Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Lady Tigers could face top seed in second tourney game Thursday

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

Los Lunas It's has been a long road for the Lady Tigers softball team to travel, and an even longer road back from the state tournament in Farmington.

Los Lunas wants to erase the memories of the last two years' postseason playoffs by losing in the second round to Sandia in 2006, and leaving in the first round of 2007.

In last year's state tournament, the fifth-seeded Tigers lost to No. 12 Hobbs in the first round, 5-0.

This year, the Tigers (17-9 overall, 9-3 in 5-5A) are seeded No. 8 and meet No. 9 seed Mayfield (16-10 overall, 7-5 in 3-5A) for the first round of the double-elimination state tournament at 10 a.m. on Thursday at Rickets Field 2. Teams play twice on Thursday, win or lose, so the Tigers will take on either top-seeded Cibola or 16th-seeded Albuquerque High at 6 p.m.

Dropping to the consolation bracket means teams must play extra games to earn a shot at a championship, while two wins on Thursday means a team would only have to win one game on Friday to advance to the title game.

"I was hoping for a No. 6 or No. 7 seed," LLHS coach Paul Cieremans said. " As a No. 8 seed team, we play a higher seed team of equal caliber. A No. 6 seed team would play a No. 11 seed team. By playing a higher (number) seed team, you have a better opportunity to win against that team."

Mayfield and Los Lunas played against each other in the Las Cruces Invite on March 14, which the Tigers won 12-9.

"We're optimistic and look forward to playing Mayfield," Cieremans said. "We're going to have to show up to play. We know what to expect from them. They know what to expect from us."

Los Lunas has five seniors with state tournament experience. Pitcher Adri Gabaldon and catcher Heather Kline have the most experience at the state level. This will be Gabaldon's and Kline's third straight trip to the tournament.

Mayfield is comprised of mainly underclassmen, with only one senior.

"The younger players are hungry," Cieremans said. "We're going to have to be hungry also."

The Tigers have been more successful at home than on the road this year, with an 8-2 home record, winning their last eight games played at LLHS.

Los Lunas beat Cibola 3-1in the first round of the 2006 tournament and advanced to the second round, but the Cougars' 25-1 record this year includes a 6-3 win over the Tigers."It's a tough road to win it all," Cieremans said. "Every year, we want to win it all. Everybody wants to go all the way. We're looking forward to it. We're happy to be going to state and make the community proud."

More information about the state softball tournament is available at nmact.org/softball_state_info.

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