Wednesday, July 23, 2008

New Mexico state champions!

Enchantment Major Softball takes two of three from Eastdale, heads to Texas

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

As the Little League Major Division softball's New Mexico state tournament reached its final weekend, the burden was on Eastdale, as Enchantment of Los Lunas was in the driver's seat.

It took a perfect performance to stop Enchantment in Saturday's game, but Sunday, Enchantment couldn't be stopped. The ELL softball Majors all-stars busted through with an 8-3 win Sunday in a winner-take-all game to win the New Mexico state title and advance to the Southwest Region Tournament in San Antonio, Texas.

The Enchantment team will be busily fundraising this week, as their first game at Alamo Heights is set for Saturday at 4 p.m. against the Colorado state champion.

"D'Anna Gabaldon pitched for us Sunday, and Eastdale hadn't seen her," said Enchantment manager Lawrence Sanchez. "We knew she wouldn't shut them down completely, but she hit her spots, and we played great defense."

Eastdale, who Enchantment beat 5-3 on Monday, July 14, climbed up from the lower bracket, while Enchantment edged Westgate the following day to move to within one win of the state title. Eastdale eliminated Westgate on Friday, setting up a Saturday rematch with ELL.

That's when Eastdale's Shelby Lucero threw a perfect game as her team blanked Enchantment 3-0 to set up Sunday's winner-take-all game in the double-elimination tourney.

"Our pitcher (Angela Duran) had more strikeouts than her, and we made zero errors," said Sanchez about the Saturday loss. "We hit the ball hard a few times, but right at people."

Duran walked in a pair of runs in the fifth inning, when Eastdale got all three of its runs. Sunday, however, Enchantment would take an early lead against a different Eastdale pitcher and would never look back.

Nikki Hathoot knocked in the first four runs of Sunday's game. She gave her team a 2-0 lead with a two-run single in the top of the first inning, and another in the top of the third as part of a three-run frame.

Meanwhile, Gabaldon was on target with all her pitches, including her effective change-up. By the time Eastdale got two runs in the bottom of the third, Enchantment had been up 5-0.

Both teams scored single runs in the fifth, and the Enchantment group put two more insurance runs on the board in the top of the sixth.

Sanchez said performances by Gabaldon and Hathoot are examples of how the team seems to get a different hero each day.

"It always seems to be someone new," he said.

The Majors are hoping to raise funds for their expensive trip to San Antonio. The winner of the tourney heads to Portland, Ore., for the World Series of Major softball.

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