State

The St. Pius X Sartans stunned the Piedra Vista Panthers in the championship game of the 2013 Class 4A baseball playoffs. The Sartans nipped the Panthers, the three-time defending champions and top-seeded squad this season in the title game Saturday at Lobo Field in Albuquerque, 7-6. To get to the championship round, St. Pius, the No. 7 seed in the tournament, had to knock off No. 2 Goddard in the quarterfinals — which the Sartans did by a score of 8-7 — then top sixth-seeded Albuquerque Academy, St. Pius’ bitter rival. St. Pius pummeled Academy’s Chargers 21-3 to make the championship game. Piedra Vista, of course, topped Los Alamos 17-2 in the quarterfinals Thursday, knocking the Hilltoppers out of the tournament, then came back to thump Santa Teresa 14-1 before being upset in pursuit of its fourth straight title. For the Sartans (20-9), it was their first 4A championship since 2003 and only the fourth time since 2001 that a team from Farmington won the title.  

ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — Two cases of Spanish being banned at New Mexico high school games were examples of a disturbing pattern that needs to be monitored and addressed, perhaps with lawsuits, a civil rights group said Monday. The League of United Latin American Citizens has heard of a least five cases of high school players being ordered this school year not to speak Spanish during games and matches, according to Ralph Arellanes, the state director of LULAC. “The New Mexico state constitution clearly protects Spanish and Native (American) languages so outlawing (them) in any way, we believe, is against the law and we’re not going to stand for it,” Arellanes said. New Mexico Military Institute’s Jose Gonzales was penalized a point for speaking Spanish earlier this month after an on-court official warned him twice to speak only English during a state championship singles match. Sally Marquez, executive director of the New Mexico Activities Association, the governing board for high school sports in the state, said the official was warned not to repeat that action, even though the official was within his right since the association was following the United States Tennis Association rule book during the finals.

The Albuquerque Isotopes were doubled-up by the Memphis Redbirds in the finale of their series Thursday. The Redbirds jumped out to a 6-0 lead after 4-1/2 innings at Isotopes Park. They finished with 15 hits in the ballgame as they topped the Isotopes 8-4. Memphis hit up Albuquerque starter Sean White for 10 hits and 6 earned runs in 4-2/3 innings. Reliever Geison Aguasviva didn’t fare much better, allowing 2 runs and five hits in a pair of innings. Albuquerque attempted to get back into the game, putting up runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings and loaded the bases in the ninth before Memphis’ Victor Marte struck out Tim Federowicz looking to end the contest. For Albuquerque, third baseman Rusty Ryal went 3-for-5 while second baseman Osvaldo Martinez was 1-for-3 with a two-run double. Those two accounted for about half of the Isotopes’ offense Thursday. The Isotopes open up a four-game set tonight against New Orleans. Post-game fireworks will be featured tonight. Game time is 7:05 p.m. Saturday, the University of New Mexico Lobo men’s basketball team will be honored prior to the 7:05 p.m. game. New Lobo head coach Craig Neal will throw out the first pitch. Tickets and information can be obtained by visiting the Isotopes’ website, abqisotopes.com, or by calling 505-924-2255.

The Albuquerque Isotopes topped the Memphis Redbirds in a slugfest Tuesday, 13-7. Catcher Tim Federowicz went 4-for-5 with a home run and a double to lead the Isotopes’ come-from-behind victory. Federowicz knocked in four runs as the Isotopes (14-11) won their second straight over the Redbirds (13-11). The two teams will face off again at 6:35 p.m. at Isotopes Park. Los Angeles Dodger pitcher Chris Capuano is schedule to make a rehab start in tonight’s game.