State's top four baseball teams entered in tournament this weekend
Mar. 28—Coming off their triumph at last week's metro tournament, the La Cueva Bears turn to their third tournament in three weeks.
And this one, like last week's event, features the top four ranked prep baseball teams in Class 5A. In fact, every one of the eight teams in the field is ranked.
The Bears, Sandia, Cleveland and host Rio Rancho headline the elite Sal Puentes Tournament.
The tournament begins Thursday morning with No. 2-ranked Sandia facing No. 3 Cleveland at 10 a.m.
Carlsbad and new coach Mike McGaha, La Cueva's former pitching coach, are in the 12:30 p.m. game against Albuquerque Academy, which is ranked No. 5 in Class 4A.
La Cueva faces Artesia at 3 p.m. The Rams are in the final game at 5:30, playing 4A's third-ranked Goddard.
The semifinals are 3 and 5:30 p.m. Friday, and the final is set for 3 p.m. Saturday.
Down the road, Rio Rancho is also hosting the annual Kristin Griego Tournament for softball teams at Eagle Ridge Middle School.
Alamogordo and Hobbs, ranked No. 3 and 4 in Class 5A, are the top-ranked teams in the 20-team field from Class 5A. Metro semifinalists Cibola and Volcano Vista also are entered. Gallup and Bernalillo are the highest ranked 4A teams invited to the tournament.
The championship game is set for 4 p.m. Saturday.
Alamogordo also will be taking care of other business Thursday; the Tigers are slated to finish a doubleheader with La Cueva at 5 p.m. Thursday. Game 2 of their Monday doubleheader was stopped because of darkness with the Bears leading 6-3 in the bottom of the third. The game will resume from that point.
