Sandia baseball forfeits semifinal win to La Cueva

The Sandia High School baseball team has forfeited their recent semifinal win against La Cueva, which had been a close 3-2 game. This decision comes after it was revealed that one of their pitchers, Adriel Figueroa-Brito, exceeded the maximum allowed pitch count in a three-day period. Figueroa-Brito pitched 17 pitches on Thursday and threw 117 pitches in the semifinal game on Saturday. According to New Mexico Activities Association rules, a pitcher may throw a maximum of 120 pitches over any three days. Sandia's coach, Marc Hilton, admitted there was confusion regarding the rule, saying they misinterpreted it. As a result of the forfeit, La Cueva is credited with a 10-0 victory and will advance to the Albuquerque Metro Championships title game on Monday against Rio Rancho. Sandia, who was looking forward to their championship appearance, will now play in the third-place game against Cibola. Despite the setback, Hilton hopes that there will be clarification in the pitch count rules to prevent similar issues in the future. He expressed disappointment for Figueroa-Brito and the entire team. La Cueva coach, Gerard Pineda, noted the difficulty of the situation but recognized the need to adhere to the rules. In another semifinal match, Rio Rancho defeated Cibola, clinching their place in the title game as well.