Class 5A quarterfinal times and matchups

The Class 5A baseball state tournament quarterfinals are set. The quarterfinals begin Wednesday, May 21 in Albuquerque.

No. 1 La Cueva takes on No. 8 Santa Fe High on Wednesday at 2 p.m. in Rio Rancho and that game will be preceded by No. 5 Valley vs. No. 4 Eldorado at 11 a.m.
The two winners meet Thursday at 2 p.m. at Lobo Field on the University of New Mexico campus.

No. 3 Onate takes on No. 6 Carlsbad on Wednesday at 11 a.m. at Lobo Field, and that will be followed by No. 2 Rio Rancho vs. No. 7 Mayfield at 2 p.m.
The winners of these two games will meet on Thursday at 11 a.m.

The 5A championship game is set for Friday at 7 p.m. at Isotopes Park.

- Felix

Antonio Escalante/David Martinez boxing match

El Paso super bantamweight contender Antonio Escalante (17-2-1) faces Albuquerque's David Martinez (18-3-1) Friday night on Telefutura's weekly boxing show.

It's a big fight for both fighters.

Escalante is angling toward world championship status in the near future. Escalante is a young fighter with plenty of power in both hands and he's turning into a consistent boxer.

At times, the question around Escalante has been his defense. He can still get better in that area, but with more experience in the ring against top notch fighters, he hopes that will help him.

Martinez is a fighter without much power, just a handful of knockouts in his career. But he will make Escalante work and that's what Escalante needs. Martinez will need to try and give Escalante different angles and try to ourwork him on the outside. Escalante is too strong for Martinez and if Martinez tries to make it a battle on the inside, he'l l either be out in a few rounds or he'll get whacked for much of the evening.

Everytime Martinez has stepped up in competition in his pro career, he has come up short. Another loss will put him out of any contention for bigger fights.

Escalante on the other hand seriously needs to look good on Friday night. The 122-pound divison has a lot of good fighters and if Escalante wants to take the next step in his career, he needs to look good.

My pick, Escalnte Ko's Martinez inside of six and finds himself in position for a bigger fight next time out.

- Felix

Gadsden sports news

Gadsden's Liz Castellanos signs with NMMI
By Felix Chavez
Sun-News reporter
LAS CRUCES - Gadsden High volleyball player Liz Castellanos was one of the top outside hitters in Class 5A during her junior and senior seasons.
Now the talented outside hitter will taker her talents to New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell beginning in the fall.
"I really liked the program," said Castellanos, who helped lead the Panthers to the state playoffs last season. "I'm glad for the chance to play at the next level."
Castellanos was an All-District 3-5A selection, as well as a Class 5A All-State, first-team pick and she will play in the North-South All-Star game in July in Albuquerque.
"Liz went up there and got to play with some of the other team members and she did really good," Gadsden head coach Al Rosen said. "Liz is a very good athlete and I'm glad she decided to keep playing. She didn't play club volleyball, but she kept working out with our program and she was coaching some of the younger players. Liz can step in next year and help NMMI out and she'll have a chance to go to a four-year school down the road."
Castellanos helped lead Gadsden to a share of the regular season district title as a senior.

The start of Gadsden's Class 5A first round baseball series against Albuquerque Valley was pushed back to today. The series was scheduled to start Thursday at noon with a doubleheader in the best 2-of-3 format, but rain postponed the two games.
Gadsden and Valley will try and play two today with a third game scheduled for Saturday if necessary.
Gadsden is seeded No. 12 and Valley is No. 5.

