Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Lady Eagles' easy win sets up Class 5A showdowns

La Cueva and Cibola, then Del Norte, come to BHS

Duane Barbati News-Bulletin Staff Writer; dbarbati@news-bulletin.com

Belen Before going into District 5-4A competition next week, Belen High School softball faces two tough teams this week against perennial contenders at the Class 5A level.

The Lady Eagles go head to head with the 2007 Class 5A champion Cibola on Saturday, but first must face the second-ranked La Cueva Bears on Thursday.

La Cueva visits the 5-1 Eagles on Thursday for a 6 p.m. game; Saturday's showdown with Cibola is set for 10 a.m.

Belen's first opponent in their last week of preparation for district is La Cueva. The Eagles were set to travel to Los Alamos on Tuesday after News-Bulletin press time.

La Cueva, the 2005 Class 5A champions, had a 7-2 record after falling 7-1 to Cibola on Saturday in the finals of the APS Farmers Invitational. The Bears are ranked No. 2 in the Albuquerque Journal's recent coaches poll. La Cueva has standout pitcher Lauren Goldfarb and senior Michelle Archuleta behind the plate.

La Cueva was set to host a struggling St. Pius team late Tuesday.

Cibola started 10-0 this season, won the Farmers Invite title, and is ranked No. 1 in a recent Albuquerque Journal coaches poll. The Lady Cougars were set to host Los Lunas on Tuesday after News-Bulletin press time.

Cibola is led by returning lefthanded junior pitcher Missy Martinez and several other returners. Martinez had 18 strikeouts in the 5A title game victory over Sandia last season, and struck out 11 La Cueva hitters in the Farmers Invite final.

"We're just getting ready," said Ken Zamora. "One game at a time. We're going to be practicing hard all week."

Belen had an easy 15-0 win against Capital on Saturday in a game that was called in the third inning because of the mercy rule. Justine Gallegos (1-0), filling in for Eagle workhorse pitcher Catherine Baca, allowed only a second-inning single and two walks to get her first win of the season.

In the bottom of the first inning, Belen jumped all over Capital starter Ana Juarez and took advantage of the Jaguars' errors, sending 14 hitters to the plate. Gallegos and Taylor Vigil started the inning by drawing walks. Rhianna Trujillo reached on an error by Capital's shortstop, which scored Gallegos.

Casey Stambaugh walked to load the bases. RaeAnn Chavez hit a 2-RBI double, making it 3-0, and Tomasita Smith grounded out to second to score Stambaugh. A triple by Kassia Cano plated Chavez to make it 5-0.

The Eagles' biggest barrage came in the second inning after loading the bases again. Chavez hit her second double to clear the bases, making it 8-0. Chavez, Cano, Gallegos, Vigil and Jasmine Gabaldon would all come in to score in that eight-run inning. Chavez finished with five RBI on the day — on two swings of the bat.

The Eagles, who were 5-4A runners-up last year, open district play Tuesday, April 1 by hosting Del Norte, the team they swept in a playoff-clinching doubleheader last May.

E-mail this story Printer-friendly version