Red-hot Bernalillo tops Raton

Red-hot Bernalillo tops Raton, 5-3, for the Roseanne Noedel Memorial softball tournament championship Saturday at the St. Michael’s Christian Brothers Athletic Complex Fifth place goes to Capital High in a 11-1 victory over host and neighboring rival St. Michael’s

By Arnie Leshin

For the second year in a row, it was Bernalillo making off with the first place trophy at Saturday’s final day of the Roseanne Noedel softball memorial tournament at St. Michael’s with a 5-3 success.

Now 7-1, the Spartans got away to a 4-0 lead and depended on ace hurler Shauncey Masawiestewa, who had held the Tigers to but two hits and walks through the first four innings.

But in the fifth, Raton took advantage of a single, three walks and an error to cut the gap to 4-3. But the Spartans added on another run and that’s how things wound up as the Tigers dropped to 2-1. Masawiestewa set down the final six batters.

In Capital’s 11-1 triumph over St. Michael’s for fifth place, it was freshman Marley Cardenas, who was with the junior varsity last season, hurl the entire five innings of the shortened contest. She pitched her way out of a bases-loaded, no out jam in the fourth inning, than retired the final Lady Horsemen batter with runners on first and third.

It was the fifth win seven outings for the Jaguars, while St. Michael’s dropped to 1-2. Head coach Sig Rivera’s team broke out to a 10-run lead and the Lady Horsemen tried to cut into it in the fourth. With one down, back-to-back singles by Karissa Baca and Reyna Leyba and a walk to Rhiannon
Salazar is what put Cardenas in a hole.

But she responded by getting Athena Archuleta to pop up to second base and then struck out Jodi Gromley.

The Jags’ hitting was led by sophomore catcher Emma George. Also a member of the cross country and wrestling teams, she had a 3-for-4 game and scored in the six-run second inning when Capital took advantage of four hits and two errors.

An infield single by George sent another run across the plate, and she scored again on an outfield three-base error that brought a 5-0 advantage. Lynnsey Glidewoek did the pitching for St. Michael’s and miscues did not help her.

Prior to this, the Jaguars suffered a pair of five-inning mercy-rule setbacks, one 10-0 to Los Lunas and the other 13-0 to Bernalillo. The Lady Horsemen began its season under second-year head coach Billy Purdue, Jr., in this tournament.

Third place went to Albuquerque Academy (7-4) in a 9-7 win over Espanola Valley (2-5). The seventh place winner was Pojoaque Valley (2-4) in a 19-16 football score over Moriarty (1-6).