One weekend, two baseball breakthroughs

With runners at second and third and nobody out, for the Las Cruces High School baseball team, the moment probably felt familiar in all the wrong ways.

One week earlier, against the same opponent, that was the kind of inning that spiraled.

This time, Armando Gonzalez never let it.

The senior right-hander reached back for a 3-2 pitch, got the hitter to chase a pitch above the zone to end the threat, then watched two routine fly balls settle harmlessly into gloves. For the second consecutive day, teammates spilled from the dugout as the No. 12-seeded Bulldawgs closed out a two-game sweep of district champion Centennial High School and secured the program’s first trip to the state quarterfinals in a decade.

A few hundred feet away, another celebration was beginning.

On the adjacent field, eighth-seeded Mayfield High School was finishing off a breakthrough of its own, completing a sweep of Los Lunas with a 10-0 victory that sent the Trojans north to Albuquerque for the first time in more than 10 years. For one weekend, two longtime rivals spent side-by-side afternoons rediscovering postseason baseball.

“The pitching the last two days was phenomenal,” Las Cruces coach Gil Padilla said after Gunnar Guardiola and Gonzalez delivered back-to-back complete-game shutouts. “When we have Gunnar Guardiola and Armando Gonzalez throw seven innings and less than 90 pitches, that’s pretty good.”

Friday’s opener was the tense one. Guardiola allowed Centennial nothing in a 1-0 Las Cruces victory, protecting a lone second-inning run all night.

“Yesterday’s 1-0 game, I did not think that one run would hold up, and it did,” Padilla admitted. “A lot of that had to do with our defense and with Gunnar Guardiola.”

Padilla said the biggest difference from the regular season sweep Centennial handed the Bulldawgs just days earlier was composure.

“Their mental preparation and mental focus was probably the biggest thing,” Padilla said. “They were hitting their spots and they were effective with it.”

So effective, in fact, that even late in Saturday’s elimination game, Las Cruces never seriously considered pulling Gonzalez despite the potential tying runs reaching scoring position.

“They didn’t hit anything solid off him,” Padilla said. “He had them off balance. Because baseball players are very superstitious, there were things you just didn’t discuss with them. You just shook their hand, said ‘good job,’ and let them stay in their zone.”

Saturday, Las Cruces plated its two runs in the fifth, as Isaiah Borunda chased home the first before scoring on a base hit by Aiden Dominguez. Hunter Parmeter delivered the lone RBI in the series opener.

Across the complex, Mayfield coach Rick Montoya was living a different kind of tension as simultaneous celebrations began to unfold around Field of Dreams. The Trojans won Friday’s opener 6-4 behind a strong outing from Isaac Seldner, but Montoya said the lead never felt safe against a Los Lunas lineup capable of erupting quickly.

“It was a nail-biter for me the entire time,” Montoya said. “I was never comfortable because we knew their offense could score three or four runs in any inning.”

Mayfield’s answer Saturday was pressure.

“The game plan was to strike first, put them on their heels, and just try to suffocate them,” Montoya said. “We definitely didn’t want it to go to a Game 3. If they even it up, momentum changes and all that playoff experience they have kicks in.”

Junior Bradley Springer handled the rest, allowing just one hit in the five-inning shutout. Even then, Montoya laughed that Springer was frustrated because the lone hit came on a bunt.

“Brad thinks baseball rules should be changed because he doesn’t think a bunt should count as a hit,” Montoya said.

The final score suggested domination. Montoya insisted the game felt far tighter. The Trojans also had the offense working Saturday, particularly the middle of the order, as Seldner, Matt Garcia and Chris Galaz each delivered multiple hits.

“You look up and see a 10-0 score, but that wasn’t a 10-0 game,” Montoya said. “For four or five innings, it absolutely was a game.”

Now both teams head to Albuquerque knowing the challenge only grows steeper. Las Cruces faces fourth-seeded Piedra Vista while Mayfield draws top-ranked Rio Rancho.

But both coaches also know the format has changed. The rest of the tournament is single elimination. That means one dominant pitching night from Seldner, who struck out a dozen in Mayfield’s tournament opener, or Guardiola, and either of these teams can pull the upset, survive and advance.

“You just have to be great one day,” Montoya said.

Padilla sees the same opening.

“I’ll take my pitching staff up against anybody in the whole state,” he said.

And after one unforgettable weekend at Field of Dreams, two Las Cruces programs have earned the chance to prove it.