STATE SOFTBALL: Lady Rams ousted, finish third

RIO RANCHO — The Portales Lady Rams were denied on Thursday in their bid to give longtime coach Robbie Crowley a Class 4A state title opportunity.

PHS, seeded third in the 12-team field, knocked off No. 2 Las Vegas Robertson 4-1 in the winners bracket semifinals, but then lost to fifth-seeded Cobre 8-0 in the winners final and to top-seeded and six-time defending champion Silver 5-0 in the night’s finale.

Crowley, PHS’ only head coach in the history of the program, is giving up her positions as a coach and an English teacher at the end of the school year. Her 19-year run ended with a 307-159 record and three state runner-up finishes.

She said she knows what she’s going to do, at least in the immediate future after 25 years in the Portales school system.

“I’m going to play a lot of golf,” she quipped.”

Freshman Wendy Baeza spun a four-hitter and struck out seven against Robertson (21-8), but district rivals Cobre and Silver proved to be a bit too much.

Meantime, Portales’ bats were silenced by the Lady Indians’ Jadin Placencio in the winners final by the Lady Colts’ Kamryan Trujillo in the late game.

“I felt like all year we hit until the last two games,” Crowley said. “But the teams that were in (the final four) were pretty solid.”

Shelby Walker and Sarah Lovato were both 2-for-3 against Robertson, combining to drive in three runs. But Portales managed only six hits in the final two games.

“We had a great season,” she said. “The kids were enjoyable. It’s one of those groups that, looking down the road, they should be pretty tough.”

Cobre (20-8) can wrest the title from Silver (25-6) in today’s first of possibly two championship games in the double-elimination event at 11:30 a.m. at the University of New Mexico softball complex in Albuquerque. A second game, if necessary, would follow at 3:30 p.m.