NM State Aggies vs UTEP Miners Softball 2-9-19

We’re back after a short break.  Ron and I had a couple of apples in his car.  Not exactly baseball food, but they were good.  The scoreboard was still messed up.  The UNM fans from the last game had left and been replaced with UTEP fans.  It was still a good crowd there for the game. 

Chloe Rivas would be starting for the Aggies.  Coach Rodolph tagged her as a two-way player.  Kennedi Sorensen was in to catch her.  Nikki Butler would be the DP.  Chloe gave up hits to the first two batters in the first inning, but worked out of it with a couple of grounders and a flyball. 

Looking over the UTEP roster, I noticed they have a few girls from El Paso, including two from my own high school, Hanks.  They must have a good softball program there.  In the bottom of the first, UTEP pitcher, Julia Flores, had a rough inning with 3 walks and 2 hits.  The Aggies went up 2-0 on an RBI single by Kennedy Johnson and a bases loaded walk by Kayla Bowen. 

Chloe worked into more trouble in the second.  She let on two with a single and a walk and one out.  The bases were loaded when third baseman, Mya Felder booted a grounder in front of the plate.  Mya got the next grounder and made a play at the plate.  Meanwhile, tragedy struck in the stands.  A kid spilled a whole bag of Skittles.  I really love Skittles.  I’m still having flashbacks about this accident.  On the field, Kasey Flores came up big with a double that scored two.  Samaria Diaz came in a bit shaky and walked two batters, which forced in a run.  2-3 UTEP.  Jeanelle Medina ended the inning with a basket catch in short right field. 

Kelsey Horton was pitched around in the bottom of the second.  Victoria Castro also drew a walk.  KJ drew another walk with two outs.  The strategy here seemed to be to stay away from the big bats.  They just didn’t properly account for Mya, who doubled and cleared the bases.  Kennedi singled in another run to make it 6-3 Aggies.

In the top of the third, Mya made a great snag and throw to get the first out.  Sam gave up a hit, but finished the inning with two strikeouts.  The Aggies got a walk and three ground outs in the bottom.  During this inning the baseball stadium lights went out next door, which felt like a power outage.  I noticed several kids in the crowd were wearing some sharp-looking orange UTEP hoodies.  They also all had Aggie posters with them.

On to the fourth.  Coach Rodolph got into the action when a UTEP player nearly hit her in the dugout with a foul.  The girl was mortified and apologized.  The Miners got two runners on.  I had it scored as two fielding errors, but the official line from the PA was one error and one hit.  I’m not sure which was which.  One was a dropped flyball by KJ, the other was a muff at third by Mya.  In any case, the Aggies were fortunate no one scored.  Sam came out of the circle pumping her fist after ending the frame with a strikeout.

The bottom of the fourth brought out the Aggie hit parade as the team batted around.  The bases were loaded with a hit and two walks.  The last walk came after the catcher dropped a sky-high popup.  Wright was relieved after giving up nine walks for the game.  Kayla Bowen sacrificed in one run in with a flyball.  Jeanelle walked to reload the bases. 

With two outs, Kelsey singled to drive in another run.  Tori walked to drive in another run.  (She was walked four times in four innings for the game.)  The big blow came with Nikki doubling in three runs.  Who do you pitch to in this lineup?  They are Murder’s Row.  Keala Brown, who’d come in to pinch run for KJ at the beginning of the inning, actually came up to bat and ended the inning.  (She was out on one of those weird softball rules.)  The damage was six runs to make it 12-3 Aggies.

By this point in the evening, it was no longer pleasant.  It was downright cold.  Ron was a bit despondent as he’d gotten a sudden call that he was going to have to work tonight.  He was also just wearing a windbreaker.  I didn’t say anything at the time, but was pretty sure the game was about to be run-ruled.  Sure enough, Sam struck out two and a flyball ended the inning and the game.  Aggies win 12-3!

Free passes really did in the Miners tonight.  It might have been a strategy to pitch carefully to the Aggies’ big boppers, but it was going to be a hard one to execute.  They were also going to have to keep scoring, but Samaria Diaz did a good job in shutting them down.  Chloe Rivas is still learning as a freshman, but she did a good job.  The defense let her down and wasn’t sharp in this game.  Offensively, Nikki Butler went 2 for 4 with 3 RBI’s, and Mya Felder went 2 for 2 and 3 more RBI’s.  It was a good day of hitting for the Aggies all around.

Ron was pretty happy with the truncated win, as he was getting cold.  We ran into Fan Mike in the parking lot while admiring his new truck.  Mike asked me, “Did you stay for that whole game Friday?”  He’d left early like most people there (the sane ones).  If Ron had thought I was exaggerating about the cold that night that comment might have convinced him. 

