PHS softball duo ready for North/South

In the past eight years, the Lady Ram softball team has placed only one player on the New Mexico South All-Star team. This weekend in Clovis, two Portales girls will be representing the South.

Portales High School graduates Sasha Parker and Amanda Terry were selected following a successful run in the state tournament.

“It’s really a big deal,” Lady Ram head softball coach Robbie Crowley said. “It’s really tough to make it because you have 1A through 5A. I’m really proud of them. It’s a big accomplishment.”

The Lady Rams breezed through District 4-3A without losing a game, then marched all the way to the 3A state championship game before losing to Bloomfield and claiming state runner-up status.

The North-South All-Stars will play two games Friday and one game on Saturday at the Clovis High School softball field.

“I’m really excited,” Parker said. “I’m kind of nervous because the coaches have been telling us that it’s all 4A and 5A girls.”

However, don’t think for one minute that Parker is intimidated.

“During the regular season we played Hobbs and Artesia,” Parker said. “And they’re going to have girls in it as well, so I’m not that scared.”

“Our team fed off of (Sasha’s) personality. She just never got rattled,” Crowley said. “If somebody got a hit off of her, she would just go to the next hitter and do the best she could and with the group of kids we had, her personality fit their personality really well.”

While Parker help set the pace on the mound for the Lady Rams, it was Terry who led off the potent Portales offense.

“Amanda’s a really strong player,” Parker said. “She can do whatever you put her up to and she can play any position. She’s just a real strong player and she’s really aggressive hitting the ball.”

“We had (Amanda) as the leadoff hitter and nine-times-out-of-ten she was going to get on base,” Crowley said. “That just added a spark for the whole team and they kind of fed off of what Amanda did and she was such a competitor that she was definitely a positive leader for our girls.”

The South All-Stars plan on practicing twice in Clovis on Thursday and a final practice before Friday’s doubleheader.

“Since we’re out of school, you kind of want to have fun and meet new people,” Parker said. “It’s an honor to play in this, but you need to take it seriously at the same time.”