Rams rally to sweep Hope Christian

PORTALES — Portales pulled a rare feat in prep softball Saturday — the 17-run swing.

The Rams, down 11-2 in the second game of their District 4-4A doubleheader against Hope Christian, flipped the script with a 14-run fourth inning and kept on scoring to notch a 20-12 victory at Wheeler Park.

The win, combined with the 11-6 opening win, puts Portales 6-0 in district and back to .500 for the first time since March 24. They'll host Clovis in a Tuesday doubleheader with a chance to be over .500 for the first time this year.

"No (I've never been a part of something like what happened in Game 2)," Rams coach Nathan Dodge said. "We had a game where we were down 9-0 at Rio Rancho in the fifth inning and scored 17 runs over the last three innings. But I've never been down by nine runs and then turned around and scored 14 in that same inning."

Before the madness of the bottom of the fourth inning, the Rams had to navigate through madness in the top of the inning. Tied at 2-2 to start the fourth, Acacia McDonald's single to right field scored Rhianna McKinney to put the Huskies back on top.

McDonald then appeared to be tagged out running towards second base on a Katie Clark groundball, and was originally ruled out. However, she kept running toward third base and eventually, Hope Christian protested the out.

The umpires got together and called her safe, much to the ire of Dodge. The umpires ruled that second baseman Abi Cameron did not have the ball in her glove when she tagged McDonald, but rather, in her opposite hand, away from the runner.

Dodge then had another discussion with the umpires after Bela Davis Olague's RBI single to right field. Olague tried for second and got caught in a rundown - she appeared to be tagged out while sliding back into first base, but the umpires once again said the runner was tagged with a glove, but no ball.

That led to a Portales meltdown of sorts, as the Rams gave up six more runs, while committing four errors. However, Rams players huddled after the top of the fourth and had a discussion, and that's when a little magic happened.

Pinch hitter Mikaela Montiel drove in Lillie Saiz on a single up the middle, before a Sarah Lovato bunt single loaded the bases. Devyn Lopez' single past short brought in another run, before Cameron's double scored Lovato to make it an 11-6 ballgame.

Despite a Hope Christian pitching change, the Rams' small ball approach on Saturday afternoon continued to work wonders. An error by Olague at shortstop brought home two more runs, before base hits from Nicole Laurenz and Saiz cut the deficit to 11-10.

Jeulize Chavez' liner past third put the Rams on top, 12-11. Despite a third pitching change by the Huskies in the inning, Portales was not quite done. A Lopez sacrifice fly brought home Chavez, and a two-run double by Kim Hay increased the Ram lead to four runs. Finally, Garcia had a standing triple to give Portales a 14th run in the inning.

In all, the Rams batted around twice, plus one, as 19 Portales hitters combined for 14 runs on 13 hits. "When we were here last time, it was the same way. It was a lot closer, but still this same thing. Anything's possible in any of these games. We still have two more games to get with each other, and it's gonna be a battle," Hope coach Tom Davis explained.

"(We just got to) keep doing what we're doing. It's always about sticking with the fundamentals, understanding the game and how it works. The players are learning everyday and this helps. We'll take this to heart and learn from it. But, the girls have lots and lots of softball ahead of them."

As for Game 1, it too was back and forth - at least for a little while. Portales quickly went ahead with three runs in the first inning, but Hope quickly countered with four in the second, thanks to an Adrianna Garcia wild pitch.

Portales, however, erased a 5-3 deficit with four runs in the third, as Cameron's single to center field scored Micaela Garcia and Laurenz. As for Adrianna Garcia, she showed perseverance in both games, making adjustments in the first game to earn a complete game victory, while being re-inserted into the second game in the fifth inning, allowing just one more run over the final three frames.

The Huskies dropped to 10-9, with a 4-2 overall mark in district.

Despite the slow 3-9 start to 2018, it doesn't really surprise Dodge to see his team thrive in district action to this point.

"I think we always had it," Dodge said. "We give up those big innings late, but we're now showing what we can do and we're hanging on to those leads."