Lady Cats notch first win

PORTALES - Clovis High's softball team struggled mightily through its first three games this season. On Monday night, though, the Lady Wildcats threw a major haymaker right off the bat.

Pitcher Jordan Angeles and fellow senior Bryana Gallagher smashed two-run homers in a seven-run first, and CHS picked up its first win of the campaign with a 16-2 rout of Portales at Wheeler Park.

Eight players combined for the Lady Cats' 18 hits, and all had at least two. Meantime, Angeles and senior Jenice Hudson teamed up on a five-inning one-hitter, shortened by the 10-run rule.

"She was hitting her spots and doing what she's supposed to do," first-year Clovis coach Braelyn Kruelskie said of Angeles.

Clovis dropped its opener 9-0 at Lovington, then was outscored 37-20 in a pair of losses to Roswell Goddard at Lady Wildcat Field on May 8. The teams were to play a return twin on Tuesday night in Roswell.

"The seven runs definitely calmed me down," Angeles said. "It was a great game, and it definitely sets us up to play Goddard."

The Lady Cats continued to add on, scoring at least two runs in each of the remaining four frames. Meantime, Angeles overpowered the young Lady Rams, playing their season opener, getting all nine outs in her three-inning stint on strikeouts.

"We wanted to jump on it in the first inning," Kruelskie said. "It was something we've worked on, for sure."

Portales, with no seniors and only two players with significant varsity experience, put just six balls into play against CHS, including only one - a bunt by leadoff hitter Cashlin Fraze where she reached on an error - against Angeles.

"She threw a really good game," former PHS player and first-year Lady Rams coach Amanda Bonner said, referring to Angeles. "And honestly, that's a really good team."

Gallagher went 3-for-3 with three RBIs and three runs scored while shortstop Marina Sena was 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in a pair.

Both Lady Rams runs came after leadoff walks. Courtesy runner Cyria Aguirre scored on a passed ball in the third inning while Casin Mitchell delivered a fourth-inning RBI single to right field, the only hit in the game for PHS.

Portales' season was delayed by a brief shutdown - incorrect, it turned out - due to COVID-19 protocols. The teams were to have met in a doubleheader last Friday in Clovis, but it was postponed due to lightning and rescheduled for this Saturday at 10 a.m.

"It was good for us to have a game and see what we need to work on, and we need to work on a lot," Bonner said. "I thought I had the team prepared, but we still have some work to do."

The next outing for PHS will be a 4:30 p.m. twin bill on Friday at home against Dexter.