This recap is going to be a little melancholy even given that I’m recapping watching a win. (Spoilers.) The Friday MLB news was discouraging to say the least. There was bad news for NMSU sports after the softball game. And, I need to start with a sad digression about Aggie Soccer. The softball game feels almost irrelevant.
I meant to go to Aggie Soccer last weekend for their last
Saturday home game. I was all ready to
go when a black cloud came over. It came
with a cold wind and sprinkles. I
decided not to go at that point. A half
hour later, it cleared off. It was still
cold and breezy, but I still could have gotten to the game on time. Since Ron already wasn’t going, I just gave
up. The Aggies won. Dmitri
Fong played in goal and was then honored for Senior Day. I felt really bad I’d missed seeing her, even
if I wouldn’t have been able to talk to her afterward.
I found myself hedging about going out the softball game,
but Saturday was so beautiful-looking, I couldn’t resist going even though Ron
wasn’t going to be able to make it. Even
then, he talked me into going early again.
He’s convinced they’re going to sellout if you’re not there when the
ticket window opens. There was no issue
even with reduced capacity.
I haven’t really been following the Softball team. They spent most of February and March playing
tournaments in Florida. By and large,
they’ve been a .500 team in and out of conference. I’ve been ambivalent about the roster. There isn’t much glamour in the lineup like Kelsey Horton, Caity Szczesny, or Jeanelle
Medina. Diminutive Brandy Hernandez isn’t there to root
for. The team lost two great players as
transfers and I’m not sure they’ve recovered.
More recently, they split a double-header with GCU on Friday night. The
Aggies lost a late lead in the first game and came back late in the second
game.
At the park, I figured out it was warmer than I thought it
was. I’d put on sunscreen, but not a
lot. Ron thought GCU had some pretty
players. I’d remembered their cute curly
redheaded freckled pitcher, Lexy Coons. I saw her behind the dugout as I walked in
through the gates. There was also a GCU
fan lady there with the same hair. I
wondered if she was her mother. Being
over a half hour early, I found a shady spot behind the stands and watched the
pretty ticket girls rather than the teams taking warm-ups. I had my iPad with me to test the open WiFi
I’d discovered at baseball, but that didn’t work. So much for live scoring.
I finally reluctantly went in to find a seat after Mike,
one of the regulars, waved hello to me.
We just about didn’t recognize each other with masks on. (That mask was real unpleasant and sweaty in
the heat.) The crowd was a bit sparse
and about half were there for GCU. That
said, the entire crowd was largely unmotivated by events on the field. I don’t know if it was the crowd size, the
heat, or the masks. Maybe all
three.
Where I usually sit with Ron was filled with GCU fans, so
I sat up high in the center grandstand.
Usually those seats are filled.
It was a pretty good view of the field.
There was one major obstruction, or should I say distraction, to
watching. A very attractive GCU girl was
sitting at the scorer’s table. Her blonde
hair was in ornate braids. She wore a
pair of short shorts that showed off her long legs. On field, the Aggies were doing a weird
dance, but having fun with it.
I thought these scorecards added up in spite of all of the weirdness with softball rules. However, they do disagree with the official scoring. They gave GCU four errors in the game and other stuff. I was going with what I saw and what the PA announced at the end of the innings. When the lineups were announced, the Aggies’ starting pitcher, Matalasi Faapito, was the leadoff hitter. There was also a Designated Player batting. That left the “Flex Player,” Jayleen Burton at shortstop, without a spot. I’m glad I caught all that, otherwise I would have been lost. I still put Jayleen on the scorecard.
Mata labored in the top of the first, along with the
crowd. I was already sweating. There wasn’t any scoring, but every GCU
batter was making her work. The Aggies started
their half the inning singing as usual.
They sounded rougher than I’d remembered, but were loud and
vigorous. Mata began with a double. Catcher Nikki
Butler drove her in with a nice easy slap to the opposite field.
