PREP BASEBALL
Chargers come from behind (again) to beat Valley
Albuquerque Academy is on the verge of 6-4A title after Friday win
There is no more Valley on the Albuquerque Academy baseball schedule, and the Chargers probably have no objections.
For the second time in nine days, the Chargers spotted the Vikings a four-run lead and Academy was forced to chase.
Friday afternoon at Academy, the Chargers scored the final 10 runs, and eventually put Valley away late in a 10-4 District 6-4A victory that put Academy on the brink of a regular-season championship.
鈥淲e knew this was the biggest game of the year for us,鈥� Chargers coach Chris Alexander said. 鈥淭his puts us in a really good spot.鈥�
The 6-4A standings would have been seriously compressed, with three teams in the mix, including Hope Christrian, had Valley found a way to gain a season split with Academy.
But this win has Academy (16-6, 5-0 in 6-4A) two games in front of second-place Valley (6-15, 3-2) and Hope Christian (16-6, 3-2), and the Chargers, while not mathematically locked into the regular-season title, are as close as they can be.
鈥淲e like where we are right now, but we have to keep working and stick to the plan we鈥檝e had all year, and be consistent,鈥� said sophomore Daniel Candelas, who pitched six fairly solid innings for the Chargers on a chilly and sometimes windy Friday afternoon.
Still, the Vikings were poised to disrupt in a major way.
Valley scored all its runs in the top of the third. Jaxon Foulk scored two runs on a single to center for a 2-0 lead. Moments later, Corbin Torres tripled to center, scoring two more runs and the theme from nine days earlier was in place with the Vikes up four.
That day, Academy didn鈥檛 come back on the Vikings until the sixth inning. It took far less time on Friday to make up the difference.
The Chargers cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the third with Ryan Williams plating two on a single to center with two outs. In fact, the entire rally began after two were out.
Academy stormed in front with five runs in the fourth.
Candelas, from the 9-hole, and the leadoff batter Aiden Schum delivered back-to-back RBI singles to square the game 4-all. With two outs, Jace Gabaldon doubled to center, scoring two additional runs. Gabaldon scored on a throwing error for a 7-4 lead.
Academy tacked on three insurance runs in the sixth.
Gabaldon had three runs, three hits and three RBIs to lead Academy.
The Chargers will essentially clinch the 6-4A title if they defeat Hope Christian on the road on Tuesday afternoon.
CLEVELAND GOES DOWN AGAIN: No. 1-ranked Cleveland, after a 20-0 start, dropped its second straight game this week, falling 6-3 at Cibola on Friday.
The Storm (4-2 in league) has fallen to third place in the District 1-5A standings, behind current co-leaders Rio Rancho (which won 12-11 against Farmington on Friday) and Piedra Vista (which downed 近距离内射合集 Vista 7-3 on Friday). The Rams (18-4 overall) and Panthers (20-2) both are 5-1 in district play.
James Yodice covers prep sports for the Journal. You can reach him at jyodice@abqjournal.com or via X at .
