Rio Rancho High School softball coach Paul Kohman made a wise decision Thursday afternoon: He postponed his team’s game against the top-ranked Cibola Cougars.

Because the ferocious wind was blowing so hard at 1:30, Kohman said he couldn’t even see the Sandia Mountains. And although the wind, gusting into the 50 mph range, subsided a bit by game time (4 p.m.), fans and players alike were happy to be out of the wind. Kohman said the game has been re-scheduled for April 18, again at 4 p.m. at the Eagle Ridge softball complex.

The defending Class 5A state champion Cougars (17-0, 2-0 in District 1-5A) have been riding the arm of junior southpaw Missy Martinez and an offense that has scored double-digit runs in a dozen games so far n and a dozen contests cut short by the 10-run “mercy rule.” Cibola swept the Rams last season and has won the last four meetings between the two rivals.

The Rams (7-8) are coming off a two-game skid, losing the second game of a twinbill at Farmington last Friday and then self-destructing in their 1-5A opener at West Mesa on Tuesday.

Rams 6, Farmington 1: A six-run explosion in the fourth inning paved the way for the first Rams’ win over the Scorpions in three meetings this season.

Farmington, which beat the Rams 3-1 last month in the Kristin Griego Memorial Tournament’s championship game, managed only six hits, five of which were singles, off Caldwell.

Shelby Ripple socked a three-run homer in the outburst, while the team’s other Shelby, Pendley, added two RBIs and wound up going 3 for 4 at the plate. Ripple went 2 for 3 in the contest.

Eighth-grader Jordan Bruere had the Rams’ other hit, as they were out-hit 7-6 in the game.

Farmington 6, Rams 5: Rio Rancho put a 4 on the scoreboard in the fourth inning, taking a 5-3 lead, but it didn’t hold up, as the hosts pulled within a run by scoring once in the sixth, then won the game with a two-run seventh.

Pendley again went 3 for 4, clouting a pair of solo homers.

Ripple’s double was the only other extra-base hit. Julie Santillanes, Caldwell and Celina Johns also had a hit for the Rams, out-hit by a healthy 12-7 margin by the Scorpions.

West Mesa4, Rams 3: Seven errors played into the Rams’ fate Tuesday, when they out-hit the Mustangs 9-5 but left nine girls on base.

Pendley again went 3 for 4, smacking two doubles and a three-bagger.

Caldwell, who drove in two runs, plus Santillanes, Christen Miller, Bruere, Johns and Shannon Garcia added a hit apiece.

Bunts: The Rams were ranked eighth in the Class 5A coaches poll last week, one spot above West Mesa. Between No. 1 Cibola and the Rams are, in order, Oñate, La Cueva, Carlsbad, Sandia, Alamogordo and Los Lunas. Mayfield rounds out the top 10.

… The Rams are busy this week, with three 4 p.m. home games: Gallup on Tuesday, West Mesa on Thursday and the Coogs on Friday.