Rams Rio Rancho bound

As long as the Portales Rams bring their bats to the Class 4A state softball tournament, senior shortstop Kailee Ramirez said, they should be all right.

“Our defense is tough all the time,” Ramirez said, “but we have to bring our sticks.”

Ramirez’ bat was already waiting for her Thursday in Albuquerque, on the way to the third-seeded Rams’ trek to Rio Rancho for the eight-team, double-elimination bracket.

link Staff photo: Kevin Wilson

Portales senior third baseman Victoria Cordova practices batting Wednesday afternoon at the Portales High School indoor practice facility. Portales plays Hope Christian at 9 a.m. at Sue V. Cleveland High School in Rio Rancho.

Portales Coach Robbie Crowley, who has been at the helm since Portales’ start as a junior varsity program in 2000, was asked about the most important thing to do at the state tournament.

She said flatly, “Win,” before adding that the most important task was to avoid the consolation bracket altogether, or at least as early as possible.

When Portales plays sixth-seeded Hope Christian today at 9 a.m. at Sue V. Cleveland High School, both teams will move on to a 1 p.m. contest against either St. Michael’s or Silver. But the paths from there are much different:

• The winner will be just two more wins from reaching the 9 a.m. Saturday title game at the University of New Mexico, and three wins from a championship.

• The loser will have to survive four games in the consolation bracket to reach the 9 a.m. title game, then win to force the “if” game at 3 p.m.

Portales (18-7) brings a 10-game winning streak into the contest, but the teams split a doubleheader April 11, with the Huskies taking the opener 4-3 and Portales claiming the nightcap 12-11.

“They’re a good team, and we’re going to have to play tough competition (throughout the bracket),” Crowley said. “They hit the ball really well, and they play tough defense behind their pitcher.”

It was after that doubleheader that Ramirez, who leads Portales with 12 homers this season, noticed her bat was broken. The bat has since been mailed to the factory for warrantied repairs, and her father — Portales football coach Jaime Ramirez — had the bat shipped to a friend in Albuquerque because he wasn’t sure it would arrive in Portales before the team left.

“Our second game (against Hope), we had six homers compared to one in the first game,” Kailee Ramirez said. “If we can continue to hit like we did in that second game, we can do awesome.”

Portales came in seeded No. 1 last year, but Crowley is confident the Rams could surprise teams because six of their losses came to Class 5A and 6A teams and the team is 13-1 against Class 4A teams.

Still, Ramirez doesn’t think the team is coming in under the radar by any means.

“Honestly I think Portales always has a target on its back,” Ramirez said, “But we’re a young team, and some of the girls don’t know there’s a target. There’s a lack of experience, but also a lack of fear.”