In the 5A baseball arms race, La Cueva's arsenal is second to none
This is not a universal truth, but let’s just say it’s got a foothold in the 95th-percentile: At the end of a high school baseball season, it becomes an arms race as much as anything else. Who has the pitching to survive the upcoming three-day sprint to the finish? The Class 5A state tournament, which renews on Thursday, is a fascinating case study.
This bracket is stocked with elite front-line starters and a good number of outstanding No. 2’s behind them. But the third-seeded La Cueva Bears own an edge no one else can quite match.
The Bears have three bona fide aces. And not just any three, but three Division I signees — historically, this is practically unheard of for any high school program in New Mexico — in Dylan Blomker, Everett Burdett and Luke Feist. Two of them, Blomker (LSU) and Burdett (Oregon State) are bound for power conference programs; Feist is staying home to be a Lobo.
“It’s awesome to be a part of this group,” Burdett said. This imposing trio combine to give La Cueva (25-3) nearly 19 feet of gifted right-handed pitching as Week 2 of the playoffs begins on Thursday at Santa Ana Star Field and the Riordan Complex. “These guys each have a different piece to them,” Bears coach Gerard Pineda said.
“It’s a really nice group to have, but they’re a little different in how they approach the art of pitching. ” Blomker, Burdett and Feist have 21 combined victories, but the data pulls back the layers. The 6-foot-4, 215-pound Blomker, who could very well turn pro before this summer is over, has been handed the pearl for many of La Cueva’s highest profile games.
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