No. 1 Cleveland Holds Off Piedra Vista in Tense District Playoff

For two hours and six innings, the Cleveland Storm made District 1-5A look like a formality. Then Piedra Vista reminded everyone why this district earns its reputation.

No. 1 Cleveland survived a stunning late surge from No. 2 Piedra Vista to win 9-7 Tuesday at Cleveland High School in Rio Rancho, preserving an unblemished 19-0 record and a 3-0 mark in district play. The final score barely captures how close the Storm came to losing their perfect season.

Left-hander Jacob Vasquez gave Cleveland a strong start on the mound while the offense ignited early, plating four runs in the bottom of the first inning. The Storm kept building from there, operating with the calm, efficient baseball that has placed them at the bottom end of two national top-25 polls this season. By the time Cleveland had stretched the lead to 9-1, the outcome appeared settled.

It was not. Piedra Vista, ranked No. 2 in Class 5A and entering from Farmington, gradually carved into the deficit and pulled all the way back to 9-7, turning a comfortable afternoon into a tense finish that had Cleveland head coach Shane Shallenberger visibly pressing the umpires along the sideline. Xavier Vasquez was on the mound as the Storm worked to close out the Panthers, with Anthony Del Angel, Marcus Abeyta, Anthony Tafoya, and Caleb Budagher among the Cleveland players involved in the game's crucial late moments.

The Storm held, but the six-run swing from Piedra Vista was the closest Cleveland has come to losing all season. Whether Xavier Vasquez's ability to finish games under pressure becomes the differentiator as district play intensifies remains the central question for a Cleveland squad that has otherwise looked unbeatable since opening day.

For now, the record holds at 19-0, and Tuesday's narrow escape against the state's second-ranked program may be exactly the pressure test this roster needed before the postseason arrives.