ENMU grabs juco pair from Laredo

PORTALES — Eastern New Mexico University’s softball team will head into battle next spring with two new weapons in its arsenal.

Pitcher Leslie Reyes and second baseman Karina Moreno, both of Laredo Community College, committed Thursday to pitch for the Greyhounds, beginning in 2018.

Reyes is expected to compete for a rotation spot after posting a 2.54 ERA and 97 strikeouts across 129 1/3 innings for LCC last spring.

She also provides some offensive pop, hitting .317 with two homers, five doubles and 12 RBIs in 120 at-bats last season.

Moreno could start at second, or perhaps elsewhere in the field, coming off a season in which she excelled both offensively and defensively for LCC. She batted .314 with a home run, a triple, five doubles and 15 RBIs in 105 at-bats, and notched a .949 fielding percentage.

“Both of them have a great opportunity to earn their playing time,” Eastern softball coach Katie Welborn said. “I think they both will earn that time if they show up the way I know they can.”

Welborn says based on LCC’s tough competition and how each player fared against that competition, they were worth bringing into the fold. Reyes’ pitching against that caliber of opponents especially jumped out at Welborn.

“Leslie had a bang-up sophomore season at Laredo Community College,” Welborn said. “So for her to hold her own, I knew she could really help our program.”

Moreno didn’t jump out as much — at first, anyway.

“We almost missed out on her,” Welborn said. “I’m so thankful that we didn’t. She’s the kind of player who can fit anywhere you need her to. She’s the kind of player who could be the key to the program without really knowing she’s the key to the program.

“I think she could play outfield if we needed her to, but I think infield is more in her wheelhouse.”

That versatility made Moreno a valuable commodity to interested four-year programs. For Reyes, it was tenacity.

“She knows what adversity looks like,” Welborn said, “and she knows how to come back from that. She knows how to win.”

Welborn calls the players “a winning combination”, and they will try to be just that as the Greyhounds attempt to turn around from last season’s overall record of 20-36, 10-20 in the Lone Star Conference.

“I’m excited about both,” Welborn said, “and about all our new players. I think each one of them brings something that we were missing last year.”