Felix Chavez can be reached at fchavez@lcsun-news.com

Baseball/Softball column

By Felix Chavez
Sun-News reporter
The Onate Knights were seeded No. 3 in the Class 5A baseballtournament and deservedly so. Onate proved in district play that when healthy and when it has everypart in place, it is one of the top teams in the state. The No. 3 seedshows the seeding committee was fair and balanced. La Cueva and RioRancho were the top two seeds in most arguments and Onate was one of theteams that could have been seeded No. 3 along with a Valley orEldorado. But the realization is that the Knights were one of the four bestteams last year and coming into this year, expectations were high. The Knights weren't healthy or at full strength early in the season,thus they suffered a few more losses than they would have liked. But once Abe Tarin joined the team from basketball and Ariel Perezand Randy Montoya got healthy, the team had one of the best and deepestpitching staffs in the state and also the team's performance at theplate was improved. The Knights didn't get an easy draw in the first round, which is abest 2-of-3 format, drawing an experienced and hard-nosed Los Lunassquad. But OHS should get past the Tigers, setting up a quarterfinal matchupwith either Carlsbad or District 3-5A rival Las Cruces High. Andshould the Knights keep on rolling, a semifinal rematch with defending 5Achamp, Rio Rancho looms. From my standpoint, the Knights have a fairly easy road to the semis.They should get past LLHS, then they will be favored against eitherLCHS or Carlsbad. Are the Knights a state championship caliber squad? From a pitchingstandpoint, they have enough arms and their hitting has improved as theseason has gone on. If the Knights continue to get the pitchingperformances that they have been, watch out, it could be OHS' time to win abaseball title. But don't forget Mayfield, which finished second last year to RioRancho. The Trojans earned a legitimate No. 7 seed and will face Cibolathis weekend. Mayfield doesn't have the pitching it did a year ago, butthe bats are certainly heating up. Mayfield has plenty of big bats and will be a difficult matchup foranyone. But MHS might have to outscore opponents to get it done. TheTrojans struggled on the mound in a doubleheader sweep of Las Cruces Highto end the regular season and that can't be a good omen. But don't count out the Trojans, who have a veteran team and one thathas been one of the state's best baseball programs the past threeyears. Kudos have to go out to the Las Cruces High softball team. TheBulldawgs earned a share of the District 3-5A title and got a No. 7 seed inthe state playoffs, which begin today in Farmington. The Bulldawgs are a very young team and had to overcome injury issuesto get a share of the title. Head coach Rodney Pollard has to feel good about his bunch for thefuture, but he and the team feel like they can do some damage this weekat the state tournament. The Bulldawgs faced a tough pre-districtschedule and did fine and then in district, competed well in a solid, if notspectacular district. If Pollard's bunch, which includes a potentially dominating pitcherin Alberta Medina, can continue to improve in the coming years, don't besurprised of LCHS becomes an instant state title contender.

Felix Chavez can be reached at fchavez@lcsun-news.com

5A state baseball playoff times

First Round
Best 2 of 3 at higher seed
Thursday
No. 12 Gadsden at No. 5 Valley, noon and 2 p.m.
No. 14 Los Lunas at No. 3 Onate, 7 p.m.
No. 11 Las Cruces High at No. 6 Carlsbad, 5 and 7 p.m.

Friday
No. 12 Gadsden at No. 5 Gadsden, 9 a.m. (if necessary)
No. 11 Las Cruces High at Carlsbad, 11 a.m. (if necessary)
No. 14 Los Lunas at No. 3 Onate, 1 p.m.
No. 14 Los Lunas at No. 3 Onate, 3 p.m. (if necessary)
No. 15 Manzano at No. 2 Rio Rancho, 3 p.m.
No. 9 Rio Grande at No. 8 Santa Fe, 3 p.m.
No. 16 Clovis at No. 1 La Cueva, 4 p.m.
No. 13 Sandia at No. 4 Eldorado, 4 p.m.
No. 10 Cibola at No. 7 Mayfield, 7 p.m.

Saturday
No. 15 Manzano at No. 2 Rio Rancho, 10 a.m.
No. 16 Clovis at No. 1 La Cueva, 11 a.m.
No. 9 Rio Grande at No. 8 Santa Fe, 11 a.m.
No. 13 Sandia at No. 4 Eldorado, 11 a.m.
No. 10 Cibola at No. 7 Mayfield, 1 p.m.
No. 16 Clovis at No. 1 La Cueva, 1 p.m. (if necessary)
No. 15 Manzano at No. 2 Rio Rancho, 1 p.m. (if necessary)
No. 9 Rio Grande at No. 8 Santa Fe, 1 p.m. (if necessary)
No. 13 Sandia at No. 4 Eldorado, 1 p.m. (if necessary)
No. 10 Cibola at No. 7 Mayfield, 3 p.m. (if necessary)

Ray Sanchez and victory

Albuquerque junior middleweight Ray Sanchez III earned a hard-fought win Friday against rugged veteran Patrick Thompson. Not a bad win for Sanchez, who was coming off a knockout loss to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

Where does Sanchez go now? He'll have to take another step up and see where he is. He might have to take it on the road, however. I don't know if he will get another shot at a really good fighter at home in the Duke City.

