Portales third baseman Jarrett Faust makes the tag on Lovington’s Carlos Hernandez, who was trying to advance on a passed ball, during the second inning of Saturday’s game at Ram Field.Lovington beat Portales 13-6, but the Rams went on to win the championship after handing Ruidoso a 13-3 loss.

Portales pitcher David Rodriguez focuses on the strike zone during the top of the third inning in Saturday’s game against Lovington at Ram Field.

Freedom New Mexico

The Portales Rams stumbled early on Saturday, but came back to claim the District 4-3A baseball championship at Ram Field.

Lovington handed the Rams a 13-6 loss in the first game of a triangular, then beat Ruidoso 6-2 to improve to 5-5 in district play. The Rams, who came into the day 5-3, secured the title with a 13-3 rout of Ruidoso in the finale.

Stephen Sampson pitched Portales (15-11, 6-4 district) to the victory over the Warriors (10-16, 4-6), throwing a six-inning complete game five-hitter. The Rams broke a 3-3 tie on catcher Dustin Caroland’s fourth-inning sacrifice fly, then added three in the fifth and six in the sixth to end it on the 10-run rule.

Rams coach Arturo Ontiveros said Sampson has a knack for getting hitters out.

“We call him ‘Human Rain Delay’ on the mound because he works really slow,” Ontiveros said. “But he gets people out and he gives us a chance every time he’s out there.”

Caroland added a two-run single in the sixth for Portales, while A.J. Marquez drove in three runs — two with a fifth-inning homer — and scored three.

Lovington (12-15 overall) broke a 1-1 tie against the Rams with a six-run third and never looked back. Kyle Bangert wen 3-for-4 for the Wildcats with two doubles, three RBIs, three runs scored and a walk while Gabriel Vejar tossed a complete-game five-hitter.

Caroland also drove in three runs in that game with a two-run single and a hit-by-pitch with the bases loaded.

The Rams will find out their seeding today in a meeting in Albuquerque. Ontiveros said he’s confident Portales will get a top-eight seed and host a first-round best-of-three series next weekend.

The first game of the series will be on Friday, while the second and, if necessary, third would be played on Saturday.