Northern New Mexico schools out of state softball championships

Still no state softball championship for Northern New Mexico schools, 41 years of frustration as Santa Fe Indian School and Las Vegas Robertson bow out to set up Cobre against Silver in the final

Last time in the finals for the north was St. Michael’s in its heartbreaking 2008 setback to Bloomfield

 

By Arnie Leshin

It’s been going on since softball began its state tournament in 1976, and it continued when Santa Fe Indian School and Las Vegas Robertson were bounced from the current 4A field this week.

The balls were white, now they are yellow, the bats are better now and so are the gloves. Still, Northern New Mexico has yet to win a state softball championship.

It has had schools in the finals, the last being St. Michael’s losing to Bloomfield in 2008. Two years prior, the Lady Horsemen made its first appearance in the final and lost to Grants. Before that, Indian School made it to the finals five times, the last in 1993. In 1982 and ’83, it was West Las Vegas, and in 1985, Los Alamos gained the final.

Nothing, nada, zero, not one state title in the 41 years of play. Through these years, it’s been schools from different parts of the state hoisting the blue trophy, and schools from the north always waiting for their day.

In 3A and 4A since 2001, four schools have won state. That’s Grants, Cobre, Bloomfield and Silver, which has won the last six times heading into today’s title contest against district rival Cobre, the 5^th seed.

The top-seeded Colts (25-6) finished first in 3-4A and turned back runner-up Cobre, 2-0 and 8-1 during the regular season. But when they met in round two Wednesday, it was the Indians winning 5-3 to sent Silver into the loser’s bracket and snap its 12-game win streak.

This sent the Colts into a win or go home, so they triumphed over 10^th seed Indian School (12-0), 4^th seed Bernalillo (2-1) and 3^rd seed Portales (5-0).

Now they must win twice to bring on a deciding game later in the day. Cobre stands at 21-8, has won seven-straight overall, and it and Silver have taken 10 state titles each.

The Indians won all of three of their starts to reach the final. They blanked Bernalillo, 1-0, surprised Silver, and shut down Portales, 8-0. They now find themselves within a win of their first championship since, and the Colts must win twice to keep their streak alive in 4A. Cobre has won four-straight and Silver three in a row and four of its last five.

As for Indian School, it had to play four times. It won the play-in, single-elimination contest at 7^th seeded West Las Vegas, 8-7, than lost 10-0 to 2^nd seeded Robertson. In the consolation round the Braves stayed in play by edging 11^th seed Ruidoso, 15-14. But their season came to an end when Silver shut them out.

West Las Vegas is another northern school to reach the final before bowing out. The Dons got that far in back-to-back 1982 and 1983 seasons. Meanwhile, Cobre and Silver have both been in 15 finals, not including this one. Bloomfield, which did not qualify this time, has played in 14 finals, winning eight.

St. Michael’s had two tough finals in getting there. Versus Grants, it held a 2-run lead going into the bottom of the seventh inning. But back-to-back misplays brought Grants a 6-5 victory.

In the tense final against Bloomfield, the Lady Horsemen had to come out of the loser’s bracket after losing a one-run game to Indian School. Win or go home it was, and they went on to take four in a row while needing to defeat Bloomfield twice. St. Michael’s won the first game, but its pitchers were tired by now and the 9-3 setback ended a remarkable run.

This time, the Lady Horsemen did not earn a berth at state. Neither did Capital in 5A or Santa Fe High in 6A.

Will Northern New Mexico ever win state softball? Stay tuned, for it would be its first and would end all the years of waiting.