On Friday, May 12, the #8 seeded Academy Chargers varsity baseball team scored a strong victory over the #5 seeded Artesia Bulldogs in the State Championship semifinal by a score of 6-1. The Chargers dominated every aspect of the game at the Jennifer Riordan Sports Complex in Albuquerque.

Academy proved why they were a championship-caliber team: the Chargers provided superb pitching, were aggressive on the base paths, executed every defensive play and ground out long at-bats.

The first two innings were scoreless as both the Chargers and Bulldogs pitched well and made all of their defensive plays. Both teams appeared to be even.

When it was the Chargers turn to bat in the top of the 3rd inning, however, things began to change. Academy quickly brought out the wood.

Luke Laskey ’24, Satish Raichur ’24, Mathew Delaney ’25, and Mark McNaney ’24 all contributed to the Charger’s big 3rd inning rally as they all accumulated hits. Raichur, McNaney, and Ryan Williams ’26 all drove in a run each, helping the Chargers score four in the inning.

4-0, Chargers.

Raichur threw a pitching gem, not allowing his first hit until the bottom of the 4th inning when he gave up an RBI double.

The Chargers still led 4-1.

That RBI double would be the last hit for the Bulldogs the whole game as Raichur retired the next eleven batters in a row. Raichur threw a complete seven innings, throwing a one-hitter and giving up just three walks.
“I’m super excited about my pitching performance today,” said Raichur after the game. “I thought my best pitch was definitely my fastball. I threw a lot of strikes, and I thought it was very firm.”

In the 7th and final inning, Williams smoked a scorching line drive down the third base line, driving in two more runs with a double. This provided two big insurance runs for the Chargers, and they led 6-1.

Academy continued with their fine defensive play to seal the win.

Head Coach, Chris Alexander was pleased with his team’s overall performance in this semifinal.

“We had a great performance on the mound by Satish Raichur. He gave up one hit and threw 110 pitches against a really good hitting team. We played solid defense as well. We also had some really good timely hitting like when Ryan Williams hit that big two out, 2-RBI double late in the game. That put the game away for us.”

Then Alexander addressed what he thought his team could improve on before the big championship game on Saturday (May 13th).

“I thought we played pretty well, but there’s always something you could do better,” he said. “I feel like we could be a bit more aggressive on the mound and be more aggressive at the plate. Sometimes, we take a strike three at the plate and we need to take a swing there. But overall, we’ve been playing pretty well the last four state tournament games, so if we can keep that up, I’ll be happy.”

Delaney and McNaney led the Chargers in offense, both collecting two hits. Williams led Academy in RBIs, knocking in three runs.

The #8 seeded Chargers play the championship game at Lobo Field, facing off against their rivals, the # 2 seeded St. Pius X Sartans, who defeated Academy last season.