Saturday, March 29, 2008

Lady Tigers give Cibola a fight

LLHS opens 5-5A play on Thursday

Jason W. Brooks News-Bulletin Staff Writer; jbrooks@news-bulletin.com

Albuquerque Los Lunas Lady Tiger fans' hearts might have skipped a beat as their softball team battled the top-ranked and undefeated defending state champions.

In the end, Los Lunas came away with a 6-3 loss to the Lady Cougars, but they also take some momentum into their first District 5-5A game and the knowledge they scored more runs against the 11-0 Cougars than any other team this season.

It was their final tune-up for District 5-5A play, which begins Thursday, April 3, when the Tigers travel to Manzano.

"In a sense I'm happy about the score," said LLHS coach Paul Cieremans. "Without a few mental mistakes and a few baserunning errors, we could have been in a position to win the game."

Los Lunas (8-6) played solid defense for the most part, and pitcher Adri Gabaldon walked only three Cougar batters and pitched out of some tough jams. Facing imposing lefthander Missy Martinez and a team that haven't lost since last April, the Tigers fell behind early on Tuesday, and missed some golden offensive opportunities.

In the top of the first with one down, Devonne Martinez reached on an error after laying down an excellent bunt. The next batter, Heather Kline, belted a shot toward right center field. Martinez was already around second base when Cibola centerfielder Erika Santillanes snagged Kline's drive and easily doubled Martinez off first base to end the inning.

The aggressive base running by both teams seemed to benefit the hosts more, as the Cougars took advantage of Tiger mistakes in the bottom of the first. Two LLHS errors and a bad throw that could have been an out at home led to a 3-0 Cibola lead.

Missy Martinez struck out 12 Tigers in the game, nine swinging, and her repertoire included high heat and a nasty off-speed pitch. Los Lunas pulled to within 3-2 in the top of the third. Alicia Gabaldon was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, and a single by Kline plated Gabaldon and Gabby Pino.

Adri Gabaldon, who only had one strikeout in the game, gave up a two-run single to Tara Bunch in the third. Tiger leftfielder Jackie Candelaria threw home to Kline to tag out a hesitant Bunch at the plate later in the inning for the third out.

Candelaria also doubled Cibola's Cheyenne Crum off first base on an exciting play in the fourth. Crum led off with a bunt single, and after Val Sandberg's blooper was caught by Candelaria in shallow left field, the freshman fired to first to nail Crum. She made the throw to the sound of Cieremans yelling "No, Jackie, no."

Cibola coach Gene Victor called the play "lazy" and "ridiculous" on behalf of his player, but later commended the Tigers' play. "Los Lunas didn't have any lack of effort," said Victor. "They're a good ballclub. They have nice base running, good pitch selection, and their defense was there when they needed it."

Latania Eltsosie slugged Gabaldon's first offering of the fifth inning over the centerfield fence for a solo homer and the Cougars' final run.

Down 6-2 in the top of the sixth with no outs and runners on first and second, Gabaldon kept her team in the game again. She got two hitters to hit grounders that resulted in force outs at third, then got Eltsosie to hit a high fly that Candelaria grabbed near the fence in left to end the inning.

The Tigers rallied in the top of the seventh for a run, aided by two Cougar errors. Candelaria reached on a shortstop error and stole second, taking third when Missy Martinez bobbled Jennifer Garcia's grounder. She scored on an infield hit by Jocelyn Sexsmith, but with two out and two on, Pino struck out to end the game.

The Tigers will have had eight consecutive days off when they face Manzano. Cieremans said the usefulness of that time would depend on how it's utilized.

"If you work hard, then (the time off) is a good thing," he said. "If you don't, it isn't."

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