The City of Champions has its paw prints all over Championship Saturday.
On a thrilling Friday filled with comeback wins, extra innings, and big performances from underclassmen on the track and in the field, Artesia High School punched its tickets for both the Class 4A state baseball championship game and the state softball championship round, as well as picked up a pair of state titles and broke a 33-year-old state record.
BULLDOG BASEBALL
At the Jennifer Riordan Spark Kindness Sports Complex Friday afternoon, the No. 5 Diamond ‘Dog baseball team (17-13) made a dramatic return to the title tilt for the first time since 2019, besting top-ranked Goddard 8-5 in nine innings.
Goddard got the better of the Bulldogs in District 4-AAAA play this season, winning the first two games of the three-game series, 7-1 and 8-3, before falling to Artesia by a five-inning run rule, 16-6. That D4 championship helped propel the Rockets to Class 4A’s No. 1 seed. But as fans on both sides know, Artesia-Goddard is one of those “throw out the record books” matchups in every sport.
The Rockets were first on the board in Friday’s semifinal, plating one run in the bottom of the second on a Michael Mathison RBI triple. The ‘Dogs responded with the tying run in the top of three on a Jack Byers bases-loaded walk, but Goddard would go back up 4-1 in the home half on an RBI ground out and a pair of errors.
That score held until the top of the fifth, when Artesia cut its deficit in half on a Frankie Galindo RBI triple to right-center, and while sophomore relief pitcher Daelon Pacheco and his defense held the Rockets scoreless for the second straight at-bat in the bottom half, time was swiftly running out for the boys in orange.
Then came the sixth.
A leadoff walk by Diego Morales proved fruitful when the sophomore scored on an infield-single-turned-error by Kaden Beauregard. And with two away, Beauregard would join Jett Whitmire in touching them all on an inside-the-park home run by the latter after Goddard’s outfield lost the ball in the sun.
With new life, Artesia had a chance to potentially end things in regulation in the top of seven but left two in scoring position, and the ‘Dogs got out of a jam in the bottom of the inning following a leadoff two-base error, with Pacheco striking out two and getting a fly out to right to send the game into extras.
There, the Bulldogs went down quickly in order in the top of the eighth, while the Rockets followed a leadoff walk with three fly outs in the home half. The ninth got off to a much better start for Artesia, however, as Nye Estrada singled to left, advanced to second on a bunt single by Galindo and to third on a Byers fly out, and scored on an RBI fielder’s choice from Pacheco.
That gave the ‘Dogs a 6-5 lead with two away, but they weren’t done yet. Diego Morales kicked off a brief two-out rally with a triple to right that plated Pacheco, and Morales would come home on an RBI double from Jesse Armendariz to give Artesia a confidence-boosting pair of insurance runs.
Ground balls to Estrada at second and Byers at third and a big K from Pacheco ended the game, 8-5.
Artesia will now prepare to meet No. 2 Grants at 4 p.m. Saturday at the University of New Mexico (UNM) baseball field. The Bulldogs will be vying for their first state championship since 2000.
LADY BULLDOG SOFTBALL
With a 6-2 loss to top-ranked Gallup in their second game of double-elimination play Thursday afternoon, the No. 5 Lady Bulldog softball team knew it had a long row to hoe Saturday to work its way back into championship contention.
Via not one but three come-from-behind wins, they got the job done.
Artesia’s first game in the losers’ bracket Friday morning was likely giving 2022 for head coach Sandra Pulido and her upperclassman — through six-and-a-half innings, anyway. That year saw top-ranked Artesia tumble into the bottom half of the bracket following its very first game in Rio Rancho before battling its way back into the losers’ bracket semifinal with a trio of wins. The Lady ‘Dogs would trip on the last step up to the championship round, however, falling to a Lovington team they’d beaten for the District 4-AAAA title, 17-15.
This year, it was the Lady Wildcats who took the district crown and the No. 2 seed, and for much of the game, it looked as if they’d once again be playing state spoiler to the Lady Bulldogs as well. Lovington ended an early defensive battle with the game’s first run in the top of the fourth, and while Artesia would tie it up in the home half on a Madison Martinez RBI single, the ‘Cats would plate three more in the fifth to go up 4-1.
The Lady ‘Dogs were able to make that 4-2 in the sixth on an Elizabeth De La Riva RBI base hit, but with Lovington tacking on an insurance run in the top of seven, Artesia was down 5-2 going into its final at-bat of regulation.
Taking advantage of what presented itself, the girls in orange loaded the bases on a trio of Wildcat errors before scoring its third run on a Martinez RBI ground out. Following a strikeout, however, the Lady ‘Dogs needed a clutch two-out hit, and they got it from Kinsley Rodriguez, who sent a single into left to knot the game at 5-all.
With the International Tie-Breaker in effect, the Lady ‘Cats were able to go up 6-5 in the top of the eighth on a wild pitch, but Artesia got that run back in the bottom half on an RBI ground-ball single to right by De La Riva. The top of the ninth would be a seemingly disastrous one for the Lady Bulldogs, however, with Lovington scoring three on a Jocelynn Holguin RBI single and a two-out two-RBI double from Honey Morales.
Down 9-6, the Lady ‘Dogs were able to pull within two on a quick RBI double to right-center from Martinez, but following a fielder’s choice, Artesia was left with runners on the corners and one away. Makayla Lujan kept Artesia’s title hopes alive with a single swing, however, delivering a walk-off three-run homer that set the final, 10-9 in nine innings.
Artesia wouldn’t give its fans’ blood pressure a break moving forward, either.
