Gaining state glory is how all senior athletes want to go out, but finishing a career on a high note against a rival is not a bad thing, either.
Española Valley senior pitcher Aliah Villalobos did just that with a remarkable and noteworthy walk-off performance against Pojoaque Valley that will provide some wonderful memories.
Softball
April 28
Mora 23, McCurdy 4; Mora 14, McCurdy 4
The host Lady Bobcats (4-16, 0-7 in District 2/5-1A/2A) got a double from Isabella Perio and singles from Arianna Maestas, Jaira Mendoza and Ryah Romero to help score four runs, but it was not enough to overcome the Rangerettes.
April 30
Mora 18, McCurdy 3; Mora 20, McCurdy 5
May 2
Española Valley 15, Pojoaque Valley 1; Española Valley 20, Pojoaque Valley 0
Villalobos closed out her career in style, chucking a five inning no-hitter that just missed being a perfect game by one walk against the host Elkettes (2-23, 0-12 in District 2-4A). She also drove home four runs while hitting for the cycle with a home run, triple, double and single. Teammate Alyssa Lomayma added three hits and four RBIs as well. Alison Paytiamo drew the walk for Pojoaque. In the opener, Española’s Nayleah Martinez homered while driving home four runs and Villalobos had three RBIs. The Elkettes’ Adaya Garcia drove home Arrybella Berry after her fourth-inning single.
Baseball
April 28
Mesa Vista 27, McCurdy 22; McCurdy 14, Mesa Vista 1
This was not just another ho-hum winning of the district 5-2A championship for the Bobcats (11-11-1, 10-5-1), who needed the win in the second game of the last-day doubleheader to clinch the title and a berth in the state tournament Friday. The host Trojans (4-14, 3-13) put a hurting on McCurdy in the opener with Jordan Gallegos driving home three runs and Aaron Chavez and AJ Sandoval each adding to two to top the Bobcats, who got four RBIs from Isaac Corona and three from Ethan Martinez. But McCurdy rebounded with a strong effort on the mound from Ethan Bolton, who only allowed three hits and struck out seven, while Corona, Ryan Valdez and Joshua Vigil provided the run support with two RBIs each.
May 2
Pojoaque Valley 10, Española Valley 4; Pojoaque Valley 13, Española Valley 3
The host Elks (8-18, 4-8 in District 2-4A) broke open a tied game in the bottom of the sixth inning with six runs in the opener of a doubleheader. Ezekial Atencio led Pojoaque with three singles and four RBIs while also scoring twice, as did Josh Martinez and Jeremy Rendon. Christopher Granillo had an RBI single for the Sundevils (4-22-1, 0-12). In the second game, José Lujan had three RBIs to along with a double and triple for the Elks and Sebastian Trujillo drove home two for Española.
Tennis
Española Valley
April 29
Olivia Suazo won an automatic berth into the Class A-4A individual state tennis tournament by rolling through the District 2-4A state tournament in Taos, not losing a set and beating Robertson’s Mariana Armijo 6-4, 6-3 in the championship match. In doubles, the sister duo of senior Gabriela Fulgenzi and freshman Sofia Fulgenzi also did not lose a set and beat Santa Fe Prep’s Simone Harvey-Romero and Rhys Harvey 7-6 (7-1) and 6-2 in the championship match to also earn an automatic state tournament spot.