Ron wasn’t in a hurry to get to work.  I offered to get him dinner since he was going to have to be up all night.  We brought back Subway to my apartment.  The PA at the softball game had given a halftime update on tonight’s other Aggie game, Men’s Basketball versus GCU in Phoenix.  We listened to the end of the game while eating.  Since I only heard about the last five minutes I can’t do a recap, but I have happy totals as the Aggies won 67-64 in a thriller.  It was that close.  Ivan Aurrecoechea was back playing, which is good news.  The stat of the match was 27, the number of second chance points the Aggies got in the game.  It was a great day for NM State sports.      

NM State Aggies vs UNM Lobos Softball 2-9-19

This is going to be a bit of a short report.  By the time the Aggie Women’s Basketball game let out, this game between the Aggies and Lobos had been going on for probably over an hour-and-a-half.  However, I will be providing more coverage than the local newspaper.  I just looked over Monday’s paper this morning, in addition to the weekend papers, which all had zero coverage of this softball tournament.  Shame.  I’m offended and I’m not even on the team.  Come on, they were playing their rivals UNM and UTEP here.

The weather today was cold, but not windy, so it was fine as long as you were bundled up like I was.  Ron had left his house in a hurry.  He forgot his seat cushions and only had a windbreaker.  Ron has a lot more natural padding than I do, but after hearing about what happened to me on Friday, he wasn’t sure he was going to make it through tonight’s games.

The parking lot was again full.  By strange coincidence, Ron ended up parking in the same space I did yesterday.  The grandstand inside was full with Aggie and Lobo fans.  Here, you would expect me to update you with the score and inning of the game in progress.  Instead, the scoreboard was showing Ghost in the Machine-like gibberish.  So, we were in the dark as to the game status.  I suppose we could have asked the senior couple behind us, since they were really into the game.  In fact, they were providing nonstop commentary on the game, whether we wanted it or not.  It felt like the right decision to not engage them.

On field, Kayla Green was pitching for the Aggies.  I saw her finish the inning with two strikeouts and a big smile.  The PA started playing Take Me Out to the Ballgame.  Ah, so it was the middle of the fifth.  For whatever reason, neither group of fans were into singing today.  We still didn’t know the score.             

But Kelsey Horton knew what time it was!  Pow!  She hammered a moonshot to left field that also drove in Brandy Hernandez, who had walked in front of her.  Let’s do that again, but this time with Victoria Castro!  Kaboom!  It was another high-arcing shot that just cleared the wall.  Wow, did we arrive at the right time to see the fireworks.  And the score is . . . I don’t know.  I wasn’t going to bother with a scorecard for a partial game anyway, but it’d be nice to know who was winning. 

Unsurprisingly, the Lobos brought in a reliever.  The lefty hit the backstop with her first warmup pitch.  Un-intimidated, Nikki Butler stepped in and hit a double.  Kennedy Johnson would then drive in pinch runner Keala Brown.  The Lobos nearly turned a double play next.  The Lobo first baseman did the splits stretching for the throw.  The Aggies scored another run from third on a bad throw to second, but the inning did end with a caught stealing. 

Ah, we had an update from the PA.  After five innings, the Aggies were up 6-3.  At last, I could put some context to the game.  Starting off the sixth, it was hard to ignore a screaming Lobo player in the dugout.  She was going insane cheering for her team.  She had reasons to cheer.  The Lobos loaded the bases.  Nikki made a bad pickoff throw to third that brought in a run.  On the next pitch, the batter cranked a three-run homer to make it 6-7 Lobos. 

“Not in my house!” screamed Kelsey Horton as she banged another home run!  Okay, she didn’t actually shout anything, but the actual event was more dramatic.  Brandy had drawn another walk in front of her to start the inning.  With her short stature, opposing pitchers are going to have trouble putting it in her strike zone.  The home run ball actually hit the left center light pole in the outfield.  I told you she was “The Natural.”  The PA needs to get that music from the movie for her home runs.  There were guys from the Aggie Baseball team standing behind the outfield wall watching.  They got a good view of the homer and cheered on the girls.

8-7 Aggies, oops . . . pardon, 9-7 Aggies, as Nikki piled on with a solo shot.  Welcome to Aggie Softball batting practice UNM.  After this, the Lobo coach took a cue from her maniac player and started going insane over balls and strikes.  She was lucky she didn’t get tossed.  Her pitcher got two strikeouts looking to end the inning anyway.

