ALBUQUERQUE – The Piedra Vista High baseball team survived a late scare Friday night, topping No. 1 seed Rio Rancho by a final of 4-2 in a Class 5A semifinal win Friday night at Lobo Field.
The fourth-seeded Panthers advance to the Class 5A championship game Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at Lobo Field against No. 2 Cleveland, which earned their way to the finals after a win over Carlsbad.
For Piedra Vista, this will be its first appearance in a state championship game since 2018, when it lost the Class 6A title to La Cueva. The Panthers last won the New Mexico Activities Association’s coveted blue trophy in 2014, securing the Class 4A title with a 7-6 win over Goddard.
After a quick first inning on the mound, Rams starting pitcher Richie Reiffenberger ran into trouble in the top of the second. Alejandro Hernandez and Eliyas Barton were each hit by a pitch and eventually scored to give the Panthers an early lead.
Hernandez scored on an RBI single by JW Bayless. With Barton and Bayless on base, Zack Zweschper hit a bases-clearing triple to the wall in center field for a 3-0 edge.
Rio Rancho narrowed the gap in the bottom of the second inning when Brayden Bustillos hit a two-out double that scored Logan Sunstrom to trim the Panthers’ lead to 3-1.
Reiffenberger escaped a tough spot in the top of the third inning. Barton and Bayless both reached and moved into scoring position for the Panthers before Cody Clugston grounded out to shortstop Wyatt Tinker to keep the score 3-1.
Piedra Vista extended its lead in the top of the fourth inning. Alexis Hernandez drew a leadoff walk, advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on a Mason Courtney single to give the Panthers a 4-1 advantage.
Kyle Murphy was sharp on the mound for the Panthers. Through the first five innings, he allowed one run on four hits and threw only 69 pitches. Reiffenberger, by contrast, threw 84 pitches in 3 1/3 innings of work before Jacob Lucero replaced him.
Murphy worked his way out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the fourth when Rio Rancho’s Matthew Cook grounded into a two-out fielder’s choice to Clugston, keeping the Panthers ahead by three runs.
The Rams opened the bottom of the fifth with a single by Tinker, but he was left stranded after three successive outs. Through the first six innings, Rio Rancho left eight runners on base.
Trailing 4-1 in the bottom of the seventh, Rio Rancho got their offense rolling after Brayden Bustillos led off the frame with a walk, followed by Ryan Barreras who was hit by a pitch. Murphy then gave up a double to left field, scoring Bustillos and ending the night for Murphy in place of Alexis Hernandez.
With a pair of runners on base and nobody out, Chase Rivera popped out to Barton before Dean Ellison struck out looking and D’Anjelo Aragon flew out to right field to end the contest.
The Panthers split their two-game district series this season with Cleveland, winning 2-1 on April 24 in their most recent contest. The Storm will be trying to capture their first state title, losing each of their three prior championship game appearances.
This will be the 21st meeting between the two teams since 2012, with the Storm holding a 12-8 advantage.