Lady Rams open state with wet win

FARMINGTON — Portales expected to play a couple of games when the Class 3A state softball tournament began in Farmington on Thursday.

That didn’t happen, but the Lady Rams won’t be complaining.

Because of rain that delayed play at Ricketts Park and wiped out afternoon games at the Farmington Softball Complex, Portales ended up taking the field once. It was a successful venture for the Lady Rams, who knocked off Sandia Prep 5-2 at Ricketts Park.

Afterward, Lady Rams coach Robbie Crowley said some benefits would accrue from the adjusted schedule.

For one, she’ll be able to rest senior pitcher Christian Quigley and, for another, senior Vicki Huber will get a little more rest after a fourth-inning mishap against the Sundevils.

Huber sprained an ankle at home plate and had to sit out the rest of the game for the fourth-seeded Rams.

“She’s doing well,” Crowley said. “They put a boot on her and a horseshoe and stuck it in a bucket of ice.

“If we have to go with the same lineup I had to finish with today, that would be all right, but it is nice to have her experience.”

Only Huber and fellow senior Janette Spotswood had any significant experience from last year’s tournament, when Portales advanced to the state title game.

Against Sandia Prep, Portales got on the board first in the second inning after Amanda Marquez walked and Brittney Gardner eventually capitalized with an RBI single.

The Lady Rams extended the lead, after the Sundevils countered with a run, with two more in the fifth. Spotswood started the rally with a single and junior Danielle Gonzales finished with a run-scoring hit. The two singles were sandwiched around an attempted double steal by Portales which led to a throwing error by Sandia Prep and a run.

With Portales holding a 5-2 lead, Quigley faced a bases-loaded situation with two outs in the seventh.

Crowley said she wasn’t too concerned about it.

“Oh no, they’ve done it all year,” she said. “They did it against Lovington the other day. I know what they’re capable of doing.”

After Quigley shut the door, Crowley would have been ready to use her again later in the day. But given that Portales won’t play again until 10 a.m. today against Raton at Ricketts Park, she wasn’t unhappy.

“That kind of helps me out a little bit,” Crowley said. “I can throw Christian again and not have to worry about it so much.