The Lobos weren’t done yet.  The seventh started with a foul ball nearly hitting a bird sitting on the grandstand netting.  The next solid hit was a homer that hit the malfunctioning scoreboard, which would have read 9-8 Aggies if it was working.  I wonder if there was an earlier homer that knocked it out of whack to begin with.  That shot did knock Kayla out of the game.  Samaria Diaz came in in relief and struck out the side with one walk.

Aggies win 9-8!  I have no stats other than Kelsey Horton is awesome, which isn’t a stat, it’s a fact.  Practice for the baseball team ended and they came in for the last inning.  They’d be back after the between games break.  Ron and I retreated to his car for some snacks.  Hey, if Concessions did corn-in-a-cup at the Softball Complex, I’d buy more of their food.  Next up, another rivalry game, this time with UTEP.

NM State Aggies vs GCU Lopes Women’s Basketball 2-9-19

 

This was scheduled to be a long day.  At least Ron was with me for it.  First up was a tasty, but quick lunch at Chik-fil-a.  Dessert came when we got to the Pan-Am Center and picked up free cookies for “Brookie Cookie” day.  I’m sure Brooke Salas loves to be called “Brookie.”  Some student association was handing out free pizza just outside one of the entrances as well.  While we were passing through the concourse, we saw the TV analyst coach chowing down on half a pizza in his hands. 

After we sat down, the PA started playing some old song from the 40’s I’d never heard before.  It was like some kind of rumba number.  It was really cool.  I wonder if we’ll hear it again.  The Roadrunner Review Band played a variation of the Aggie fight song when the team came in to warm up.  They also played Taylor Swift’s Trouble again.  They even sang out during the chorus.      

The girls didn’t seem to be suffering any ill effects from attending last night’s Softball game.  I noticed Gia Pack and Aaliyah Prince practicing with each other.  One would do some fancy dribble, and the other would have to repeat the move.  Today’s opponent, the GCU Lopes, came out.  They only brought nine players with them, but they looked pretty big.  In fact, #53 Sharon Miller looked a lot like she should be playing offensive tackle on a football team.  The team was wearing t-shirts and long-sleeve shirts instead of tank tops.  They did have some tight-looking purple sneakers on.

A really good crowd was forming, even early.  The little Razzle Dazzle Cheerleaders would be performing at the half.  One of my more agreeable co-workers and her family coincidentally sat down in front of us and I said “Hello.”  Some of the parents left at the half, but they stayed for the whole game.       

 First Quarter

The game started off well for the Aggies with a couple of steals right off the bat, including one for Brooke.  Gia took a bad fall on defense.  She came up limping, but was okay.  She didn’t have much of a choice on playing, they passed her the ball right away.  GCU was keeping up.  #12 Carla Balague scored three-straight layups in the lane off of some great passing. 

I noticed #5 Laura Piera on their team.  She was a pretty girl with long blonde hair.  She hit a couple of free throws after getting fouled, but I noticed the freshman from Spain seemed to be overmatched running the point.  This was my first indication that this wasn’t the same team I saw beating the Aggies in Phoenix last month (1-10-19).  I wish the game had been on the radio, so I could have heard the pregame.  I wonder if GCU was short-handed of some of their better players.

Brooke missed her first few shots until she hit a three off a Gia steal.  Stabresa McDaniel and Prince also hit three’s to make it 15-10 Aggies.  Gia got called for traveling on a couple of trips, but the next time down she ran right down the lane for a layup.  Brooke would score a last second layup to give the Aggies a 19-12 lead.

Second Quarter

Dino Dash!  The staff might have decided not to keep the large crowd waiting, suspecting they might be leaving early.  There were no fights this time between the “Dino-mite” contestants.  (I’m quoting.  I didn’t say it.)  Of course, it was still good for plenty of laughs.

The Aggies were using a high-pressure defense for the game and putting in lots of subs.  Obviously, they were trying to tire out the Lopes’ short bench.  GCU started taking some bad shots and the Aggies went up 23-14.  They took a timeout in the middle of two free throws by Prince.  During the extended TV break, Kalei Atkinson started chatting with one of the refs.  It might have been about shoes, since they were looking down.

The Aggie defense continued to be excellent.  At one point, Sharon Miller was double-teamed and attempted to pass the ball to a ref.  Adenike Aderinto got a steal and a pair of free throws.  Gia took another spill after getting another steal.  She hit the floor again going for a loose ball.  She’s tough and lucky.

