Los Lunas Tigers Win Home Opener 9-6, Defeating Sandia High School

Seven runs in, Sandia hadn't scored. That commanding early advantage, built on sharp starting pitching from Kaiden Reese, gave the Los Lunas High School Tigers exactly the kind of home-field statement they had been waiting a month to make. The Tigers held on Friday to defeat Sandia High School 9-6 in their first home game of the season, moving to 8-7 overall as they enter District 5-5A play.

The win capped a stretch in which Los Lunas had played exclusively away from home, competing in the APS Metro Tournament and other early-season tournaments through much of March. Senior third baseman Jasiah Byers, one of the lineup's primary threats after homering in earlier road games, put words to what the locker room had been building toward. "The best feeling in the world," Byers said of playing in front of the home crowd. "We wanted to be home and win it for the home crowd. Los Lunas is special to all of us."

Reese's start set the tone early, and the Tigers extended to 7-0 before Sandia began clawing back. The visitors found gaps, connected on timely hits and capitalized on a few Los Lunas miscues to cut the deficit to a single run in the middle innings. For a stretch, the home-opener script threatened to flip. The Tigers steadied, though, outscoring Sandia the rest of the way to close out the three-run final margin.

Head coach Cliff De Graaf acknowledged the month of tournament baseball carried a silver lining, sharpening his roster for the rigors of postseason play. But Friday also meant the return of more ordinary duties. "We finally had to get the field ready for once," De Graaf said, noting the unusual pleasure of mowing the grass and chalking the lines at their own facility.

At 8-7, the Tigers carry real momentum into district competition. The ability to absorb a comeback push from Sandia and still find two more runs reflects depth beyond the lineup's top contributors. Friday's crowd at the Los Lunas baseball field got an early preview of what that resilience looks like when the games start to count.