West Las Vegas eighth-grader belts record-breaking 21st home run

May 7—Gianna Rahmer is not the only eighth-grader raising the bar in a huge way in New Mexico high school athletics.

West Las Vegas' softball sensation Malie Satete on Tuesday evening belted her 21st home run of the season, breaking New Mexico's single-season state record.

The old record, 20, lasted only one year, established in 2023 by Cibola's Jalyn Montes.

Satete's 21st came in her home city, but not her home field, as she went deep in the top of the third inning of Game 2 of a district doubleheader against cross-town rival Robertson.

"I did not think it was gonna go out," the 14-year-old Satete, a pitcher and catcher, said in a phone interview with the Journal. "It looked short."

It wasn't, and her solo shot to right center put her name at No. 1 in the record book. She attends West Las Vegas Middle School.

"I didn't really see it happening like this," she said of her home run pursuit. "I set the bar and tried to beat it."

Satete hit her 20th home run early last week against Raton. She had cracks at her 21st in two games in Albuquerque last week, at Sandia and at Albuquerque Academy, and then in the first game of Tuesday's doubleheader.

She still has two games left in the regular season, Friday at home versus Santa Fe Indian, plus the Class 3A state tournament next week.

"All I said was, 'Yes, yes, yes!'" she said of her thoughts during her home run trot on Tuesday. "I finally did it."

West Las Vegas (20-3 overall) swept the doubleheader, 14-5 and 18-4. Satete said she had been thinking about breaking the record.

"I felt a lot of pressure," she said. "It felt like I had to hit it."

She added, "I was hoping I would get the 21st, just to get it over with. And it finally happened. ... It sounds good, it feels good."