Sanchez III appears to have improved in the past few months with his skill level, but until he can beat a proven contender, he's going to be stuck in also-ran status. But he can enjoy his win for now, a win he needed in a big way in front of his home fans.

Where do you think Sanchez will go next?

Felix

Baseball Postings 3A-5A

State Baseball Tournament
Class 5A, first round May 16-17. Of note is possible that Onate and Los Lunas will play Thursday/Fridy.
Best 2 of 3 format at site of higher seed
No. 16 Clovis at No. 1 La Cueva
No. 15 Manzano at No. 2 Rio Rancho
No. 14 Los Lunas at No. 3 Onate
No. 13 Sandia at No. 4 Eldorado
No. 12 Gadsden at No. 5 Valley
No. 11 Las Cruces High at No. 6 Carlsbad
No. 10 Cibola at No. 7 Mayfield
No. 9 Rio Grande at No. 8 Santa Fe

Quarterfinals
May 21
La Cueva/Clovis winner vs. Santa Fe/Rio Grande winner
Valley/Gadsden winner vs. Eldorado/Sandia winner
Onate/Los Lunas winner vs. Carlsbad/Las Cruces winner
Mayfield/Cibola winner vs. Rio Rancho/Manzano winner

Semifinals
May 22
La Cueva-Clovis/Santa Fe-Rio Grande winner vs. Valley-Gadsden/Eldorado-Sandia winner
Onate-Los Lunas/Carlsbad-Las Cruces winner vs. Mayfield-Cibola/Rio Rancho-Manzano winner

Championship
May 23, 7 p.m.

Class 4A
First Round
May 16-17
best 2 of 3 at site of higher seed
No. 16 Taos at No. 1 Farmington
No. 15 Aztec at No. 2 Albuquerque Academy
No. 14 Silver at No. 3 Goddard
No. 13 Los Alamos at No. 4 Belen
No. 12 Del Norte at No. 5 Piedra Vista
No. 11 Kirtland Central at No. 6 Moriarty
No. 10 Deming at No. 7 Artesia
No. 9 Bernalillo at No. 8 St. Pius

Quarterfinals
May 21
Taos-Farmington winner vs. Bernaillio-St. Pius winner
Del Norte-Piedra Vista winner vs. Los Alamos-Belen winner
Silver-Goddard winner vs. Kirtland Centra-Moriarty winner
Deming-Artesia winner vs. Aztec-Albuquerque Academy winner

Semifinals
May 22
Taos-Farmington/Bernalillo-St. Pius winner vs. Del Norte-Piedra Vista/Los Alamos-Belen winner
Silver-Goddard/Kirtland Central-Moriarty winner vs. Deming-Artesia/Aztec/Academy winner

Championship
May 23, 3:30 p.m.

Class 3A
First Round
May 16-17
best 2 of 3 format at ste of higher seed
No. 16 Tohatchi at No. 1 St. Michael's
No. 15 Robertson at No. 2 Cobre
No. 14 Hatch Valey at No. 3 Bloomfield
No. 13 Santa Fe Indian at No. 4 Portales
No. 12 Ruidoso at No. 5 Sandia Prep
No. 11 N.M. Millitary at No. 6 Socorro
No. 10 Pojoaque at No. 7 Lovington
No. 9 Hope Chrisitan at No. 8 Raton

Quarterfinals
May 21
Tohatchi-St. Michael's winner vs. Hope Christian-Raton winner
Ruidoso-Sandia Prep winner vs. Santa Fe Indian-Portales winner
Hatch Valley-Bloomfield winner vs. N.M. Millitary-Socorro winner
Pojoaque-Lovington winner vs. Robertson-Cobre winner

Semifinals
May 22
Tohatch-St. Michael's/Hope Christian-Raton winner vs. Ruidoso-Sandia Prep/Santa Fe Indian Sdchool/-Portales winner
Hatch Valley-Bloomfield/NMMI-Socorro winner vs. Pojoaque-Lovington/Robertson-Cobre w inner

Championship
May 23, noon

All Championship games at Isotopes Park