The Capital High School Lady Jaguars got a rude awakening, April 4, on their road trip to Española Valley High School, which resulted in a 14-0 loss.
They entered the game with a 9-2 record and atop the 5A District 2 softball standings, but the Lady Sundevils looked like the best team in the league, that day.
Española improved to 4-11 overall, but also moved to 2-0 in district play.
“That was one of the best games I’ve been apart of in a long time,” Lady Sundevils head coach Robert Garcia said. “The first half of our season has been a preparation for this moment and we did it.”
They were able to accomplish it in just five innings, due to the New Mexico Activities Association’s 10-Run Rule — which states that “A game shall be terminated after five innings if one team is ahead by 10 or more runs.”
The Lady Sundevils started fast and were able to move ahead 4-0, after the first inning. Alexia Garcia started things off with a double and was eventually sent home by Haley Ortega’s RBI single.
Later in the inning, Kaitlynn Madrid extended the lead with a two-run RBI triple that sent the Española dugout into a frenzy.
“It was extremely important to get things going early,” Madrid said. “We talked about it in practice as well, that we needed to up our game and stick together as a team. We needed to stay up the entire game, and staying up and excited in the dugout is what really helped us.”
It would only get louder once the third inning rolled around.
After shutting out Capital to that point, Española exploded for eight runs in the inning, to all but put the game away for good.
Not only did it last nearly 20 minutes, but a total of 15 players made their way up to bat. Capital replaced pitcher Alex Hernandez after hitting Lady Sundevil Leah Lujan square in the back, with a pitch.
Arianna Almeida took over on the mound, but it would only go further south for the Lady Jaguars. Española only had only one hit in the inning, but capitalized on Capital’s many mistakes.
Almeida proceeded to walk six players, hit another and accounted for two wild pitches, after she took over the pitching duties.
“It was a combination of us being patient at the plate, but they made plenty of errors that we benefited from,” Robert Garcia said. “That’s just part of the game.”
The Lady Sundevils added two more runs in the bottom of the fourth, to push the lead to 14 and bring the 10-run rule into effect. Therese Lujan and Alexia Garcia got on base, then Elena Gonzalez sent them home on an RBI triple to seal the game.
Afterward, Robert Garcia huddled his team and urged them to continue their focus and preparation for Saturday’s doubleheader at Los Alamos, which is another district opponent.
“Lets continue this on Saturday,” he said. “We’re gonna have to do it twice, but we can do this.”