Squaring off with No. 7 Aztec — the squad that had sent Lovington into the losers’ bracket with a 6-4 win Thursday morning — the Lady Bulldogs fell behind 1-0 in the top of the second but were able to tie things up at 1-all in the home half. From there, however, it would be three-and-a-half innings of suspense before Artesia was able to break the tie, 2-1, in the bottom of the sixth. They’d hold on in the seventh for the one-run win.
No doubt exhausted after 16 tense innings, the NMAA was not feeling sympathetic, launching Artesia into its third game of the day without so much as a 10-minute break. Taking on a No. 3 Silver team that had fallen to Gallup 4-1 Friday morning, the Lady ‘Dogs once again fell into an early hole, 1-0, in the first inning, and three more would go by before Artesia was able to answer.
The Lady ‘Dogs got the tie, 1-1, in the top of five on a Mikenzi Carlo RBI double that scored McKenna Morrison — aboard with a leadoff base hit — and after leaving a Lady Colt runner stranded at second in the home half, Artesia took the lead in the sixth on a Zowe Warren RBI double and an RBI base hit to left from Morrison.
Not in the mood for any more extra-inning affairs, however, starting pitcher Martinez and her defense proceeded to seat Silver in order in both their sixth and seventh at-bats to end the game and the long day.
Artesia (23-8) isn’t quite finished with daunting tasks, however, as they’ll need to beat Gallup twice Saturday to secure their first state title since 2021. Game One is slated for 10 a.m. Saturday at the UNM softball field, with Game Two to follow at 2 p.m. if necessary.
AHS TRACK AND FIELD
While the baseball and softball teams were busy moving into title contention Friday, the Bulldog track and field team wasn’t waiting for Saturday to pick up Artesia’s first two spring sports state championships.
Friday morning saw the Bulldogs competing in their first state field-event finals, and sophomore Marco Soto wasted no time topping the podium, winning the boys’ Class 4A shot put with a throw of 50’2″. Soto’s top throw coming into the state meet was 48’4″. A bit later in the day, the runners got in on the act, with junior Zane Baize delivering a thrilling surge to pass Los Alamos’ Benjamin Sanchez and Del Norte’s Jorge Garcia in the home stretch of the 4A boys’ 1600-meter run for a state-championship time of 4:25.68, just under four seconds better than his seed mark.
A significant happening also occurred during the running prelims, with the boys’ 800-meter relay team of Crecencio Cuellar, Luis Torres, Izac Cazares and Bryce Parra running a 1:28.46, which bested the state-record time of 1:28.60 in that event. The previous record-holders? Artesia’s 1991 800 relay team of Paul Bennett, Jeremiah Mullen, James Truex and Tim Foley.
In other Day-One finals news, the Bulldogs got a third-place finish from the 3200-meter relay team of Michael Quinones, Aden Garcia, Matthew Hafliger and Erardo Gonzales with a time of 8:30.06 compared to the program’s top qualifying time of 8:55.65. Los Alamos (8:14.54) and Albuquerque Academy (8:26.85) finished first and second in the event.
Placing fourth and fifth, respectively, for the Lady Bulldogs Friday were Makaylee Morillon in the 1600-meter run (5:22.17) and Kymber Beltran in the discus (111’3″).
Other Day-One final results included:
- Boys’ Long Jump: Esiah Sais, 8th, 21′; Bryce Parra, 15th, 19’10”; Luis Torres, 16th, 19’9.75″; Moises Corza, 21st, 18’9.75″
- Boys’ 1600-Meter Run: Erardo Gonzales, 10th, 4:45.50
- Girls’ 1600-Meter Run: MacKenzie Norton, 12th, 5:53.91
- Girls’ Discus: Alicia Torrez, 13th, 84’7″; Lorin Wagner, 14th, 84′
- Girls’ Long Jump: Kailee Padilla, 20th, 15’6″
In preliminary running events, the AHS teams qualified for Saturday’s finals in several races, including:
- Girls’ 400-Meter Relay: Kailee Padilla, Hattie Harrison, Gabriela Aguilar, Kaitlyn Addington – 50:16
- Boys’ 400-Meter Relay: Esiah Sais, Bryce Parra, Luis Torres, Marcous Ornelas – 41.86
- Girls’ 100-Meter Hurdles: Hattie Harrison, 15.10
- Boys’ 110-Meter Hurdles: Tootie McNeil – 15.09
- Boys’ 100-Meter Dash: Luis Torres – 11.5; Bryce Parra – 11.19
- Girls’ 800-Meter Relay: Kailee Padilla, Ashton Craft, Gabriela Aguilar, Kaitlyn Addington – 1:47.30
- Boys’ 800-Meter Relay: Crecencio Cuellar, Luis Torres, Izac Cazares, Bryce Parra – 1:28.46
- Girls’ 300-Meter Hurdles: Hattie Harrison – 46.70; Neha Gawankar – 48.59
- Boys’ 300-Meter Hurdles: Tootie McNeil – 42.95
- Girls’ 1600 Medley Relay: Kaitlyn Addington, Gabriela Aguilar, Sydney Boone, Makaylee Morillon – 4:22.44
- Boys’ 200-Meter Dash: Luis Torres – 22.22
- Girls’ 1600-Meter Relay: Hattie Harrison, Ashton Craft, Krista Delgado, Sydney Boone – 4:08.48
- Boys’ 1600-Meter Relay: Brody McDonald, Matthew Hafliger, Crecencio Cuellar, Moises Corza – 3:30.19