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In 2-6A, Santa Fe High dropped its 10th in a row after being blanked twice in a doubleheader played at Albuquerque Manzano on Saturday
By Arnie Leshin
The scene was set and the Capital High softball team welcomed it.
It took the field at home Saturday morning carrying a grudge, 16 straight defeats, and with the team responsible for this in the visitor’s dugout for the District 2-5A doubleheader.
Yes, the Jaguars hadn’t beaten Espanola Valley since 2012, and for the next six years the Sundevils dominated them. The first time they met up at Espanola this season, Capital head coach Sig Rivera said it was one of his team’s worst games. The end result was a 14-0 setback. The Sundevils were outhit 7-3 and were aided by four Capital errors.
But after the 9-2, 13-0 sweep before the usual Jaguar faithful, Rivera changed his tune.
“They were great, probably the best doubleheader they have played in my two years.” he said in regard to his team. “And in every way possible,
pitching, fielding, hitting, baser running. Everybody pitched in.”
And you can add chanting, for that’s the way the fired-up Jags played the two games, in the field and in the dugout. They never stopped.
Even Espanola head coach Robbie Garcia tossed some compliments Capital’s way
“I told Coach Rivera,” he said, “that I knew we were lucky to win the game up at our place, and the turn of events today proved it. They really handed it to us in every way.”
And this was with the Capital prom that night. But Rivera had told his players not to talk prom, just play these games and play them well, that we’ve got a score to settle.
In the opener, it was 5-0 quickly when the Jaguars pushed across five runs in the bottom of the second inning. They added four more in the third, and their defense made but one error. Otherwise, they were super in both games.
Freshman right-hander Marley Cardenas started in the circle and went the distance. She allowed two runs and four hits, and the pair in the third frame was all that the visitors scored for the day. She had only one strikeout, but was around the plate throughout and didn’t issue any walks.
In the second game, Rivera put senior righty Arianna Almedia in the circle and she went all five innings, striking out three, walking one, and allowing only three hits. Of course many of the tough outs were handled by her defense.
Sophomore Emma George, the starting catcher, continued her chili-hot batting. In the first game, she went 2-for-3. In the closer, she singled twice and clouted a bases-loaded double in the 4-run fourth inning. That put the score at 13-0 and the mercy-rule would be applied if the Sundevils didn’t score at least four runs in the top of the fifth.
About everybody in the Capital lineup swung well. There weren’t many strikeouts thrown their way. They hammered out nine hits and took advantage of some Espanola miscues (four) and a number of base on balls, seven in all.
In game two, the defense played errorless ball. Senior centerfielder JoJo Bowannie caught every ball hit her way, either going back, back or racing forward, she handled it well.
Junior shortstop Yamille Cota made some dandy plays and always fired the ball straight to senior first baseman Alex Mares for the out. She bobbled one hot shot, but quickly grabbed the ball and threw a dart to Mares.
Then there was the remarkable play in game two by junior right fielder Sylvia Pincheria. With a runner on second, her heroics came on a low line drive hit to her left side that she reeled in as she fell, then got up, turned around and threw a strike to second base to double up the runner.
Bowannie had three hits in the second game, including turning a double into a triple when the outfielder bobbled the ball. Her team played the same way, taking the extra base and stealing some.
Espanola had no answers. It dropped to 3-6 in district and 6-18 overall. Its dugout was relatively quiet through both games.
And Capital upped its overall record to 14-6 and 6-3 in district, just ahead of 7-4 Albuquerque Academy, and two games behind first place Los Alamos (8-1). The Jags are home to the Chargers Wednesday in a clash for second place.
The Sundevils went with sophomore Autumn Vigil in the first game and she went the route. In game two, it was senior Elena Gonzales working the first three innings before being relieved by freshman Estrella Martinez.
The opener went an hour and 45 minutes, the closer five minutes less. Due to the prom, the games were changed to 10 a.m. and noon, an hour less than originally scheduled.It didn’t matter to the Jaguars. Their mission was to sweep. No brooms, just hitting, fielding, pitching, base running and chanting.
. . . Santa Fe High wasn’t as fortuneate. It traveled to its District 2-6A doubleheader at Albuquerque Manzano and returned with a pair of mercy-rule setbacks, 16-0 in the opener and 15-0 in the closer to extend its losing streak to 10-0.
Overall, the Demonettes are 3-20, while winless in six district games. Manzano advanced to 12-9 overall and 4-2 in district. Santa Fe High wraps up the regular season with a visit from Abuquerque Eldorado Saturday,
