Buffs moving on to 1A semifinals

MELROSE – Things certainly pointed to a Melrose victory in Wednesday's Class 1A state quarterfinal matchup against Cimarron.

After all, in addition to homefield advantage, the third-seeded Buffaloes had tamed the Rams in each of their three District 2-1A meetings this season. Still, after struggling mightily in recent years, Cimarron has come a long way in 2023.

The Buffs got it done, but had to hang on late as junior Michael Cardonita struck out two batters with the bases loaded in the seventh to preserve a 7-6 victory.

Melrose (10-5) advances to a 10 a.m. semifinal game on Friday against second-seeded Magdalena (13-3) at Spark Kindness Sports Complex in Albuquerque.

"It was a good, tight ballgame," Melrose coach Jared Wilhoit said. "Kudos to Cimarron; they played well today."

Junior Dathan Yeary pitched five effective innings for the Buffs, and also delivered four RBIs with two-run homer to left in the first and a two-run, go-ahead infield single in the sixth – on a play where Cardonita scored from second base, making it 7-5.

That turned out to be a big run in the seventh. Cardonita, who escaped sixth-inning trouble by striking out the only hitter he faced with two runners on, promptly found himself with the bases loaded on two hits and an error in the seventh, then after a strikeout walked home a run.

But he fanned eighth-grader Orion LeDoux and then got junior first baseman Dylan Atzberger, who had already homered twice for five RBIs out of the No. 9 hole, on strikes to end it.

"We knew coming in that we had to be ready," Yeary said. "We had beaten them three times, but they worked their tails off and we knew they were hungry."

Deary walked two, struck out nine and allowed six hits in five innings before moving behind the plate.

"Dathan's got a very good head on his shoulders," Wilhoit said. "He's not easily rattled."

But Atzberger, who tied the game with a third-inning homer, went deep again against Buffs sophomore Josiah Roybal in the sixth to give the Rams (6-10) a 5-4 lead.

That created some anxiety for Melrose, but Cardonita was able to come through at the end.

"It was a little stressful, but I knew that's where Mike thrives," Yeary said.

Each team finished with 11 hits – all singles except for the three home runs.

"Good ballteams are built on adversity," Wilhoit said. "This is just another building block for us."

Melrose and Magdalena met in a mid-season doubleheader hosted by the Steers, who won the opener 12-7 before the Buffs came back to take a 16-6 decision in Game 2.

"They have a very disciplined team," Yeary said. "We've just got to be ready."

Capitan 13, Texico 5 – In a Class 2A first-round game at Capitan, the eighth-seeded Tigers scored 11 runs combined in the second and third innings to down the ninth-seeded Wolverines.

Capitan (12-7) will take on top-seeded Santa Rosa (21-3) in a 7 p.m. quarterfinal game on Thursday at Spark Kindness Sports Complex.

Texico (10-11) took a 2-1 lead in the top of the second on a two-run double by freshman Bryce Cooper, but Capitan responded with six runs in the bottom half – five coming on a two-run single and a three-run triple by senior Solomon Chavez.

In the third, the Tigers added five more for a 12-2 cushion.

In addition to his five RBIs, Solomon Chavez finished 2-for-3 and scored three times for the Tigers. Freshman Hunter Bowman went 2-for-3 for Texico .