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Belen Eagles advance to face top seed in state softball
Mike Powers| News-Bulletin photosBelen junior Rylee Salome dominated the field to win her third straight 4A State Golf Championship.
BELEN —After several first-round playoff disappointments in recent years, Belen smashed through into the quarterfinals of the 4A State Softball Championships.
In a play-in game Friday at No. 8 BHS, the Eagles (18-9) handled ninth-seeded Valley, 6-2, to earn a showdown Thursday against top seeded Gallup.
“A great win,” is how BHS coach Oscar Medrano described the victory over Valley, where he coached for 17 years. “I love Valley. I was there for so long but I tell you what, I’m a Belen Eagle now, and we’re moving forward.”
Belen never trailed but managed only six hits. One of those hits was a long home run by Denae Chavira, a senior.
“It was right down the middle. She missed her pitch, and I sent it to center field,” Chavira said.
Lorissa Scott went the distance pitching for Belen, spreading out seven hits, striking out four while not walking any Viking batters, which was not easy in very windy conditions.
“I was focusing on accuracy, not as much as how hard I was throwing it,” Scott, a junior, explained.
Valley (18-9) was threatening in the sixth inning when Medrano went to the mound to talk to Scott.
“I think he was really nervous,” Scott said about Medrano, and the visit “helped him more than me. I wasn’t ever nervous.”
A belief in oneself and the team is something Medrano says he’s been preaching from the beginning.
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“I’ve believed in them all year long,” the first-year Belen coach said. “It just took them a while to understand what I saw as a coach.”
That belief will be needed when the Eagles take the field Thursday against Gallup.
“Gallup’s a tough team but I think we’re going to give them a run for their money,” the coach said.
“I’m looking forward to the challenge. I want to play the best,” Medrano added.
The first pitch in the double elimination tournament is 9 a.m. Thursday at Cleveland High School.
Los Lunas Tigers
The season ended Friday for No. 11 Los Lunas in a 5A play-in game at sixth-seeded Carlsbad (18-9), losing 9-0 to the defending champions.
Cavegirls ace Kalion Fuentes was masterful on the bump, giving up just two hits while striking out 15 batters.
LLHS has most of the lineup returning next season from a team that went 17-8, but coach Patrick Ortiz will need to replace senior standouts Sarah Love, Aleigha Romero and Dominique Jiron.
