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Thursday, May 15, 2008

Local Squads Ready for State

By Harold Smith
Mountain View Telegraph
      Jennifer Inocencio hit her second home run in as many games as the Moriarty High softball team, in a warm-up for the state Class 4A double-elimination tournament, defeated Eldorado, the 5A tourney's No. 14 seed, 13-3 in five innings at the Thomas J. Schnell Complex on May 8.
       Inocencio said her coaches worked with her on her hitting a lot since last season, just with little things like “keeping my hands back.” Now, according to Lady Pintos coach Brett McWilliams, the 5-foot-4 center fielder and handy backup pitcher is leading the team with three homers, including a walkoff 3-run version to win Moriarty's final District 5-4A contest against St. Pius on May 3.
       “And I'm very confident of my teammates,” Inocencio said. “We could go far at state. We could even get a state championship. We just have to stick together.”
       Morgan McWilliams was the winning pitcher versus the Eagles. She went the distance as consistently feisty winds whistled through the backstop.
       The Pintos got a standup triple from Sonya Chavez in the first inning with a poke to deep center field. Rheanna Smith also hit a triple on a rip to left field that scored Rigney Turnham, and the play turned into an error-aided inside-the-park home run.
       “They did very well,” Brett McWilliams said. “I wasn't too happy that we gave up two runs in the first inning. But we hit the ball well, and hit the ball hard.”
       Moriarty heads into state-tournament play with a regular-season record of 18-8. They were 11-4 in district for third.
       The state competition begins today at Ricketts Park in Farmington. No. 8 Moriarty will face ninth-seeded Roswell High (15-11) in a first round game, which means the Pintos probably will meet top-seeded Farmington Piedra Vista (24-2) in the second round at 8 p.m. today.
       McWilliams wasn't pleased with his team's seeding by the New Mexico Activities Association selection committee on Sunday.
       “I don't like it,” he said. “I'm going to talk to Gene Pino (an NMAA assistant director) about it. I don't like the system they have. Look at Española (Valley). They were never in a top 10 poll all season, and yet (the Sundevils are) seeded higher. But because they won a weak district, they're seeded seventh. They got 10-runned by Grants, which finished last in our district.”
       But the double-elimination format means Moriarty will still be in it even if they happen to lose in the early going to the No. 1 Panthers.
       “It's going to be a long, hard-fought tournament,” McWilliams said.
       Pintos senior Kathleen Nixon, the leadoff hitter, paces Moriarty with a .505 batting average. She is followed by Inocencio (.405), Turnham (.387) and Chavez (.373).
       Morgan McWilliams has a 0.94 ERA with 142 strikeouts in 134 innings. She earned a 17-7 record.
       The Farmington area will host the three-day state tourney for all three softball classes through Saturday.
      
       Moriarty baseball
       The Pintos fell to Class 5A No. 2 seed Rio Rancho 2-0 at neutral Manzano on Saturday. Moriarty recently added the late-season game to its schedule as a preparatory for the state tourney.
       The Pintos, seeded No. 6 in 4A, will host the 11th seed, Kirtland Central, in a best-two-out-of-three state first-round series on Friday and Saturday. Moriarty has a 17-9 overall record and was 10-5 in district.
       “I think we got what we deserved (by the seeding committee) as the third-place team in district,” Pintos coach Michael Chavez said Monday.
       The KC Broncos' record is 14-12. They are in District 1-4A with No. 1 Farmington High (16-8).
       “Kirtland plays in a tough district, and they played some close games in that district,” Chavez said.
       If Moriarty wins this weekend, it will advance to the quarterfinals, where the Pintos will play either third-seeded Roswell Goddard or No. 14 Silver at 11 a.m. Wednesday on Eldorado's diamond.
      
       Manzano baseball
       The Monarchs (12-14, 5-7 in District 5-5A) are in the state Class 5A tournament as the 15th seed in a 16-team field. They will play Rio Rancho (23-3) in a first-round series at the Rams' park on Friday and Saturday.
       “Sure, it's baseball; anything can happen,” said Manzano coach Jim Briggs when asked if it was in the realm of possibility his unit could beat Rio Rancho. “We've got to be able to take advantage of situations, and we're going to have to be able to hit the ball, and we're going to have to be able to make some plays.”
      
       Manzano softball
       The Lady Monarchs (11-15, 9-3) are seeded No. 12 in the girls' 16-team 5A double-elimination tournament. They meet No. 5 Las Cruces Oñate (18-6) in a first-round game today. Cibola (25-1) is the top seed.
      
       East Mountain softball
       The Lady Timberwolves (17-3, 4-2 in District 2/1A-2A) are seeded No. 6 in 2A's eight-team double-elimination tourney. They will play third-seeded Jal (15-6) in a first-round game today.
       Loving (16-5) is the top seed.
      
       Estancia softball
       The Lady Bears, who weren't invited to the big dance, fell 18-8 to Sandia Prep, Class 3A's 13th seed, at the Sundevils' field on Friday. The contest wrapped up the 2007-08 season for EHS, which finished with a record of 6-14, 2-4 in District 2/1A-2A.
      

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