Cavemen Out! Drop 2 of 3 to Cibola

By Don Eskins

For the Carlsbad Cavemen, the 2025 baseball season is officially over. In a best-of-three series, during the first round of the state tournament, CHS fell to the Cibola Cougars 2-1. The series took place in Carlsbad at the Tom Forni Cavemen Corral on May 9-10.

The Cavemen didn’t go down easy, and with a little luck, they could have moved on to the state quarterfinals in Albuquerque. But, in a series filled with some of CHS’s most uncharacteristic play, they just weren’t able to get it done.

Carlsbad dropped the series opener 8-4 and rallied to win game two 8-3 before dropping game three 9-8.

“We had a few breakdowns in areas that have been our strengths for most of the season. But that’s baseball, and sometimes those things just happen,” said Cavemen head coach Mike McGaha. “Unfortunately for us, they came during the first round of the state tournament.

“But we didn’t lose for a lack of effort. These kids battled hard right up until the end. I’ve never been more proud of a group of kids,” said McGaha. “Down 7-5 in the bottom of the seventh of the third and deciding game, our kids ran into the dugout full of confidence. They felt like they could still come back to get the win, and to their credit, they almost did.”

The Cavemen vs. Cibola Series

Game 1: Never really on track, Carlsbad fell prey to the Cougars 8-4 in Game 1 of the series. Down 4-1 after the first inning and 8-2 after four, the Cavemen were unable to find the spark they needed to come back.

Overall, CHS collected eight hits. Leaders at the plate were Garrett Fuentes, 2-3 with a double and two RBIs; Ryley Hernandez, 2-3 with two runs scored; and Wade Cozart, 1-3 with a double. The Cavemen committed four errors in the game.

Saddled for the loss was Aden Quintela.

Game 2: After watching Cibola jump ahead 3-0 in the top of the first inning of Game 2, the Cavemen rallied to even the score up at 3-3 in the bottom half of the opening frame.

CHS scored two more in the second inning and another two in the third, while keeping the Cougar bats in check, to grab a commanding 7-3 lead after just three innings. Carlsbad went on to add an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth en route to the 8-3 victory.

Swinging the biggest bat for CHS was Wade Cozart, who went 3-3 with two runs scored, a double, and a triple. Also picking up multiple hits, two each, were Eloy Lopez, Aden Quintela, and Garrett Fuentes. Two of Fuentes’ hits went for extra bases as he logged a double and a triple.

On the mound for the win was CHS hurler Jonas Molinar.

Game 3: Up 4-1 after four innings and seemingly in control, the Cavemen appeared to be on their way to the quarterfinals of the state tournament. But there were still three innings of baseball left to play, and the Cougars took advantage of it.

Cibola rallied to put four runs on the scoreboard in the top half of the fifth and grab the lead at 5-4. However, the Cavemen pushed three runs across the plate in the bottom half of the inning to retake the lead at 7-5. Neither team could manage a run during the sixth inning.

However, in the top half of the seventh, CHS couldn’t silence the Cougar bats. Cibola scored four times in the frame to go up 9-7.

Carlsbad battled back to close the gap to 9-8 but couldn’t manage to get another run across the plate.

CHS gathered in nine hits in the loss. Tops at the plate were Garrett Fuentes, with two runs scored and one RBI, and Eloy Lopez, 2-3 with three runs scored. Also swinging big bats were Wade Cozart, 2-4 with one run scored with three RBIs, and Aden Quintela, 2-4 with two runs scored and two RBIs.

Taking the loss was Wade Cozart.

The Cavemen closed out the year with a 22-7 record. On Monday, May 12, MaxPreps had them ranked sixth in Class 5A baseball.

Box Scores: Game 1

Cibola 4-0-0-4-0-0-0--8

C-bad 1-0-1-0-2-0-0--4

Game Stats: Eloy Lopez 1-2, 1RBI, 1BB; Garrett Fuentes 2-3, 1R, 2RBI, 1BB; Gus Risher 0-1, 1RBI, 1BB; Tanner Collins 0-1, 1BB; Wade Cozart 1-2; Jayden Carter 1-3; Ryley Hernandez 2-3, 2R; Jonas Molinar 1-3, 1R; Extra Base Hits- Garrett Fuentes 2B; Wade Cozart 2B; Stolen Bases- Wade Cozart, A Hernandez; Eloy Lopez 2: Pitching Anthony Hernandez 3.1in-1H-0R-1BB-3K’s; A. Quintela (LP) 8R-6ER-1BB-2K. (Stats by GameChanger)

Game 2:

Cibola 3-0-0-0-0-0-0--3

C-bad 3-2-2-0-1-0-x--8

Game Stats: Eloy Lopez 2-3, 2R, 1BB; Garrett Fuentes 2-4, 2R, 2RBI; Aden Quintela 2-4, 1RBI; Gus Risher 1-4, 1R; Tanner Collins 1-4, 1R; Wade Cozart 3-3, 2R, 3RBI; Connor Roberson 0-2, 1BB; Jonas Molinar 0-2, 1BB: Extra Base Hits- Doubles Garrett Fuentes and Wade Cozart; Triple Garrett Fuentes: WP- Jonas Molinar 5in-7H-3R-3ER-4BB-7K: Eloy Lopez 2in-0H-0R-0ER-1BB-3K. (Stats by GameChanger)

Game 3:

Cibola 0-0-0-1-4-0-4--9

C-bad 1-0-3-0-3-0-1--8

Game Stats: Eloy Lopez 2-3, 3R, 1BB; Garett Fuentes 2-3, 2R, 1RBI, 1BB; Aden Quintela 2-4, 2R, 2RBI; Wade Cozart 2-4, 1R, 3RBI; Gus Risher 0-1, 1BB; Tanner Collins 1-3, 1BB; Connor Roberson 0-0, 1RBI: Stolen Bases Garrett Fuentes, Aden Quintela, Eloy Lopez 2: Pitching- Nick Sandate 0.1in-0H-0R-0ER-0BB-0K; Eloy Lopez 2in-3R-3ER-1BB-1K; (LP) Wade Cozart 4in-7H-5R-5ER-3BB-6K; Gus Risher 0.2in-2H-1R-1ER-0BB-0K. (Stats by GameChanger)