Piedra Vista wins first state title in 12 years for Farmington
Piedra Vista turned a seven-run fifth into a 10-0, five-inning title rout, giving Farmington its first blue trophy in 12 years.
Piedra Vista seized control early and never let Cleveland back into the game, then buried the finale with a seven-run fifth inning that sent the Panthers to a 10-0, five-inning victory and the 2026 Class 5A state championship at UNM’s Lobo Field in Albuquerque.
The win ended a 12-year wait to bring another blue trophy back to Farmington and gave Piedra Vista its first big-school baseball title. For a program that had last played for a state championship in 2018, when it lost the Class 6A final to La Cueva, the result marked both a return to the top and a rare mercy-rule finish on the biggest stage.
Junior shortstop Eliyas Barton, who is Navajo, provided the final out and the emotional release that followed. With one out left before the mercy-rule win was complete, Barton fielded a ground ball, briefly bobbled it, then dove to second base to force the runner and trigger the celebration as teammates poured onto the field. Barton called the moment “so amazing” and said the team had been great all year.
Piedra Vista did not arrive at the title game by accident. The Panthers entered the tournament as the No. 4 seed and finished 27-4, then beat Rio Rancho 4-2 in the semifinal to reach the championship round. Cleveland advanced by beating Carlsbad, setting up a final that looked tight at first but swung hard when Piedra Vista broke it open in the fifth.
Coach Jeff Kiraly said, “We got hot when it counted, and we finally peaked at the end.” That late surge defined the Panthers’ run, from the semifinal win to the decisive inning against Cleveland, and it gave San Juan County one of its most visible athletic programs a championship that fit the moment. Farmington Public Schools and Piedra Vista High School both publicly congratulated the team, underscoring how quickly the result became a community milestone.
The championship also tied the present team to the school’s earlier title run. Piedra Vista’s previous state crown came in 2014, when it beat Goddard 7-6 in Class 4A. Twelve years later, the Panthers returned to the top again, this time with a five-inning rout that left no doubt where the trophy was going.
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