LLHS, BHS seek district softball titles

Los Lunas  

It comes down to this.  Again. Los Lunas (16-6, 8-0) hosts Albuquerque High (19-5, 8-0) Saturday in a doubleheader for the District 5-5A softball championship.   

In 2023, the two squads played each other under similar circumstances to end the regular season, with the Bulldogs sweeping two games and knocking the Tigers out of playoff contention.   

The Tigers’ Natalie Madrid, then a freshman, remembers it painfully well. “Last year I lost my tooth against them,” Madrid said. “I slid into home and got my tooth knocked out.  It went right through my lip.” The result was a root canal.  

Madrid’s smile has returned, leading LLHS in several categories including batting average, runs batted in, hits and doubles.  

“She’s on a roll right now,” said LLHS coach Patrick Ortiz. “She’s swinging a hot bat, coming on clutch when we have runners on.”  

Sarah Love, senior, and freshman Haidyn Garley are among those who have also added “pop” to the lineup.  

On the mound, Brooke Baca has been solid for the Tigers, who have posted three consecutive shutouts.  

“She’s just a dominant pitcher,” according to Madrid, who is number two in the pitching rotation. “She’s working her pitches, working her spots really well. Her speed is really good.”  

At the end of March, Los Lunas sported a pedestrian 6-6 record. Since then, the Tigers have reeled off ten straight victories.  What happened?    

Ortiz said LLHS learned from playing some of the best 5A teams in New Mexico during a Rio Rancho tournament.  

“These are the top teams and we competed with them,” Ortiz said of Carlsbad, Cibola, Piedra Vista and Hobbs.”  “We lost to Hobbs 8-6. I think it got the girls’ confidence up. ‘Hey, we can play with these top teams.’”  

That leads the Tigers back to Saturday’s doubleheader against AHS.  A sweep would give Los Lunas a district title while a split would put a tiebreaker in play. Losing two games might put 13th ranked LLHS into a precarious position for the postseason.   

“We’re looking for that rematch,” Ortiz said. “Yeah, the girls have that in their minds, want to get a little revenge.   

“Albuquerque has a really good hitting team,” Madrid points out. “If we have good defense, we’ll be perfectly fine– we work together, work hard to get our goal because we all want to win district. We all want to get to state.”  

The first game on Saturday is at 10 a.m.   

 

Belen  

After Tuesday’s 20-0 road victory over Grants, Belen (16-9, 6-1) is tied with St. Pius (16-5, 6-1) for the District 5-4A lead. BHS concludes the regular season Thursday at home against Valencia while Friday St. Pius hosts Highland.  If Belen and St. Pius remain deadlocked, a tiebreaker will decide the district champion. The two teams split earlier this season, with a run differential of exactly the same, 15-15.   

    

Valencia  

The Jaguars (5-16, 4-3) wrapped up their home schedule Tuesday with a 17-2 victory over Highland. Thursday, VHS is at Belen.