RIO RANCHO — For the second day in a row, Rio Rancho made short work of the Clovis High baseball team.
The second-seeded Rams, who homered five times in a 15-2 rout in Friday’s opener of the best-of-3 Class 5A state first-round series, hit two more long ones on Saturday and wrapped up the series with an 11-0 win over the Wildcats.
Senior Robert Rodella hit a two-run homer in the first and junior Ethan McCreaney added a two-run shot in the third for the Rams (23-4), who advance to a quarterfinal game next week in Albuquerque.
“Rio Rancho’s pretty darned good,” CHS coach Greg Hill said. “There’s not a whole lot to say.
“Talking to some people, they think Rio Rancho’s better than (top-seeded) La Cueva.”
Junior Josh Walker survived four walks, allowing two hits with six strikeouts over four innings to get the win. Rodela pitched the fifth, allowing one Clovis single.
The Rams led 3-0 after one inning, then added three more in the third and five in the fourth. The game ended after 4 1/2 innings on the 10-run rule.
McCreaney finished with three RBIs for the Rams, while sophomore first baseman Blake Swihart drove in a pair of runs. Both players finished the game 2-for-3.
Senior left-hander Brandon Gilliard took the loss for the Cats (12-16), allowing all 11 runs — eight earned — over 3 1/3 innings. Junior Stephen Encinias got the final two outs in the fourth, striking out one.
“Brandon threw well; they didn’t hit him hard,” Hill said. “The kids played hard. We just came up against a better team.”
Omar Sosa, Jake Burrell and Parker Wood each had a single for the Cats.
Rio Rancho meets the winner of a series between seventh-seeded Eldorado and No. 10 Mayfield in a 2 p.m. quarterfinal game on Thursday at the University of New Mexico’s Lobo Field.
With Saturday’s victory, Rio Rancho extended its winning streak to 13 games.

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