Clovis American moves step closer to state title repeat

CLOVIS - Friday the 13th was anything but unlucky for Clovis American's 13-14 junior league team.

Putting a stamp on the game early with a two-out, first-inning rally, and staying in command with steady pitching and a few more smatterings of offense, Clovis American cruised to a 12-2 victory over Turquoise Nation in Friday's New Mexico State Little League Tournament quarterfinal at the Lady Wildcats Softball Complex.

Clovis American will play a semifinal against Copper this morning at 9 a.m., again at the Lady Wildcats Complex, with a berth in this afternoon's title game at stake. Clovis American coach Jose Lopez doesn't know much about Copper, but has received some tidbits from people.

"They said they had like five girls that played varsity last year for the high school," Lopez said.

With that challenge still almost 24 hours away, Clovis American's players faced the challenge directly in front of them Friday - a solid Turquoise Nation team, bucking for its own spot in the semis.

And in the first inning, it seemed as if Clovis American might go out quietly. The purple and white did load the bases, but Turquoise Nation was an out away from escaping that situation - two strikes away, to be exact.

That was until Mikayla Romero smacked an 0-1 pitch through the middle, plating two runs for Clovis American. Espy Tafoya then dropped a high-arcing single into shallow left, scoring another run to make it 3-0.

Two ducks remained on the pond for Skylar Schuette, who turned her powerful bat and quick feet into a three-run, inside-the-park homer. Just like that, 6-0.

"My coach just told me to keep running, keep running," Schuette said of her early-afternoon jaunt around the bases.

Clovis American was done scoring that inning, but had come up with an opportunistic flurry that established the tone.

"We were very excited and very nervous," Schuette said, "so I think that excitement and those nerves pushed us."

Which was a good thing, because the game was fairly even over the next few innings. Clovis American did scratch out a run in the bottom of the third - as Chastity Hardy reached second base on a throwing error past first, took third on a wild pitch and scored on another throwing error at first.

The next run didn't come until the bottom of the fifth, beginning with Divina Lopez's leadoff bloop single. She swiped second base, grabbed third on an errant throw and came home when Romero swatted a double to left.

Turquoise Nation's own offense was relatively quiet. The team did have bases jammed with two outs in the top of the fourth, thanks mostly to Clovis American errors. But, Clovis American avoided any runs scoring when, after all runners tried to advance on a wild pitch by Marisa Lopez, catcher Abigail Morris ran back to collect the errant ball, then ran up and made a tag at home plate for the third out.

Finally, Clovis American's opponents scoreless streak ended when Turquoise Nation pushed across two unearned runs in the top of the sixth, but in the bottom of that frame, the purple and white brought the game to a halt on the 10-run rule, thanks to Jenice Hudson's two-run double and Divina Lopez's two-run single.

Marisa Lopez was again the winning pitcher, and has yet to allow an earned run in Clovis American's two state tournament games thus far.

Momentum is going Clovis American's way, but here comes that tough, experienced Copper team. Could be a tall task.

"Yeah, it could be," Coach Lopez said. "But I think our girls have what it takes. They've put in the work."