The Española Valley Lady Sundevils bats didn’t show up May 14 in their opening round game against the Moriarty Lady Pintos at the Class AAAA state softball tournament in Las Cruces.
Moriarty junior Morgan McWilliams tossed a no-hitter as the Sundevils fell 5-0 to the Pintos.
The Sundevils had faced McWilliams and Moriarty earlier in the season at the St. Michael’s Invitational March 27, losing 7-4 in the championship game. McWilliams threw a second no-hitter in the state quarterfinals in a 1-0 win over Aztec. The Pintos lost to Piedra Vista 10-0 May 15 in the semifinals. Piedra Vista went on to win the state championship.
“(McWilliams) was actually hitting her spots really well,” Española coach Robbie Garcia said. “They had done their homework and knew our weakness.”
The weakness was inside pitches, Garcia said. After the Sundevils struggled the first few innings, Garcia told his team to take one for the team.
“I said, ‘Hit it or get hit,’” he said.
The tactic almost worked. The Sundevils loaded the bases in the fifth inning after three Sundevils were hit by pitches, but they still couldn’t score.
Española Senior Renee Roybal took the loss.
“She pitched good,” Garcia said. “The first two runs scored on passed balls.”
The Sundevils finished the season 16-9 overall and 8-4 in District 2AAAA. After winning three consecutive district titles, the Sundevils finished second this season.
“It would have been nice to win district, but Los Alamos (the district champion) was tough this year,” Garcia said. “We achieved our goal of making the state playoffs.”
Española has never won an opening-round game in the state playoffs. The team’s only victory at state came in 2008 against Shiprock after losing to Kirtland Central in the opening round. The 2008 tournament was played under a double-elimination format. This season, the tournament was changed to single elimination.
“That’s the thing about making the playoffs,” Garcia said. “Unless you win the championship, your last game is always a loss.”
It was a tough year for the Sundevils, who lost starting third basemen Robyn Valdez to an ankle injury just before the season started. Roybal (hamstring) and senior first baseman Evelyn Caballero (shoulder) battled nagging injuries. That forced Garcia to juggle his lineup.
“We had to move people around like the pieces of a puzzle,” he said. “We almost got the full package put together by the end of the year. We had a roller-coaster year.”
Roybal and Caballero graduate this month, but Española will return seven starters. Santa Fe High School will join District 2AAAA next season, while Taos will drop out of the district and into Class AAA.
“We’ll have some eighth-graders moving up,” Garcia said. “It’s a building year really. It’s going to be a good battle now that Santa Fe comes in.”