Rams advance to tourney finals

EUNICE – Sophomore Carson Pfaffenberger hit a three-run homer in the second inning and Portales High's baseball team went on to a 16-7 victory over the Hobbs junior varsity in Friday's championship semifinals of Eunice's Cardinal Classic.

The Rams (2-1) were slated to face the host Cardinals (3-2) in Saturday night's championship tilt. Friday's game was stopped after 5 ½ innings due to the tournament time limit.

Pfaffenberger, senior Kaiden Gutierrez and junior Elijah Tellez all had two hits for the Rams. Senior left-hander Edel Legarda pitched the first three innings to earn the win, leaving with a 9-1 lead, while seniors Andru Ontiveros and Dylan Saunders finished up.

In the consolation semifinals, Texico advanced to Saturday's fifth-place game against Santa Rosa with a 15-9 win over Jal.

Senior Kyle Gonser logged 2-for-3 with three RBIs for the Wolverines (1-1), while sophomore Hunter Bowman went 2-for-2, scoring twice and knocking in two, and sophomore Bryce Cooper reached base all four times with two walks and two hit-by-pitches.

The big blow was a three-run double in Texico's five-run fifth by freshman Gavin Reese, helping put the game out of reach. Trailing 5-4, Texico scored 11 runs over the final two innings in a game shortened to five by the tournament time limit.

Senior Daltyn Cain was the winning pitcher, striking out three over four innings. Junior Javier Santillan posted a 3-for-4 outing for the Panthers (0-3).

In Thursday's quarterfinal games:

Portales 17, Jal 0 – The Rams had no trouble with the Panthers, scoring four times in the top of the first and adding a 12-run third that included a three-run homer by Ontiveros.

Senior Zane Mayberry tossed a four-inning no-hitter – the game was stopped after four by the tournament time limit – with two walks and six strikeouts.

Ontiveros finished 2-for-3 with four RBIs while Pfaffenberger went 2-for-3 with an RBI double in the opening canto and a two-run double in the third.

Hobbs JV 16, Texico 0 – The Eagles proved to be a bit too much for the Wolverines, who were playing their season opener. The contest was called after five by the 10-run rule.

Texico had a pair of singles in the contest, one by freshman Mickey New and one by Cain.

In another Friday tilt:

Capitan 26, Dora 7 – At Dora, the Coyotes pulled into a 6-6 tie with three runs in the bottom of the fifth, but the Tigers erupted for back-to-back 10-run segments to win going away.

Capitan (1-1) pounded out 18 hits and took advantage of eight Dora errors.

Freshman Carson Kircher went 2-for-2 with a triple, three RBIs, a run scored and two walks for Dora. Freshman Rylan Harris was 1-for-3 with a double, a walk and two runs scored.

Portales JV 23, Elida 9 (Wednesday) – At Elida, the Tigers trailed 9-6 in their season opener before the Rams pulled away with eight runs in the sixth and six in the seventh.

Freshman Cody Cathey went 2-for-3 and scored a run for Elida, while senior Seth Jimenez was 2-for-3, scored twice and knocked in three runs and junior Hardy Fraze added 2-for- 4 with two RBIs and four runs scored.

Dora softball team wins opener – The Lady Coyotes erased a 3-0, first-inning deficit and went on to hand host Santa Rosa a 10-4 loss in the quarterfinals of the Lady Lion Classic on Thursday.

Because Dora seniors Faith Jasso and Bre'Ann Rodriguez were away on Friday for a New Mexico High School Coaches Association all-star basketball game in Albuquerque, the Lady Coyotes had to forfeit their semifinal matchup. They were slated to return to Santa Rosa for Saturday's third-place tilt.

Junior Justice Deason led Dora at the plate on Thursday with a 2-for-3 outing that included a three-run double.