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Los Lunas got a healthy bit of revenge in District 5-5A softball. Rio Rancho baseball clinched the District 1-5A championship. District 1-5A softball remains unclear.

State brackets in baseball and softball will be unveiled Sunday, and this final week of the regular season has teams all over New Mexico scrambling for position.

Tuesday鈥檚 big winner was the Rams, as 5A鈥檚 third-ranked team, playing at home, beat No. 2 Piedra Vista 9-6 to lock up the 1-5A title and quite possibly the top seed in the upcoming 5A playoffs.

鈥淰ery satisfying,鈥� Rio Rancho coach David Gomez said. 鈥淭his district is obscene, how tough it is.鈥�

Rio Rancho (21-4, 8-1) has a two-game lead in the loss column on both the Panthers (21-4, 6-3) and No. 1-ranked Cleveland (22-3, 6-3). The Rams and Storm face each other later this week in the regular-season finale, a game that will mean more for Cleveland than for Rio Rancho for seeding purposes.

The Rams, with five in the second, led 5-1. But the Panthers scored three in the third and two more in the fourth to claim a 6-5 lead.

Rio Rancho took control with three runs in the bottom of the fourth. Dean Ellison doubled to left, scoring two runs for a 7-6 lead, and D鈥檃njoelo Aragon doubled home a run moments later for an 8-6 edge. The Rams tacked on an insurance run in the fifth.

On the mound, senior Jacob Lucero was outstanding, pitching three innings of two-hit, scoreless relief to earn the save. 

鈥淕ritty performance,鈥� Lopez said. 鈥淟ot of credit goes to Jacob.鈥� 

Ellison had two doubles and three RBIs to lead the Rio Rancho attack.

At sa国际传媒官网网页入口 High, visiting Los Lunas had six-run outbursts in both the fifth and seventh innings, and routed the Bulldogs 14-3 in District 5-5A softball.

The Tigers (20-5, 7-1) have the tiebreaking edge on AHS (20-3, 6-1), which won 9-7 in Los Lunas on April 10. That applies if both teams tie for first place.

鈥淥ur goal at the end of the year was to repeat as district champions and hopefully make a run at it,鈥� Los Lunas coach Patrick Ortiz said.

There is a catch, however. If AHS beats Atrisco Heritage on Friday, the Bulldogs and Tigers both will have finished 7-1 in district. Los Lunas is NOT guaranteed a higher seed at state if that occurs, and the New Mexico Activities Association could still seed AHS ahead of the Tigers depending on the strength of their respective resumes.

But Tuesday, Los Lunas, ranked No. 8 in 5A, was only focused on winning its regular-season finale.

鈥淭o repeat as district champs, it鈥檚 amazing,鈥� said senior Brooke Baca, Los Lunas鈥� starting pitcher who had three hits and three RBIs, including a early two-run home run.

AHS, with three runs in the third, on three solo homers by Raquel Gonzales, Aurora Green and Annika Stanley 鈥� the last two back-to-back with two outs 鈥� carried a 3-2 lead into the fifth, but things unraveled over the final hour for the sixth-ranked Bulldogs.

During the top of the fifth, Jacelyn Baca鈥檚 RBI double to center put the Tigers up 4-3 and they quickly ran away from the Bulldogs from there.

Brooke Baca 鈥� one of four Bacas in the the Los Lunas starting lineup 鈥� added a RBI single in the fifth for the Tigers who led 8-3 headed to the bottom of the fifth.

Grace Baca scored two in the seventh for the Tigers on a double to right and a commandng 10-3 lead.

鈥淲e had been working all week trying to make sure we went the opposite way, we saw that the right fielder was playing kind of shallow, so we kept telling the girls to try and push the ball that way,鈥� Ortiz said.

Los Lunas hopes it has done enough to be a top-four seed at state. The top four seeds play host to four-team pods next weekend. The first round and quarterfinals will be played at home sites next week, with the losing quarterfinal teams still advancing to Week 2.
鈥淲e were kind of cold there for a while, but we鈥檙e getting hot at the right time,鈥� Ortiz said.

In 1-5A, Volcano Vista鈥檚 11-2 win over first-place Cleveland leaves that district still open-ended.

The Storm (7-2 in 1-5A), which has dropped two straight, holds a one-game lead on Piedra Vista and Volcano Vista (both 6-3) in the league standings. Which creates the possibility of a three-way for first at the end of the week 鈥� if Rio Rancho defeats Cleveland, if Piedra Vista defeats Farmington, and if Volcano beats Cibola.

Audrianna Jim homered and drove in three runs for the Hawks in their victory over the Storm. She also pitched a complete-game four-hitter.

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