The Bears couldn’t hold off the Matadors in the state baseball semifinals, resulting in elimination from the tournament after a 3-1 loss.
Sandia scored first at the top of the fifth, but La Cueva answered with a run of their own after Jason Kay stole home at the bottom of the sixth inning. Sandia responded by scoring two more runs in the seventh before allowing the Bears to come back to bat once more.
La Cueva couldn’t answer, though, and left a player on base after Sandia’s Jordan Martinez struck out the Bears’ David Cooper for a Matador win.
Sandia will play Carlsbad in the 2022 New Mexico Activities Association Baseball Championships final at Isotopes Park Saturday, May 14. The final is scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. Sandia is seeded No. 2 in tournament and Carlsbad No. 1. La Cueva is seeded No. 3.
The Bears finished off the season 23-6 overall and 7-3 in 5A District 2. The semifinal was La Cueva’s third loss to Sandia this season.
