Lady Rams notch state berth

May 7—Friday was the final night of the regular season for the Clovis and Portales High softball teams, and it was definitely tough sledding for both squads.

Portales, though, did get a bid to the Class 4A tournament on Sunday. The Lady Rams (10-15, 5-9 District 4-4A) were seeded 16th and travel to No. 1 seed Gallup for a 4 p.m. first-round tilt on Friday.

At Artesia, the Lady Bulldogs were rude hosts to Portales on Friday night, sweeping the twin bill 19-0 and 12-0. The Lady Rams managed only one hit, a second-game single by junior Dawci Cordova.

Senior Madison Martinez drove in seven runs with a pair of homers in the opener for Artesia (18-7, 7-2), while senior Mikenzi Carlo was 3-for-3 with a home run, five RBIs and three runs scored.

In Game 2, senior McKenna Morrison was 4-for-4 with a double, three runs scored and an RBI.

Meantime, at Lady Wildcat Field, Roswell High poured it on in a 30-2, 20-0 District 4-5A sweep of Clovis. Both games ended in four innings on the 15-run rule.

Roswell High (9-17, 4-8) led 15-2 in Game 1 before adding a 15-spot in the top of the fourth. Senior Alexia Carrasco went 5-for-5 with four runs scored and five RBIs while sophomore Belle Ornelas was 3-for-3 with a home run, five runs tallied and five RBIs.

Sophomore Sophie Roberts tripled in the first inning for Clovis (2-24, 0-12) and scored on a single by senior Adriana Silva, then hit a sacrifice fly to bring home junior Brooke Renteria in the third. Also for CHS, sophomore Andrea Chavez and freshmen Gianna Cordova and Kiara Noack had singles.

In the second game, Lady Coyotes junior Lauren Lucero posted a 4-for-5 outing, scoring four times and driving in one, while Carrasco and Ornelas each doubled and went 3-for-4, combining to score four runs and drive in nine.

Sophomore Karely Baeza had a double for the Lady Cats, while Renteria, Chavez and senior Giselle Romero all had singles.