Two hits later and the bases were loaded and GCU brought
out a new pitcher. I questioned why a
pinch runner wasn’t put in for Nikki, but I’m not sure anyone would have scored
on the second hit. The DP, Briana Gallegos, came up with great
walkup music. I think it was a Herb Alpert sample. (No, I don’t have Shazam.) She hit a high
bouncer to short. Anjolee Aguilar-Beaucage seemed to be screened by Gabby Aragon running passed her and
never corralled the ball. Two runs
scored on the error. The bases were
reloaded after a walk. Kendra Levesque came in as a pinch
hitter. She took some big swings, but
struck out to end the inning. 3-0
Aggies.
It was a long first inning. There were also numerous stoppages for
meetings and umpire meetings. I think
whatever life there was in the crowd kind of got drained out right there. The second inning started with the first of
six hit batters in the game. There was a
great diving catch on a ball in center by Gabby. Then it was wiped off by an illegal pitch
call. Good thing I was doing the
scorecard in pencil.
After a walk, a muffed infield grounder loaded the bases
for the Lopes. The fans wanted
obstruction called on the runner on the play.
I’m getting out my baseball rulebook so you know this is going to take a
minute. Obstruction is on the fielder
interfering with the runner.
Interference is the runner/batter interfering with the fielder.
For this particular play, it’s up to the umpire’s judgment
if a runner “willfully and deliberately” interfered with the fielding of a
batted ball. There’s no other guidance
on that rule. That said, there appeared
to be some incidental contact, so it could have been called. Then again, there had already been a couple
of disputed plays to this point, so everything was going to be questioned. While there was no alcohol being sold, it was
hot and everyone seemed irritable.
Back to the game, Mata hit another batter, which forced in
a run. 3-1 Aggies. Mata got on to start the bottom of the second
on another error by the GCU shortstop.
In fairness, while it was an infield popup, it was high enough to almost
hit a passing airliner. The wind blowing
in was causing fielding problems. (I’m
trying to be nice.) Mata was left
stranded.
There was a t-shirt toss into the crowd earlier. Before the third, there were souvenir balls
tossed. The crowd still didn’t seem to
be into it. Athletic Director Mario Moccia came in with his two girls. I almost didn’t recognize him with the
mask. Why wasn’t he with the Volleyball
team, since they were playing for a championship today? They left after a half inning. That girl in the boot riding a medical
scooter was in the crowd, but the narrow aisle didn’t allow for her to race with
it like she was at the baseball stadium a couple of weeks ago. My mask is smelling. It’s a bit
gross.
Mata had a 1-2-3 third.
The PA mentioned the Volleyball team was playing now and promised
updates from the game. Maybe Mario left
to watch the game. Gabby slapped a
gapper in the bottom that went to the wall.
The fielders immediately threw up their hands. The ball got lodged in the fence for a ground
rule double. Briana singled. She took second later. I don’t know how. I think I’m watching the game, but apparently
I’m not. I looked up at some point and
she was at second.
Left fielder Antuanett
Dean took her first at bat after being pinch hit for in the first. If there’d been a radio call for the game, I
suspect their scouting report would have said she was “speedy.” Dean easily beat out an infield single to
score Gabby from third. There was
another tough play by Anjolee at short as she hesitated on a grounder by Mata,
which allowed in another run. (This play
was later ruled an error.) A walk to Ramsay Lopez, called “Rambo” by the
dugout and fans in the stands, loaded the bases, but the inning ended on a
popup. 5-1 Aggies.
I’m fascinated by the GCU girl at the scorer’s table. She’s texting and her thumbs are moving
faster than the eye can follow. Mata
worked another quick inning in the fourth.
Kayla “K-Bo” Bowen leadoff
and appeared to be hit on the helmet, but was called back to the plate. This touched off an immediate argument with
the coaches. The fans got vocally
involved in the dispute too. Kayla
singled anyway. Briana and right fielder
Jillian Taylor both walked to load
the bases. The inning ended with Dean
immediately called out on colliding with her batted ball.
