Cavemen Fall to Cleveland in State Semifinal

By Don Eskins

Carlsbad High came up just short of realizing their dream to bring a state championship back to the Cavern City in 2026, following an 11-2 loss to the second-seeded 27-4 Cleveland Storm during semifinal round action of the Class 5A New Mexico State Baseball Tournament in Albuquerque on Friday, May 15.

Riding high and hopeful after upsetting the third-seeded 25-4 La Cueva Bears 10-2 during quarterfinal round play on Thursday, May 14, the Cavemen, seeded sixth, could never really get anything going against the Storm.

But despite the loss, the Cavemen, who got off to a 4-5 start in 2026 and struggled throughout much of the season in search of an identity, ended their season on a high note.

“These guys have battled all year and overcome a lot,” said Cavemen head coach Mike McGaha. “My staff and I couldn’t be more proud of a group of young men.

“We took this ride for about as far as we could. But even at that, we did have our opportunities against Cleveland,” said coach McGaha. “However, watching our season come to a close was disappointing.

“As for me, I wasn’t so disappointed about losing—or losing the way we did,” said the CHS skipper. “I was disappointed for our kids because I know they expected to play much better against Cleveland.”

The Cavemen, down 4-0 at the top of the fourth, pushed their first of two runs across the plate on an RBI single off the bat of third baseman Wade Cozart. Scoring for CHS was Gael Chavez, in to run for catcher Jayden Carter, who had drawn a walk at the top of the inning.

Down 6-1 in the top of the sixth, CHS scored their second and final run of the game off the bat of first baseman EZ Lopez. Lopez drove in Eloy Lopez, who had singled to open up the inning, on a fielder’s choice.

Swinging the biggest bat for CHS in their 11-2 loss to Cleveland was second sacker Eloy Lopez, who went 2-for-3.

With the loss, CHS closed out 2026 with a record of 19-11. On May 16, MaxPreps ranked them as the fifth-best prep baseball team in New Mexico, barring all classes.

Cavemen 10, La Cueva 2

A one-out RBI single off the bat of Eloy Lopez got CHS on the scoreboard first in Carlsbad’s quarterfinal matchup with the third-seeded La Cueva Bears.

In the top half of the second inning, Lopez drove in Connor Roberson, who had reached base safely on a single, then moved to second on a Ritche Herrera walk.

Up 1-0 through four innings, the Cavemen pushed two more runs across the plate in the top of the fifth on a single by third baseman EZ Lopez and RBI singles by hurler Wade Cozart and left fielder Brock Wright to increase their lead over the Bears to 3-0.

If La Cueva had even a flicker of hope for a comeback, the Cavemen quickly blew it out in the top of the seventh in an inning that even the Bears couldn’t have comprehended.

During the frame, CHS collected seven runs on three hits and six walks and went through three La Cueva pitchers en route to building an insurmountable 10-0 lead.

Collecting base raps during the seventh inning uprising were center fielder Ritchie Herrera with a two-RBI single, second baseman Eloy Lopez with an RBI single, and catcher Jayden Carter with an RBI double.

Five of CHS’s seventh-inning runs were scored with two outs.

Although the Bears rallied in the bottom half of the inning for two more scores to close the gap to 10-2, the runs were far too little and far too late.

The victory belonged to the 19-10 Cavemen, and they were moving on to the semifinal round of the state tournament to take on the Class 5A second-seeded Cleveland Storm.

Leading the Cavemen at the plate (with multi-hits) in their 10-2 win over La Cueva were Eloy Lopez 2-3 and Jayden Carter 2-5. Lopez, Wade Cozart, Brock Wright, and Ricardo Herrera each logged two RBIs. As a team, CHS collected nine hits in 30 at-bats.

State Qt. Final, May 14, 2026

CHS 0 1 0 0 2 0 7 10

LCHS 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2

Leaders: Eloy Lopez, 2-3, R, 2RBI, BB; Jayden Carter, 2-5, RBI; EZ Lopez, 1-3, 2R, 2BB; Wade Cozart, 1-3, 2RBI, 2BB; Brock Wright, 1-3, R, 2RBI, BB; Mitchell Espinda, 0-4, RBI, BB; Connor Roberson, 1-4, 2R, BB; Ricardo Herrera, 1-2, R, 2RBI, 2BB; Mike Davis, 0-3; Extra Base Hit Doubles: EZ Lopez, Jayden Carter, Wade Cozart; HBP: A. Hernandez, B. Wright; WP Wade Cozart, 6.2in-9H-2R-2ER-2BB-10Ks; Anthony Hernandez, .1in-0H-0R-0ER-0BB-0Ks. (Game Changer Stats)

State Semifinal- May 15, 2026

Cbad--0--0--0--1--0--1--0---2

Clev---0--3--1--0--3--4--x--11

Leaders: Eloy Lopez 2-3, R; Jayden Carter 0-2, BB; EZ Lopez 0-3, RBI; Wade Cozart 1-3, RBI; Brock Wright 0-1, BB; Ricardo Herrera 1-2; Mike Davis 1-2; Team 5-23-2RBI; LP Evan Ortiz 4.1in-7H-7R-3ER-1BB-1K; Anthony Hernandez 1in-3H-3R-2ER-0BB-0K’s; Augie Venegas .2in-3H-1R-1ER-1BB-0K’s. (Game Changer Stats)