy the next four weeks, with a round-robin event in Hobbs March 3-5; the New Mexico Invitational in Las Cruces March 10-12; the Sal Puentes Tournament hosted by Rio Rancho High School March 24-26; and the annual APS Metro Tournament March 24-26.
Batter Logan Kinter, coach Shane Shallenberger and Malachi Jaramillo, the runner at third base, watch Kinter’s sacrifice fly in the third inning Friday. (Herron photo)
