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All four of the semifinalists in the Class 4A state baseball tournament had to rally from multiple-run deficits on Thursday in the quarterfinals.

When the day was over. No. 1 Artesia, plus No. 2 Goddard, No. 3 Deming and No. 6 Hope Christian were left standing.

The Huskies will face the Rockets at 1 p.m. Friday in the semifinals at the Jennifer Riordan Spark Kindness sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Complex on the West Side.The Bulldogs and the Wildcats are the late semifinal, at 7 p.m.

In a tense game, top-ranked Artesia squeezed by ninth-seeded St. Pius.

Some heady baserunning by a freshman carried the defending champion Bulldogs (21-8) into the Class 4A semifinals.

Logan Rodriguez raced home from third on a one-out grounder to short by Charlie Campbell in the bottom of the seventh inning, giving Artesia a tense, come-from-behind victory over the Sartans (15-13). After Elijah Carrasco walked to lead off the inning, Rodriguez was inserted as a pinch runner. He then stole second, reached third on a passed ball and then made just the right read when Campbell鈥檚 sharp grounder briefly put St. Pius shortstop Diego Trujillo on his heels. Though Trujillo gloved the ball, there was just enough time for Rodriguez to make it home.

鈥淚t was just a reaction,鈥� Rodriguez said. 鈥淚 don't know, it was like a sixth sense almost. I just ran, and it worked out in my favor.鈥�

The Sartans took an early 2-0 lead against Artesia ace Jack Byers behind RBI singles from Zain Unis in the second inning and Joaquin Aragon in the third. Sophomore starter Hunter Jiron was in command until the fifth frame, when the Bulldogs used three singles and an error to tie game.

鈥淭hese guys are seasoned, and the more they see a pitcher, the better they get,鈥� Artesia coach Jackson Bickel said of his team. 鈥溾��If they have to adjust, they'll adjust. And I think that's what you saw was eight seniors that have been in this tournament, some of them four years in a row, most of them three. But they knew how to adjust in the game and not die down and say, 鈥楳y stuff's not on tonight.鈥欌��

Byers, a senior who will attend the University of Arizona, shut St. Pius down after the third. He went the distance, allowing just six hits and striking out 16. The Bulldogs came away impressed by his rival on the mound, as Jiron allowed four hits and two runs while striking out eight in five innings.

鈥淗e was on, he was hitting spots, he was keeping us off balance,鈥� Bickel said. 鈥淭hey knew how to pitch us, and that kid threw the pitches with conviction.鈥�

Goddard, Deming and Hope Christian were all in similar predicaments to Artesia as all three had to come from behind to advance.

The Huskies (23-6) scored one in the fifth, another in the sixth to tie the game at 6-all, then scored twice in the top of the seventh to upset No. 3 seed Santa Teresa (24-4-1).

In the seventh, Luciano Gabaldon scored the go-ahead run on a ground ball. Brandon Willes hit an RBI double for an insurance run.

It was Wiles who also tied the game 6-6 in the previous inning, with an RBI single to right.

Jaden Wright played a huge role for Hope Christian in the win. The senior delivered a three-run triple in the second inning for a 4-2 lead, and he also pitched three scoreless innings of relief to earn the victory. Trey Baillio had four hits for Hope.

Deming (22-5) was down 7-4 to No. 5 sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Academy, but scored nine runs in its final two at-bats and eliminated the Chargers (20-8) with a 13-8 victory.

In the fifth, Ezra Sainz tied the game at 7 for Deming with a two-run single, and Estevan Mariscal gave the Wildcats the lead with an RBI of his own.

Daniel Porras hit a grand slam to left in the sixth for Deming, and a 12-7 lead. Teammate Chris Olvera also homered in the victory.

In the first game of the day, Goddard came from three runs down and edged No. 10 seed Bloomfield 4-3.

The Rockets scored twice in the bottom of the seventh. Marcos Rodriguez鈥檚 RBI single to right was the game-winning hit for Goddard (22-7) against the Bobcats (xx-x).

Jaden Fuentes tied the game for the Rockets just moments before with an RBI triple to center.

Bloomfield issued two intentional walks to load the bases before Rodriguez came to the plate.

Johnny Yates hit a home run for Bloomfield in the loss.

Class 3A

The top seed, East Mountain, advanced to the semifinals as the Timberwolves (26-1) held off New Mexico Military Institute 10-7.

East Mountain (26-1) gave up five runs in the seventh to the eighth-seeded Colts.

Senior Luke Stoerner had three hits and four RBIs for the Timberwolves, who broke open a close game, leading 3-2, with three runs in the fourth and four more in the sixth.

East Mountain was awaiting the winner of the late quarterfinal between Sandia Prep and West Las Vegas, which was 4-4 going to extra innings at Journal deadline after the Dons scored a run in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game. That game is scheduled for 4 p.m.

No. 3 St. Michael鈥檚 and No.10 Ruidoso, which upset second-seeded Santa Fe Indian School, will meet in one of Friday鈥檚 semifinals, at 10 a.m. Friday.

Class 2A

Oak Grove Classical Academy, the 11 seed, was eliminated Thursday in the quarterfinals, 13-3 by No. 3 Hozho Academy.

Hozho Academy plays No. 2 Santa Rosa at 3:30 Friday afternoon in the semifinals. No. 1 Eunice and No. 4 Mesilla Valley square off in the other semifinal, at 12:30 p.m. Eunice mercy-ruled Texico, and Mesilla Valley defeated Rehoboth Christian in the quarterfinals.

Class 1A

The state championship game, at 1:30 Friday afternoon at Santa Ana Star Field, will feature No. 2 Gateway Christian against No. 4 Grady.

鈥擳risten Critchfield contributed to this story.

James Yodice covers prep sports for the Journal. You can reach him at jyodice@abqjournal.com or via X at .