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Thursday, April 12, 2007

Pinto's Aguirre Eastern Bound

By Harold Smith
Mountain View Telegraph
    Josette Aguirre loves to play the game.
    Sometimes, however, it makes little difference exactly what that game is.
    It wasn't uncommon to see the Moriarty High senior, at various times during her prep athletic career, dive for balls and wind up in a heap on the hardwood, only to spring back up with a brilliant smile on her face— even, on occasion, after a foul erroneously went against her.
    But after many seasons competing in track and field, volleyball, basketball, softball and baseball— yes, baseball— she's finally settled on one to begin a collegiate run beginning next school year.
    "I'm actually going to go play softball at Eastern (New Mexico University)," said the 5-foot-2 Lady Pintos outfielder. "It's just an all-around good school. I met with the team. They treated me like I was part of the team right away. It has a nice campus, too.
    "I've heard a lot of good points about Eastern, too. I've never heard anything bad."
    But for now, Aguirre is focused on her final prep softball season. She's in the starting lineup for Class 4A's ninth-ranked Moriarty.
    "Josette Aguirre, everyone knows, is a great athlete," Pintos softball coach Brett McWilliams said. "But what's jumped out at me is how great a teammate she is. She comes to every practice with a smile on her face, gives 110 percent every time and never complains about anything. The other players feed off that."
    Aguirre's performance on the field has been a positive as well. For example, during Moriarty's split at District 5-4A opponent Del Norte on Saturday, she went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI in the first game and then proceeded to go 2-for-4 with a triple, earn four RBI and score a run in the second contest of the doubleheader.
    Uniquely, Aguirre cut her teeth playing in Moriarty's American Amateur Baseball Congress youth league. She played first base and outfield for Rebels coach Manuel Chavez, the father of Pintos baseball coach Michael Chavez.
    Aguirre's transition to softball, as a prep junior, didn't take too long. But it did require some changes in her game.
    "The pitching is way different," she said. "The ball comes down on you in baseball, and it goes straight in softball. You have to change your swing totally.
    "It took about a month to get used to it. I had to stop dipping my shoulder. You do that in baseball, but you can't in softball. It's more of a level swing in softball. You have to adapt."
    Aguirre was a two-year letterman in volleyball. She was a libero on last fall's squad that advanced to the state quaterfinals.
    In hoops, playing the No. 2 or 3 spot, she competed at the varsity level for three years. She threw the javelin— qualifying for state as an eighth-grader— in track and field through her sophomore year.
    "But it was just too hard to do both (track and softball)," Aguirre said. "And I just thought I could go farther in softball."
    Still, she had a particular affinity for basketball.
    "Between basketball and softball, I liked them both equally," Aguirre said. "I really love the intensity of basketball, but I like everything about softball, just everything, making great plays, hitting.
    "I've loved (baseball and/or softball) ever since I was little when I was 5 years old."
    Aguirre was part of the Moriarty softball squad that made it to the quarterfinals at the 2006 state tourney. She would like nothing better to give it a go one more time.
    "We're a very good team," she said. "We're beating ourselves when we do lose. Every run we've given up is off a mistake. If we can get rid of the mistakes, we can really go far."
    Aguirre lives with her parents, Joe and Sarah Aguirre. She has two older brothers, Vicente (29) and Michael (27).
    "I'm going to be a kindergarten elementary teacher," she said. "That's what I'm going to do ... I just love working with kids, that's why."
    Once that day arrives, the tykes better bring their game face— with a big smile like their teacher's— when they come in her classroom.
    MORE MORIARTY
    The Lady Pintos' fingers must have been cold during Saturday's district twin bill at Del Norte.
    Nine errors, according to the Telegraph's scorebook, contributed to Moriarty's 16-7 loss to the Knights in the nippy morning game. Snowflakes dotted the scene like spots on a bad photograph.
    But the Pintos rebounded in the afternoon contest with a 12-10 win in eight innings. Sonya Chavez, who leads 4A in batting with a .526 average, had two triples, a double, three RBI and scored three times to pace Moriarty (10-6, 5-3) in the second game.
    "This year, I knew I had to step up," said Chavez, a 5-8 junior first baseman. "Hitting is contagious. Once one person starts hitting, everyone starts hitting."
    In other district action, the Pintos defeated Grants 13-2 in a home game on April 5. But they lost to district-leading St. Pius 16-1 in five innings, also in Moriarty, on Tuesday.
    "We gave five free bases away in the beginning (and trailed 10-0 in the first inning vs. the Sartans)," McWilliams said. "I think Pius will run the table in our district ...
    "It (unexpected losses) put us against the wall to where we've got to beat Del Norte and Belen (in the second half of district play). If not, we'll be on the outside looking in."
    Pintos softball
    Next Up: Moriarty at Eldorado, today, 4 p.m.