Zia cruises in state Senior opener

Staff report

ALBUQUERQUE — The Clovis Zia Senior League All-Star baseball team drew an early start in the opening round of the state tournament. Fortunately, the squad’s bats were wide awake.

link Courtesy photo: Rob Langrell

Brendon Sambrano pitched five innings of one-hit ball for the Clovis Zia Senior League All-Star team, which defeated Isleta 22-0 Saturday in Albuquerque. Zia needs a win today to qualify for next weekend’s 15-16 state championship, also in Albuquerque.

Zia rolled to a 22-0 victory over Isleta on Saturday morning at Roadrunner Little League Complex, plating 13 runs in the top of the first inning.

The 8 a.m. start time didn’t faze Zia, which is comprised of 14-, 15- and 16-year-olds. It scored 22 runs on 19 hits, and took advantage of four walks and five hit batters in a game shortened to five innings by the mercy rule.

“The positives today were that we came out early and swung the bats pretty well,” said Zia manager Andrew Duran. “We didn’t do it to our potential, but hopefully we’ll come out and hit the ball well again on Sunday.”

Zia squares off against host Roadrunner at 9 a.m. today. A victory would earn Zia a return trip to Albuquerque and a spot in next weekend’s four-team, double-elimination final-round bracket for the state championship.

The state champion represents New Mexico at the Southwest Regional in Seguin, Texas, from July 23-27.

For Zia, E.J. Gonzales went 4-for-4 with a double, a triple and three runs batted in. Teammate Colson Faircloth was 3-for-3 with three RBIs ,while Sebastian Nunez added three hits and a pair of RBIs.

Jeremiah Lucero and Brandon Alvarez each chipped in a pair of hits.

Winning pitcher Brendon Sambrano limited Isleta to one hit, a bloop single to right field in the bottom of the fourth inning. He struck out five, walked four and hit two batters, and Zia’s defense helped him out with three double plays.

“Brendon pitched a good game,” Duran said. “He kept his pitch count down, and he got the ground balls and fly balls when we needed them. I couldn’t have asked for a better outing from him.”

Little League softball — Clovis American Junior League (ages 13-14) All-Stars dropped their state opener on Friday at Albuquerque, falling to Albuquerque Eastdale 15-2.

Pitcher Haley Sanchez had a big day for Eastdale, allowing four hits and striking out seven in a five-inning complete game and also delivering 4-for-4 at the plate.

Shai Campos went 2-for-2 fof American, including a triple. She scored both runs, coming in on a single by Gracie Crane in the second inning and a sacrifice fly by Cameron Nelson in the fourth.

American was slated to play later on Saturday in a losers bracket contest against Albuquerque South Valley. With a win, American would advance to an 11:30 a.m. game today.

Meantime, the American Major All-Stars (ages 11-12) were ousted in their tournamehnt at Albuquerque, losing on Friday 14-4 and on Saturday 16-4. No other information was available.