Softball: Centennial to play Alamogordo in championship; La Cueva coach suspended for illegal communications device

May 17—There were no communication issues Friday night for Aaliyah Betancourt and the Centennial Hawks in the Class 5A softball championship.

In a wild day at Cleveland High School that included La Cueva's coach having to serve a one-game suspension for using an illegal communication device with his catcher, the No. 3-seeded Hawks erased the memory of last year's shocking pair of losses to end what had been a 29-0 start to that season.

Friday, Betancourt and the Hawks weren't going to let anything get in their way — not the black cloud of last year, not having to play four games on Friday and not having to play No. 2 seed La Cueva twice.

All that awaits now for the noon championship series (a 4 p.m. Game 2 if necessary) Saturday at the UNM Softball field is No. 1 seed Alamogordo and ace pitcher Sydney Lessentine, the Texas A&M signee who had 15 strikeouts, hit a home run and drove in three runs in a 7-4 winners bracket semifinal victory over La Cueva earlier in the day.

Centennial is now 29-3 with two losses coming in three games played against Lessentine and the Tigers in the regular season and the third loss coming to La Cueva, 10-6, in Friday's 8 a.m. opener.

"They put it to us in the morning," Centennial coach Fernie Valles said of the La Cueva loss. "For these girls to come back, never put their heads down and compete like they did, just proud of them."

In the Friday night rematch with La Cueva, Destiny Perez had three hits, an RBI and scored two runs. As a team, the Hawks turned four double plays, powered in large part by the brilliance of Betancourt at shortstop, for a 5-1 win, punching their ticket to the championship series.

"We're just sticking together as a family," Betancourt said. "Keep that smile on your face and keep playing. I tell them all the time, 'Hey, keep that smile on your face. No worries. We got this.'"

La Cueva coach suspended

Betancourt's rosy outlook was put to the test after that morning loss to La Cueva, a team wanting to prove a point in the game after their coach, Ron Romero, was suspended for one game by the NMAA after an umpire on Thursday observed him communicating to his catcher with an electronic device to call pitches — something that is legal under NFHS rules for baseball, but not softball.

"It was a mistake — confusion on the rule," Romero told the Journal, later saying more than once, "There was no ill intent whatsoever."

The umpire saw an AirPod in the La Cueva catcher's ear in Thursday's win over No. 7 Mayfield and discovered Romero was calling pitches into her from the dugout via an iPhone.

Romero was ejected under NFHS rules. Under New Mexico Activities Association rules, according Zac Stevenson, the NMAA's Commissioner of Officials, he also had to "sit out" the next game (Friday morning's game vs. Centennial) and will have to go through a rules seminar. He did return to coach the team the rest of the day.

Romero said he is fine with the NMAA's decision. He said he recently asked his coaches why they weren't taking advantage of the rule that allowed communication to catchers that baseball is using.

The Journal published a story May 1 about how the NFHS passed a rule to allow baseball teams to utilize one-way communication from dugout to the catcher, but it did not apply to softball.

Romero said Friday's game against Mayfield was the first game they tried electronic communication.

His coaching staff also noted had they been trying to get away with something they knew was illegal, they would have at least tried to cover up the AirPod so the umpire couldn't see it.

For his part, Centennial coach Valles said Friday night he has zero question in his mind that Romero wasn't doing anything nefarious.

"He's a good man," Valles said. "What happened there doesn't bother me at all."

Class 4A

No. 5 Artesia had to beat No. 2 Lovington, 10-9, at 9 a.m. Friday at Cleveland High School, No. 7 seed Aztec, 2-1, in a 1 p.m. game, and then No. 3 Silver, the defending Class 4A champion, in a nail-biting 3-1 victory in the elimination bracket.

Their reward is 4A No. 1 seed Gallup awaiting in Saturday's 10 a.m. championship series at UNM.

In Friday evening's elimination win over Silver, with the game tied 1-1 in the 6th, Artesia's No. 7 hitter Makayla Lujan hit a 1-out double. Two batters later, with two outs, senior No. 9 hitter Zoe Warren drove in the would-be winning run. Warren would score an insurance run for the 3-1 lead in the sixth for Artesia (23-8).

No. 1 Gallup (23-5) beat Artesia, 6-2, on Thursday.

This is the fourth-consecutive Championship Saturday for Gallup, who was runners-up last year, 4A champion in 2022, and runners-up to Artesia in 2021.

Class 3A

The West Las Vegas Lady Dons, whose sensation Malie Satete, an eighth-grader, justifiably, garnered plenty of attention this season with her state-record 25 home runs, proved Friday they are more than a one-young woman-band.

Senior catcher Tajette Horner's bases loaded RBI single to right field broke a 1-1 tie in the fifth inning on Friday, proving to be the game-winning, and Class 3A state championship clinching, run in a 4-1 victory over No. 2 Cobre at Rio Rancho High School.

It is WLV's first softball championship.

The top seeded Lady Dons (26-3) ripped through the 3A Tournament, outscoring opponents 52-13.

Class 1A/2A

Make it three in a row and four of the last five Class 1A/2A state softball championships for the Loving Falcons.

Better yet, Friday's 16-0 run-rule route of No. 5 seed Mesilla Valley Christian gives the program state championship No. 20 dating back to 1989.

The No. 2 seeded Falcons (28-2) outscored 1A/2A tournament opponents 43-6.