The Cardinals (3-0) mercilessly continue to make the Bears pay, year after year, for that 2006 game at Isotopes Park in which Estancia beat Eunice 7-5 for a state high school baseball title, and for the Bears' win in their state semifinal game in 2007, in which Estancia eliminated Eunice 10-3. The Bears won back-to-back Class 2A crowns in those seasons.

Eunice's latest retaliation came on a blustery Saturday afternoon at the Torrance County seat, when the Cards clobbered Estancia 17-5 in six innings.

Since the Bears last won state three years ago, Eunice eliminated Estancia from the 2008 postseason playoffs, via a 7-2 score in the state semifinals. And the Cardinals beat the Bears, which didn't qualify for state last year, 6-5 in a regular-season game in Lea County on March 14, 2009.

Their latest matchup was Estancia's season opener.

"Eunice is a very tough team," Bears coach Mike Cabber said. "But I was very impressed by how our kids started out. We were just a little raw, but we're going to get better. And these kids want it this year. They want to get better. They're going to be a good team."

Estancia did do well, in the beginning. The Bears jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning.

Junior shortstop Lawrence Chavez, the first batter of the game, smacked the ball into right field, and it got past the outfielder, possibly helped by the undulating ground out beyond the newly refurbished infield. Chavez sped around the bases in what should have been a single and turned it into an error-aided inside-the-park home run. Six batsmen later, Justin Cabber, the coach's son, drove in Juan Dominguez and Jonathan Chavez.

The Cardinals tied it in the top of the second, but the Bears scored again, also in the second, when junior pitcher Destry Oberg's single to center field sent Dominguez home. Estancia regained the lead at 4-3.

There was a scary moment in the first inning. The Bears starting catcher, Isaiah Sedillo, was up to bat when he was hit in the helmet by a fastball from Cardinals pitcher Shane Thomas.

Sedillo immediately bent over and grabbed his head, and he wobbled some before sitting on the plate. The officials and Mike Cabber rushed to his aid.

Sedillo sat there for a few minutes, with the adults hovering over him. They checked his eyes before helping him to his feet and assisting him to the dugout.

Jonathan Chavez came in as a courtesy runner to replace Sedillo on first base.

"It hit in the ear hole," said Sedillo, a 5-foot-6, 170-pound junior. "It's swollen like a (wrestler's) cauliflower."

The catcher quickly returned to action, though he did sport an ugly red scrape on his left ear, and the entire ear was puffy and distorted.

The beginning of the end for Estancia came in the fourth. Eunice scored five runs in the inning, for an 8-4 lead, and Isaac Sanchez replaced Oberg to get the last out against the ninth batter.

The Cardinals scored three more runs in the fifth, and six in the sixth. The Bears' fifth run came in the fifth inning, when Lawrence Chavez smashed a home run over the right-field fence.

"We're a little shaky right now," said Chavez, who was a star shooting guard for Estancia's boys basketball team. "We definitely need the practice."

Moriarty

The Pintos (3-3) got a payback victory of their own Tuesday, when they defeated Albuquerque High 11-0 in five innings at the Bulldogs' field. The win in the first round of the Albuquerque Public Schools Metro Championships consolation quarterfinals followed an earlier 5-3 loss to AHS in the third-place game of the Goddard-hosted Southwest Baseball Classic, played on the New Mexico Military Institute's fields in Roswell on Saturday.

"We finally started hitting the ball," Moriarty coach John Ruben said. "We definitely got our sticks going in that one."

In addition, Pinto Chris Fischer, a senior pitcher, is honored as the State Farm Insurance player of the week in today's Albuquerque Journal.

Moriarty's victory over Albuquerque High followed its 4-3 loss at Valley on Monday in the first round of the Metro tourney.

In the Pintos' other Goddard tourney games, Moriarty beat El Paso Del Valle 4-0 in the first round March 11, but lost 7-3 to the host Rockets in the semifinals Friday. Fischer had 13 strike outs against the Texas squad.

Others

Manzano (4-4) defeated St. Pius 5-4 on the Sartans' field Monday in the first round of the Metro competition Monday. The Monarchs fell 25-2 at La Cueva in the Metro quarterfinals Tuesday.

The Monarchs' other results: Cleveland defeated Manzano 10-6 in Rio Rancho on March 9, La Cueva beat Manzano 13-1 on the Bears' diamond March 11, and the Monarchs got by visiting West Mesa in both games of a doubleheader, 5-4 and 4-1 on Saturday.

East Mountain's opening twin bill at Capitan, which was to have been played Friday, was postponed due to the weather. EMHS coach David Naylor is trying to reschedule it.

Manzano at Sandia High in winners-bracket consolations of APS Metro tourney: today, 4 p.m.

Moriarty at Albuquerque Academy in consolation semifinals of APS Metro Championships: today, 4 p.m.

East Mountain vs. Clayton in first round of Tucumcari Invitational: Friday 9 a.m.

Estancia hosts Dexter, Tuesday, 3 p.m.