Rams softball ready for Lady Horsemen

STAFF WRITER

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With their 16-1 victory over Socorro Friday night, the Portales Lady Rams now prepare for the final stretch of the season as they ready for their noon game on Wednesday at the Rio Rancho Softball Complex to take on the St. Michael’s Lady Horsemen.

Currently holders of an 11-game winning streak, No. 2 Portales (22-5) is looking to stretch that number to at least 13 which would put the Lady Rams in the state championship game in the double-elimination tournament.

Staff photo: Matthew Asher

Eighth grade pitcher Wendy Baeza warms up during Monday’s practice. Baeza has been the primary pitcher for the Lady Rams this season, going 17-4 in 23 appearances with a 1.67 ERA.

St. Michael’s (22-5), is currently on a three-game winning streak of their own after beating Pojoaque Valley 12-2 last Friday. The Lady Horsemen finished second in District 5-4A play, behind No. 3 Hope Christian.

The common theme for the Lady Horsemen is the dominance of Allie Berhost as she leads the team in batting average, on-base, slugging and win/loss percentage. The lone stat she doesn’t lead the team in is fielding percentage, but with just four errors committed throughout the season, she’s one of the better fielders, too.

“I know that she throws it pretty good,” Rams coach Robbie Crowley said. “She hits it pretty good, too. I think she’s probably the best player they have and we have to be careful of her. We need to limit the damage.”

Including the previous win, Berhost has gone 18-4 and pitched a complete game all 22 times she’s stepped on the rubber. She has a 1.53 ERA and has struck out 194 batters in 133 innings. Opponents have a rough time hitting her pitches as her opponent batting average is only .195.

The responsibility of neutralizing Berhost’s pitching will fall on senior shortstop Kiersten Ramirez. She leads the Lady Rams in on-base percentage at .623, a slugging percentage of .829 and 14 stolen bases.

Staff photo: Matthew Asher

Freshman outfielder Micaela Garcia throws the ball to second base during Portales’ cutoff drill on Monday as shortstop Kiersten Ramirez watches. The Lady Rams travel to Rio Rancho to take on the St. Michael’s Lady Horsemen Wednesday in the quarterfinals of the state tournament.

“We know we’re going to face good pitchers and hitters now,” Ramirez said. “If we hit and play defense like I know we can, we’ll be fine.”

While Ramirez technically doesn’t lead the team in batting average, she’s played in every game and had nearly 20 times the plate appearances and is second at .574. She has 54 total hits with 17 RBIs, 12 doubles, three triples and two home runs. The lower number of RBIs are primarily due to her being the leadoff hitter for the Lady Rams.

The one part of the offense that has been lacking for Portales this season has been home runs as they’ve only hit nine so far. Last season the Lady Rams hit 20 home runs. However, 12 of those homers were courtesy of current ENMU softball player Kailee Ramirez.

The lack of power doesn’t concern Crowley at all.

“If we can get a string of base hits going, that’s as good as a home run,” Crowley said.

Once again, Crowley will look to eighth grader Wendy Baeza to shut down the Lady Horsemen’s offense. Baeza has made 23 appearances as a pitcher. She’s currently 17-4 with an ERA of 1.67 and has struck out 155 batters in her 126 innings of work. Baeza also does a great job of limiting hits as her opponent batting average is at .200.

“We’ll stick with Wendy,” Crowley said. “She’s done great. I think she’s going to do great this week. She’s who we’re going with.”

Regardless of a win or loss against St. Michael’s, Portales’ next game will play at 4 p.m. on Friday. With this being a double-elimination tournament, it’s possible for the Lady Rams to make it to the title game even if the lose in the next few games.

“We’ve played out of the consolation bracket to the title game before,” Crowley said. “It’s not easy or ideal but it can be done.”