The girl on the scooter went over to talk to the GCU
girl. She seemed to be asking about a
ruling on the field. The GCU girl was
very nice to her. (Ah, she’s good with
kids. Wife material.) She also chatted with an Aggie guy that
worked on the other side of the scorer’s table off and on. They didn’t appear to be flirting, but she
seemed really friendly, not that I was going to meet her anyway. Behind me, two young guys calling each other
“Bro,” kept going on about how good they were during their playing days in high
school. They should have been telling
the GCU girl instead the regulars in the stands. That might have been more worthwhile.
Mata came out after walking the second batter of the
fifth. Chloe Rivas came in and took her spot in the batting order. She gave up a single, but got the next two
outs. The PA mentioned the current
weather here and in Phoenix, where GCU is.
It was 90-something there. No
update on the volleyball game.
Chloe was hit to start the bottom of the fifth and Rambo
as well. Lexy came on in relief. Ooh, events on the field were now distracting
me from watching the scorer’s table.
Sorry. Cute redhead. Freckles.
Lexy proceeded to hit Nikki to load the bases. The woman I thought was her mom left the
stands. I don’t know if that’s a
confirmation or not. Maybe she couldn’t
bear to watch.
Audrey
Shebloski came in to pinch run for Nikki. Kayla came up and singled to drive in two
runs. Gabby was hit to load the
bases. Audrey was thrown out at the
plate on a fielder’s choice by Briana.
Audrey got her money’s worth with a hard slide into the catcher. Jillian worked another walk to force in a
run.
At this point, the run rule was looming. Part of me wanted the Aggies to win and for
me to get out of the heat. A small part
of me didn’t want Lexy to lose the game and I wanted to see more of her. Dean was pulled from her at bat after one
pitch. Hope Banales, who is one of the cuter ones on the team, took over,
but struck out. I didn’t understand the
strategy there at all. 8-1 Aggies.
Chloe gave up a single to start the sixth. She got two flyouts and a ground out to end
the inning. Lexy gave up a couple of
singles in the bottom and got into trouble.
Anjolee at short made a nice play to get the lead runner on the next grounder. Nikki ran into her on the next grounder and
was out for interference to end the inning.
Yes, there was plenty of grumbling in the crowd after that. Given how small a softball infield is
collisions are often hard to avoid.
For the first play of the top of the seventh, Rambo threw
to Maya Martinez covering
first. Maya did a little tap dance to
nip the runner. There was no further
drama as the Aggies closed it out
and won 8-1. The team went out to the circle afterward and
clapped along with the fight song and yelled out a “thank you” to the crowd.
Gameballs. Matalasi Faapito gave up 1 run over 4+
innings and went 2 for 3 with an RBI. Kayla Bowen went 2 for 5 with 2
RBI’s. Chloe Rivas pitched 3 scoreless innings. It was a dominating performance by the Aggies
even without any home runs.
At the end of the game, there still wasn’t an update about
volleyball. I considered going up to the
pressbox, but decided against it.
Outside the stadium, the GCU parents brought out some little Easter baskets
while waiting for their players. I
called dad and offered to bring him Chick-fil-a
for dinner. I watched the second half of
the first of the Final Four games
with him.
I called Ron to ask about the volleyball when I got
there. He gave me the bad news that the
Aggies had lost in straight sets. They
were all close. As good as the Aggies
have been, I wasn’t surprised since Utah
Valley has a good team, but I was still crushed. (It’s okay girls. We know you played hard from looking at the
stats. We still love you. Go get ‘em next year. Big hug.) My only momentary solace was watching the
other Final Four game at home later. I
had no rooting interest in the game, but Gonzaga’s
last second near halfcourt winner in overtime over UCLA was thrilling.
So, that’s probably it for Aggie Softball for me this
season. Their next two homestands
conflict with Aggie Baseball. Even in pleasant conditions, that softball
grandstand was not fun to sit in. I’m
not even really enthusiastic about going to baseball. I may be finding excuses not to go. I did get everything I wanted to see in
today’s game: an Aggie win and Lexy.
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