Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Softball splits pair in Rio Rancho
PORTALES — While there's not enough recorded history to absolutely, positively verify it, Friday likely marked the first time the Portales Rams have ever played the Wampus Cats.
Not all firsts are good, though. The team from Atoka, Oklahoma, proved it by slugging its way to a 16-6 victory to open the Portales Invite on Friday morning.
Ronnie Lowry went 3-for-4 with a homer, a double and six RBIs to lead a 17-hit attack for the Wampus Cats (7-3), a mythical mountain lion used as a mascot by five high schools in five different states.
Hunter Wyrick went 3-for-5 with a pair of homers and four RBIs, while Dawson Graham went 5-for-5.
There wasn't much to celebrate for the Rams, who committed six errors and fell behind 13-0 after three innings.
"It started in the first inning," Portales coach Dusty Nusser said of the Ram troubles. "I don't know how many of the runs were earned; I don't think any of them were. After that, they hit the ball extremely well. They got the momentum and ran with it.
"They're a small school in Oklahoma. They play a lot of baseball and they take a lot of pride. Obviously, they're willing to drive all that way to play down here, which says something about them."
Portales (3-3) did manage to extend the game to six innings with a four-run fourth. The Rams managed five hits on the morning, led by Josiah Lucero's 2-for-2 day and Jordan Garcia going 1-for-3 with a solo homer.
The Rams play a pair to close out the invite today — at 12:30 p.m. against Cobre and 5:30 p.m. against St. Michael's.
Softball splits — In Rio Rancho, it was one step forward, one step back for the Portales High softball team. The Rams played a pair of 5A clubs Friday, moving briefly to .500 with an 8-5 win over Valencia before dropping an 8-2 decision to Lovington.
Portales (2-3) has suffered all three of its losses to the Wildcats (8-2), who scored eight unanswered runs in the fifth and sixth innings after the Rams posted a 2-0 lead in the top of the fifth.
"We played really well against Valencia and we were playing well until the fifth, obviously," Ram coach Nathan Dodge said. "That inning started with an error, and it kind of snowballed from there."
Wendy Baeza pitched all 13 innings on the day for Portales, allowing 10 hits to the Jaguars and 12 to the Wildcats. Alexis Garcia went 3-for-6 over the two games with a pair of extra-base hits, while Devyn Lopez went 1-for-2 in the opener with three RBIs.
Portales faces Roswell today at 9 a.m., and will play at either 11 a.m. or 1 p.m. against an opponent to be determined.