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Thursday, April 17, 2008

East Mountain Win Secures Playoff Spot

By By Harold Smith /
Mountain View Telegraph
      Danae Kornegay hit a walk-off, RBI-triple in the bottom of the seventh inning on Tuesday to pretty much ensure the East Mountain High softball team will advance to the state playoffs for the first time in the Lady Timberwolves’ eight-year history.
       Kornegay’s blast to right field scored Aubrie Roots to give East Mountain an 11-10 District 2/1A-2A win over Estancia at Vista Grande Community Center. EMHS rallied for four runs in the seventh.
       “I thought it was gone for sure after I hit it,” said Kornegay, a feisty 5-foot-1 junior catcher. “When I got to third and we had won, I could hardly breathe.”
       EMHS improved to 10-2, 3-1. The Lady Bears dropped to 4-10, 1-2.
       “We weren’t hitting, and we had a lot of errors,” East Mountain coach Denise Whipple said. “But my ladies didn’t give up.”
       Estancia still has a mathematical chance. The top two teams from each of eight districts will qualify, but it will be a long shot for the Bears.
       Estancia will have to win its remaining three district contests, including two against district-leading Española McCurdy.
       The Bobcats have yet to lose in district. They beat the Timberwolves 10-2 in Rio Arriba County on April 10.
       The Bears seemed to have Tuesday’s game in the bag when they scored three runs in the sixth inning to take a 10-5 lead. In addition, Estancia right-fielder Robin Jones made a leaping grab on the run of a Roots fly ball to help hold EMHS to two runs in the sixth.
       “It hurts,” Bears coach Michael Dominguez said. “But you’ve got to play seven innings. The girls played a great game, but we didn’t get the breaks.”
       Timberwolf pitcher Rachel Sanderson had 12 strikeouts, walked six, hit a batsman and allowed five hits. The two EHS pitchers, Riley and Desirae Ortiz, combined for two Ks, 11 walks and gave up five hits.
       Both teams were plagued by errors, committing eight apiece.
       Sanderson, the winning right-hander, was visibly frustrated on the mound in the sixth inning.
       “I was thinking the other girls were losing it for us with all the errors,” a bluntly honest Sanderson said. “But it was more that I was letting them hit off me. But we pulled it out and won. That’s all that matters.”
      
       Manzano
       The Lady Monarchs (6-13, 4-2) got a big District 5-5A victory on April 10 at Eldorado. Manzano won 13-11.
       Lady Monarchs senior Brenda Hearn, who lives in the Sedillo Hill area, did what she could to help her teammates. Hearn, normally the starting first baseman, has missed much of the season due to an ailment that tightens the skin of her hands, and she again was relegated to the bench because of the affliction during the game against the Eagles.
       Hearn, who maintained Manzano’s scorebook during the contest, noted that the scoreboard — reflecting a 12-11 advantage for Eldorado in the midst of the bottom of the sixth inning — was incorrect. Hearn promptly left the dugout to meet with the official scorekeeper.
       After a couple minutes, it was decided the score should be tied at 11, and the scoreboard was adjusted.
       “She’s done so much for Manzano, not just in softball but in volleyball and basketball, too,” Monarchs coach Arthur Samora said. “If it’s not on the field, it’s on the bench, or it’s keeping the scorebook. She’s a gem.”
       Of course, Hearn would rather be playing. But her teammates came through at Eldorado.
       The Monarchs’ East Mountains contingent included Sedillo Hill’s Cassandra Jaramillo, a senior third baseman, and Chilili’s Andrea Quintero, a junior second baseman.
       “We had a lot of errors...,” Quintero said. “But it feels great. We needed this win.”
       Manzano’s Tylor Romero, a freshman right fielder, has an Estancia Valley connection. Her maternal grandfather, Margarito Marquez, lives in Moriarty.
       The Monarchs went on to defeat Highland 12-2 in five innings in district play on the Monarchs’ field Saturday. Los Lunas beat Manzano 8-0 in a district game in Valencia County on Tuesday.
       Moriarty
       The Lady Pintos (12-5, 7-1), ranked No. 5 in last week’s Albuquerque Journal Class 4A coaches’ poll, defeated Grants 16-1 in a District 5-4A game on the Pirates’ diamond on April 10. They also beat Del Norte 11-1 and 10-1 in district play at the Thomas J. Schnell Complex on Saturday.
       Ninth-ranked St. Pius upset Moriarty 3-2 in a district contest at the Sartans’ place on Tuesday.
   

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Softball • Estancia hosts Española McCurdy, today, 4 p.m.
       • Moriarty hosts Eldorado, today, 4 p.m.
       • Manzano at Rio Grande, today, 4 p.m.
       • East Mountain at Jemez Valley, today, 4 p.m.