Cavegirls Cage Hobbs 13-5, Fall to Mayfield 4-2

By Don Eskins

The Carlsbad Cavegirls, as hosts for this year’s first round of the Class 5A State playoffs, split with the Hobbs Eagles and Mayfield Trojans. The series was played on Friday, May 9, at Cavegirl Park.

During tournament play, CHS crushed the Eagles 13-5 before dropping a close 4-2 decision to the Lady Trojans in the Big Dance’s first round of action.

Although his charges didn’t win two, Cavegirl head coach Brian Santo said he felt his girls had played well.

“Our girls, after a shaky first inning against Hobbs, settled down to play some pretty good softball the rest of the way,” said Santo. “They especially swung their bats well, collecting 14 hits, five of them for extra bases, on their way to the win.

“Although losing a close one to Mayfield, I felt like our kids had competed well,” he said. “They hit the ball sharp throughout the night. Unfortunately, it was often right at someone. But we competed, and that was the most important thing.”

Even in defeat, the Cavegirls advanced to the tournament quarterfinals in Albuquerque. In the Duke City, CHS was scheduled to take on 20-7 Atrisco Heritage Jaguars on May 15 in the tourney’s losers’ bracket. On March 27, the Cavegirls edged the Jags 4-3.

Results of quarterfinals game will be posted in the May 23 edition of the Carlsbad Local, as will all other games CHS competes in. The state tournament is scheduled to run through Saturday, May 17.

“Our girls are all excited about moving on to the quarterfinal round of the state tournament. You know, they’ve really come a long way this year. But they’re not through yet,” said coach Santo. “I feel like if they can bring it together and play like I know they can, they’re going to be hard to beat the rest of the way.”

First Round Playoff Recaps

Cavegirls vs. Hobbs: The Carlsbad Cavegirls got a quick wakeup call from the Hobbs Eagles in their first-round matchup of this year’s state tournament. In the top half of the first inning, the Eagles pushed two runs across the plate to grab a quick 2-0 lead. Hobbs was in town, and they were there to win.

Unfortunately, for the Eagles, the Cavegirls got their message, and it woke them up!

Carlsbad’s girls scored one run in the bottom of the first to close the gap with Hobbs to 2-1. Then they went on to outscore the Eagles 12-3 over the final six innings of play en route to a 13-5 victory.

On the afternoon, CHS collected 14 hits in the game. Tops at the plate for the Cavegirls were Brooklyn Cook, 2-2 with one RBI; Faith Rivera, 2-3 with two runs scored, three RBIs and a double; Vianka Villa, 2-3 with three RBIs and a double; Kalion Fuentes, 2-4 with two runs scored and a double; and Parris Weldon, 2-4 with two runs scored, and one RBI.

Inside the circle to pick up the win was Katrina Ortega. She gave up eight hits while walking three and striking out eight.

Cavegirls 2, Mayfield 4: Up 2-0 after the opening frame of play, the Mayfield Trojans added two more in the top of the fourth to jump out in front to Carlsbad 4-0.

The Cavegirls battled back to score twice in the bottom of the fifth but couldn’t generate any more runs over the final two innings of play. As a result, they fell to the Trojans 4-2.

Leading the Cavegirls offensively were Faith Rivera and Allyson Madrid, who logged two hits each in the nightcap.

Tagged for the loss was Cavegirl Kalion Fuentes. The Cavegirl senior gave up four runs on five hits with two walks and eight strikeouts. Only one of the four runs she gave up was earned.

Currently, CHS has accumulated a record of 21-7, and MaxPreps has them ranked No. 6 in Class 5A softball.

Box Scores:

HHS 2-0-0-0-1-1-1---5

CHS 1-2-2-0-2-6-x--13

Game Stats: Brook Cook 2-2, 1RBI; Aubrey Hernandez 1-1, 2BB, 3R; Makayla Chester 1-3, 2RBI, 1BB, 3B; Allyson Madrid 1-4, 1R- 3RBI; Daisha Nieto 0-0-, 1R; Parris Weldon 2-4, 2R, 1RBI; Faith Rivera 2-3, 2R, 1BB, 3RBI, 2B; Kendra Ortega 1-4, 2B; Vianka Villa 2-3, 1BB, 3RBI; Kalion Fuentes 2-4, 2R, 2B; WP- Katrina Ortega 6.2in-8H-3R-3ER-3BB-7K; A. Hernandez .1in-1H-2R-2ER-4BB-0K. (MaxPreps Stats)

MHS 2-0-0-2-0-0-0--4

CHS 0-0-0-0-2-0-0--2

Game Stats: Katrina Ortega 1-3, 1R; Makayla Chester 1-3; Allyson Madrid 2-4, 2RBI; Parris Weldon 0-2, 1R, 1BB; Faith Rivera 2-3; Kendra Ortega 1-3; Brooklin Cook 0-2, 1BB: LP Kalion Fuentes 6in-5H-4R-1ER-2BB-8K. (MaxPreps Stats)