Sandia baseball forfeits metro game to La Cueva

Mar. 22—At noon Saturday, the Sandia High School baseball team was gearing up for an appearance in Monday afternoon's Albuquerque Metro Championships title game at Rio Rancho.

An hour or so later, their semifinal victory over La Cueva had, stunningly, been overturned and ruled a forfeit.

Sandia had posted an emotional 3-2 road win at La Cueva on Saturday morning in the metro semifinals. But it was determined following the game that the Matadors violated New Mexico Activities Association bylaw 7.12.1D. The first sentence of that bylaw states:

"At the varsity level, a pitcher may throw 120 pitches in any three-day period."

Senior Adriel Figueroa-Brito threw 17 pitches in relief on Thursday against Volcano Vista, a game Sandia won 12-2.

He followed that up with an outstanding, 117-pitch, complete-game six-hitter Saturday.

"Somehow we misinterpreted the rule," a frustrated Sandia coach Marc Hilton said.

Thus, Hilton's outstanding right-hander exceeded the 120-pitch maximum threshold for a three-day period, and the Matadors forfeited. The game officially goes down as a 10-0 victory for La Cueva.

And it is the Bears (8-2), the top seed in the metro tournament, who will now be at home in the metro final, at 4 p.m. Monday against third-seeded Rio Rancho (10-2) which defeated No. 7 Cibola 6-2 in Saturday's other semifinal.

"It's a rule, and you try to follow the rules the best we can," La Cueva coach Gerard Pineda said, adding that he informed his team about 15 minutes after the game that it was possible the result would be changed. "Definitely no fun."

Sandia (10-2), the No. 4 seed, will be home at 4 p.m. Monday in the third-place game against Cibola.

Hilton said he mistakenly believed Figueroa-Brito, because he didn't pitch Friday, had a reset and would have a full allotment of 120 pitches Saturday if need be. Hilton said he believed the NMAA rule is not clearly laid out.

"You can interpret it so many different ways," Hilton said. "I'm still confused. It's just heartbreaking. ... It's heartbreaking for (Adriel), it's heartbreaking for the team "

Hilton said he'd like to see the wording in the NMAA handbook altered to help coaches avoid something similar going forward. "Obviously," he said, "there is something that needs to be addressed and clarified."

Meanwhile, in the other dugout, Pineda was monitoring Figueroa-Brito's pitch count closely. The Bears were having very little success against him.

All the stats from the game count, NMAA executive director Dusty Young said. That includes the two home runs and three RBIs from Sandia's leadoff batter, Anthony Condon, who hammered the first pitch of the game over the right-center field wall, and in the third inning belted a hanging breaking ball over the left-field fence for a two-run shot and a 3-0 lead.

Figueroa-Brito worked out of trouble several times in a masterful showing, mixing a lively fastball with a sharp-breaking slider to largely confound the Bears, who had baserunners in every inning, including multiple players in scoring position.

Per NMAA rules, all coaches in the state must post pitch counts for their players to MaxPreps.com within 24 hours of any game's finish.

By the seventh inning Saturday, La Cueva was fully aware that Figueroa-Brito was about to exceed the 120-pitch, three-day limit. Before the game, Pineda said he checked Sandia's pitch-count totals from Thursday, and was aware that Figueroa-Brito could throw a maximum of 103 pitches. (Although, the rule does allow a pitcher to finish a batter if he reaches 120 during that at-bat.)

"We were trying to get his pitch count up, so (Hilton) would have to go to the bullpen," Pineda said. "Our chances improve if they have to go to the pen. Adri had thrown a hell of a game."

Once he realized there would be a pitch-count issue, Pineda said he immediately informed his athletic director, Brandon Back, who then informed the NMAA.

For Sandia, the reversal of fortune hit hard, since the Matadors had regarded this win as very important, particularly given the nature of the rivalry between the teams who are in the same district, and La Cueva's status as defending Class 5A state champion.

No. 3 RIO RANCHO 6, No. 7 CIBOLA 2: At Rio Rancho, senior righty Brandon Segal (3-0) pitched five solid innings for the Rams, giving up just three hits and a run, as Rio Rancho advanced to Monday's metro final.

Noah Serna tossed the final two innings to earn a save; it was 4-1 for the Rams when he entered the game.

Adrian Varoz, Wyatt Tinker and Logan Sunstrom each drove in a pair of runs for Rio Rancho, which put the game away with two late runs in the sixth.

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