Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
PORTALES — The Portales Lady Rams have reached the state softball finals three times under Robbie Crowley, the only coach in the program’s 19-year history.
Crowley said she feels pretty good about where her squad is with the third seed in this year’s 12-team Class 4A event, which begins today in Rio Rancho.
“We’re excited,” she said. “I’m happy with where we’re at.”
The top four seeds in the double-elimination event draw a first-round bye. The Lady Rams (18-7) will face either sixth-seeded Shiprock (14-8) or No. 11 Ruidoso (10-16) in a second-round matchup at 2:30 p.m. at Rio Rancho Cleveland High School.
They’ve faced Ruidoso four times in District 4-4A play, winning three of them. The Lady Rams have not met Shiprock.
The team to beat is top-seeded Silver (21-5), which has won seven titles in a row and beat the Lady Rams in back-to-back finals (2011 and 2012) in what was then Class 3A.
“I like where we’re at,” Crowley said. “If we play well, we have just as good a chance as anybody.”
State baseball — Three area teams continue their bids for state titles after winning round-of-16 games last Wednesday.
Defending Class 3A champion Texico (22-3) takes on No. 9 Tularosa (13-10) in the first of four quarterfinal games today at Cleveland. In Class 1-2A at Rio Rancho High School, defending champ Melrose (10-8-1) takes on District 4/1-2A rival Floyd (19-4) in a 1 p.m. matchup.
Texico cruised to a 16-0 win over Loving in the round-of-16. If the Wolverines win, they will meet either McCurdy or Raton in a 4 p.m. semifinal.
Meantime, Floyd is seeded No. 2 in the 1-2A field behind Lordsburg, while Melrose is seventh. The winner faces either Gateway Christian or Mesilla Valley in the semis, at Cleveland, at 10 a.m. on Friday.
Championship games will be at Isotopes Park in Albuquerque on Friday — 1/2A at 9 a.m., and 3A at noon.
