Cavemen Battle Tough Organ Mt. Knights

By Don Eskins

You can bet the farm that Carlsbad High’s Tom Forni Cavemen Corral will be rockin’ with fans on Friday and Saturday, May 8-9.

And why shouldn’t it? On those two days, in a best-of-three series, the Cavemen will host the Organ Mt. Knights during first-round play of the 2026 New Mexico Class 5A State Baseball Tournament.

Game one of the best-of-three series is scheduled for Friday afternoon at 5 p.m. Game two will take place on Saturday morning at 10:30 a.m. Game three, should it be necessary, will get underway at 1 p.m.

For this year’s tournament, the NMAA has seeded the 16-10, District 4/5A Champion Cavemen sixth. Organ Mt., seeded 11th, was also 16-10 on the year. In rugged District 3/5A play, they finished third, with a record of 11-4, behind Centennial (24-2, 13-2) and Mayfield (18-7-1, 11-4).

The two schools have already traded punches once this season. During the Cavemen Round Robin Tournament on March 19, CHS shut out the Knights 3-0.

Despite CHS’s early-season success against the Knights, Carlsbad High head coach Mike McGaha says he expects their clash with Organ Mt. to be a tough one.

“They’ve got a lot of depth on their pitching staff. Add to that, at the top of their rotation, they’ve got three of the best hurlers in the state,” said McGaha. “In a series, that gives them a huge advantage.

“Those three pitchers are Alex Venegas, Brennan McNiece, and Zekel Varela, and they throw the ball very well,” said the Caveman pilot. “Also throwing well for them is their centerfielder, Rey Ponce. A reliever, he has a really strong arm.”

Carlsbad expects to counter with hurlers Wade Cozart, Evan Ortiz, Eloy Lopez, and Mike Davis.

“Although we’ve had some problems on the mound this season, as of late, things have begun to come together for us,” said McGaha. “Our kids have been throwing well. So, I like our pitchers against their hitters. Having said that, we’ll also lean a lot on our defense, which has been playing well.”

At the plate, CHS will be led by third baseman EZ Lopez, who is currently hitting .397, and Brock Wright, who’s batting .371.

Organ Mt. will be led by Alex Venegas and Ryo Rivera. During the 2026 regular season play, Venegas hit .400, Rivera 378.

With a victory over the Organ Mt. Knights, the Cavemen would advance to the state tournament quarterfinals in Albuquerque on Thursday, May 14, to take on the winner of the Hobbs vs. La Cueva first-round game.

Tale of the Tape

Here’s how the Cavemen and Knights will match up as they take the field in the best-of-three winner-take-all series.

Cavemen Leading Hitters: EZ Lopez .397, Brock Wright .371, Jayden Carter .367, Ricardo Herrera .333, and Wade Cozart .312.

Cavemen Pitching Staff: Wade Cozart 7-1 with an ERA of .982; Evan Ortiz 6-1 with an ERA of 4.66; Eloy Lopez 1-1 with an ERA of 9.917; and Mike Davis 0-1 with an ERA of 4.964.

Knight Leading Hitters: Alex Venegas .400, Ryo Rivera .378, Osvaldo Arras .352, Rey Ponce .343, Diego Acosta .341, and Sean Estenson .304.

Knight Pitching Staff: Alex Venegas 4-1 with an ERA of 1.86, Brennan McNiece 3-2 with an ERA of 4.02, Zelel Varela 2-1 with an ERA of 3.50, and Rey Ponce 2-1 with an ERA of 1.1. (MaxPreps Stats)

Cavemen 10, Hobbs 5

The Cavemen closed out regular season play in Hobbs on Wednesday, April 29, with a 10-5 victory over the Eagles. The win left them unblemished in District 4/5A play at 6-0. Results below:

CHS @ Hobbs

April 29, Wednesday

CHS 2 1 1 2 3 0 1 10

HHS 0 0 0 0 0 4 1 5

Leaders: Eloy Lopez, 0-3, 3R, RBI; EZ Lopez, 1-4, R, 2RBI; Jayden Carter, 2-3, R, RBI, 2BB; Wade Cozart, 2-3, 3RBI, BB; Aren Hernandez, 1-2; Brock Wright, 1-2, 2R, BB; Connor Roerson, 2-4; Ricardo Herrera, 1-4, R; Mike Davis, 1-3, R, RBI; Extra Base Hits: B. Wright, 2B; M. Davis, 2B: HBP: B. Wright, E. Lopez, SF-M. Davis; W. Cozart, SB; M. Davis, W. Cozart, WP; Evan Ortiz, 5in-3H-4R-4ER-3BB-4Ks; Eloy Lopez, 2in-1H-1R-0ER-0BB-0Ks. (Game Changer Stats)