It was hot and breezy to start this double header at the
Softball Complex against GCU.
The two conditions sort of canceled each other out, so it was okay. Ron had a family gathering this evening and
couldn’t come. I sat by fellow fan Danny
behind home plate. He was in a good mood
as we chatted about the team. They were
giving out Aggie visors at the entrance.
I didn’t really want one, but the pretty girl handing them out kind of
insisted. I meant to try to give it away
during the game, but wasn’t able to and had to find someone at work to take it. I actually have too many giveaways in my
possession at this point.
It’s too bad Ron couldn’t make it. Those two GCU players he liked were playing
in the game, Kaileigh Holland at
catcher and Gianna Nicoletti in the
outfield. I didn’t see my favorite adorable
redhead, Lexy Coons, when teams were
introduced and was worried for her.
(She’s listed on the program as “Lexy,” which is probably what she goes
by, but she’s “Alexa” in the official scoring.
This, and the spelling of Kaileigh’s name [Kay-lee], caused me some
editing problems.) The GCU girls danced
a jig before the game.
It was another great crowd for the game. Aggie Softball has acquired some fans this
season. (There are also two players from
Las Cruces on the team.) The Ruidoso High School Softball team was in
attendance in team shirts. I’m not sure
if they were here in Las Cruces playing a tournament or not. The hair and makeup on some of these girls
was spot on, so they didn’t just come here right after playing. The PA thanked them for coming between
innings during the game, and they did stay for both games. A few kids were out with the Aggie girls
during introductions. Kayla Green was having fun with a
little girl before they ran out to circle.
It was so cute.
Kayla worked an efficient first with a strikeout. Yessie
Morrison gave up a hit to Kelsey
Horton, but also had a quick inning.
Yessie made an impressive nonchalant catch of a comeback liner by Jeanelle Medina. Kaileigh Holland came up first in the second
and hit a home run that hit the top of the wall. Would Ron have cheered if he’d been
there? Kaileigh is rail-thin for a
softball player, much less a catcher. She
has a good arm though and could hit.
There was a double next and then a ground out. Maddie
Dowdle hit a grounder to third. Mya Felder deflected it. Jeanelle was able to field it, but had no
play and another run scored. 2-0 GCU.
Shelby
Shultes, who’d done so well yesterday, earned a start
today as the DP. She worked a walk to
start the bottom of the second. She was
sacrificed over, but there was another groundout following that. Local player, Casie Roberto, came up next and jacked one out to left center. The crowd was completely jacked too. This was her first college home run. The score was tied at 2. Brandy
Hernandez followed that with a blooper over third base. Sierra
Smith at short dove for it in a good effort. Brandy was left stranded to end the inning.
Nikki
Butler, catching, got hit on a foul to start the third. The ump gave her a moment and walked the ball
out to Kayla and chatted with her.
Kelsey came over and patted Nikki on the helmet and they all shared a
laugh. Laughing off these minor hurts is
part of the job as a catcher or ump.
Kayla walked Shea
Smith, the second batter of the inning.
Savannah Tourville singled
down the third base line. Shea thought
about taking third as Brandy came up with the ball. Brandy held the ball for a second and dared
her to try. The Lopes had scouted her
potent throwing arm. Unfortunately,
Brandy needed another six inches in height on the next batter, as Kaylee Dietrich doubled just beyond her
reach and drove in two, 4-2 GCU.
Kayla got a strikeout next. A guy in the stands actually called out,
“Changeup!” before the final pitch, but it didn’t help. Lilly
Bishop singled up the middle next. Kaileigh
tried to come in and score, but Victoria
Castro threw her out from center.
Nikki got Kaileigh in a bear hug as she came into the plate. (I’m sure Ron would have been jealous.)
A girl with the Ruidoso team got a prize for the pocket
contest. The whole team was into the
giveaways. The Aggies went down with a
double play in the bottom of the third.
Kayla gave up a leadoff single to start the fourth, but no damage was
done. Kayla Bowen was swinging in anger in her at bat in the bottom. She hammered one to center, but the wind blew
it back in. Mya, who’d walked in front of
her, was doubled off to end the inning.
Kayla was nicked on the ankle on a hard liner up the
middle to start the fifth. It didn’t
seem that bad when it happened, but Coach
Rodolph and the trainer came out to look at her. Kayla took a couple of practice pitches and
seemed okay, but came out anyway. It’s
hard to speculate, but she did seem to be walking okay later in Game 2 (she
wasn’t playing). Maybe her ankle was
numb after the hit, or they thought it would swell up.
Chloe
Rivas came in to pitch and started off with a strikeout. There was a foul ball that dropped in nearby
us. It hit a spot that was just vacated
by a girl that was sitting there. (Those
things are like yellow cannonballs.) Chloe
allowed a single to Kaileigh next.
Dietrich then hit a high foul over third base. Brandy made a great play by the fence and
then threw out Shea Smith at the plate.
Except the ump called her safe.
Let me put it to you this way, Shea got up and argued before she
realized the call was “Safe.” She
thought she was going to be called out.
The crowd was all over the ump, “Go back to calling high school
games!” The Ruidoso girls said, “We
don’t want him!” (Just kidding.) 5-2 GCU.
Beautiful Megan
Hart and Kiley Tonge from the Volleyball team came in. They were all smiles chatting with a
booster. (I need to be a booster.) Casie walked to start the bottom of the
fifth. Keala Brown ran for her and Brandy moved her up to second. Kennedy
Johnson pinch hit and singled Keala in.
Jeanelle reentered the game and stole second, where Tori drove her in
with a double. 5-4 GCU.
Mya made a good play on a popup by the dugout on the
first batter of the sixth. However, the
ball grazed the roof and was ruled foul.
On the next pitch, Mya deflected a grounder, but Jeanelle stayed with it
and threw out the runner from deep in the hole.
I was questioning before if she could play short, but I’m not
anymore. Chloe finished off the inning.
Ah, there’s my cute redhead. Lexy
Coons came in to pitch the bottom of the sixth. I was not rooting for her. (I was hoping to run into her afterward and
console her after a bad outing.) She has
an odd rocking motion when pitching and works up some of her own infield
chatter. Dietrich went in to catch, but Kaileigh
stayed in the game. Looking at the
official scoring, seven players changed positions for the Lopes. I’m not going to bother trying to figure that
out on my scorecard. Lexy pitched an
in-order inning.
Between innings, it was announced that the Aggie Women’s Golf team had won this
afternoon for their fifth WAC
Championship in six years. They are
really good. The first GCU batter of the
seventh was called out for hitting outside of the box. Shea singled next. Savannah hit a Texas Leaguer between right
field and second. KB seemed unsure about
taking it and had to dive at it and dropped it.
Samaria Diaz came in right
after to pitch. She gave up two walks,
which forced in a run, but got the next two batters. 6-4 GCU.
Lexy got the first two outs of Aggie seventh. Kennedi
Sorensen came in to pinch hit and, down to her last strike, doubled. This got the crowd into it. Sarai
Mejia came in to pinch run. Kelsey
came up and was also got down to her last strike. She took a close pitch that got an “Oooh,”
out of the crowd. She worked a walk on a
full count. Sarai stole third on the
walk. Tori came up and was down to her
last strike too. She hit the ball off
the end of her bat and grounded out to end the game. GCU
won 6-4.
Myself, and perhaps the other Aggie fans, would have
felt worse about the lost, but it was against a good team. The Aggies fought it out to the end and the
game was pretty entertaining regardless.
Kaileigh Holland had a good
game hitting for GCU going 3 for 3 with 2 RBI’s and a home run. Lexy
Coons might have gotten a little rattled at the end, but pitched two
scoreless innings for the save. (They’re
both pretty, too, but that has nothing to do with my objective analysis.) Kennedy
Johnson for the Aggies gets a gameball for her pinch hit, RBI single in the
fifth. I thought Chloe Rivas did a good job in her two and 1/3 innings of relief.
On to Game 2.
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