With about two minutes left in the half, hundreds of little cheerleaders started lining up in the aisles.  They’d have to wait a few minutes as there was a lot of fouling that was slowing down the game.  Dominique Mills got a steal and free throws.  Both teams got a bit sloppy in the last minute.  Brooke got a rebound off a miss and a stickback for another last second bucket.  It was 37-18 at the half.  This was not what I expected for this game.

Halftime

The Razzle Dazzle Cheerleaders came out on to the court.  These little girls boosted today’s attendance by 400 just by themselves.  Parents all over the arena got out their phones to record the performance.  Other than them being cute, my only comment is that their coaches were pretty hot.  They reminded me of that woman that’s the Aggie Cheerleaders’ coach.

Third Quarter

Monique Mills popped a three right at the beginning of the quarter.  The last meeting between these two teams, the Aggies had zero three’s.  They’d finish this game with six.  However, they collected three quick fouls.  Though the Aggies were up big, they were still hustling.  Brooke went airborne and out-of-bounds to save an air-ball and get the rebound. 

Three minutes in and the Lopes were already in the bonus.  Unfortunately for them, they couldn’t hit a foul shot, so it wasn’t hurting the Aggies.  The Aggies kept scoring.  Gia and Brooke scored layups off of turnovers.  Gia in particular got some very friendly bounces off the rim on a couple of shots.  Timeout at 56-24 Aggies. 

Brooke and Gia took seats on the bench.  At that point, they had more combined points than GCU.  Oh God, then it happened.  The PA played . . . (I can hardly bring myself to type it) . . . Baby Shark.  Yes, one of the most obnoxious Internet memes ever was being playing in the real world.  Of course, the kids there ate it up, sang along, and did the dance.  

With the reserves all in, Tayelin Grays made a nice pass inside to find Baylee Robinson for a layup.  Brooke came back in and got a steal and a layup off of Laura Piera.  Now I was officially feeling bad for Laura.  Nike got a great basket at the end of the quarter.  The ball pinballed around under the basket between several players before she grabbed it and stuck it in.  65-32 Aggies after three quarters. 

Fourth Quarter

Pistol Pete was again lifted by the Cheerleaders (the guys that is) as in the last game (2-7-19).  It was a shaky mount, but they nailed the maneuver.  (Maybe they should consider retiring this stunt before something happens to our beloved mascot.)  Pete then did the Macarena with the crowd.  The Band was already singing the fight song in victory early in the quarter.  They were “wobbling in their boots” as Jack Nixon would say. 

#21 Venla Yaris finally hit the first GCU three of the game in the fourth quarter.  Laura had been guarding Gia since the end of the third quarter.  I don’t care what the program sheet says, there is not a 1” difference in their heights.  It’s more like six and was a severe mismatch.  Even then, the Aggies were in a four-minute scoring drought, but GCU could not capitalize on it.

Brooke, of course, would come in and break the drought.  Varis hit another three, but Gia answered right back with one.  In the second quarter, Miller had scored on Baylee under the basket.  I was thinking Baylee’s teammates might be teasing her later.  I have to admit though, Miller could actually play and scored 8 in the second half.  Trust me, she doesn’t have a baller’s physique. 

During a timeout at 72-42, a camera caught a little cheerleader girl “dabbing.”  It was cute.  Tayelin popped a three right out of the break.  Pam Wilmore made a great play inside for a basket.  Ooh, Brooke later took a spill under the goal.  The crowd collectively held its breath, but she was okay.  Brooke was pulled out immediately for the rest of the game.  At 77-48 Aggies, I noticed both teams’ coaches were seated.  No sense in them getting worked up at this point.

Bre made a great move under the basket for a reverse layup.  Aissatou Fall fouled out and was applauded by the crowd as she went to the bench.  She’d been soaking up fouls during the game.  They’d passed to her a couple of times inside, but she wasn’t able to finish.  Fall just needs a little more experience to be effective.  Before the end, GCU started making free throws, especially Balague.  I’m sure their attractive coach, Nicole Powell, was mentally saying, Now you’re making them?                 

Our final was 81-52 Aggies.  I was in shock, but I’ll take it as a fan.  Did GCU accidently send their JV team?  Looking at their 5-14 record, they’re actually not that good.  I really wish I had some background on this game.  Carla Balague led them with 12 points.  Sharon Miller was next with 10.  I shouldn’t have doubted why she was out on the court.  Laura Piera had 9 on a rough day, but at least she’s still good-looking.

Everyone played for the Aggies and 10 of the 12 players scored.  Brooke Salas celebrated her senior day with cookies and 25 points and 18 rebounds.  Gia Pack was next with 19 points and at least 3 bruises.  The other girls chipped in as well.  If this was a revenge game, the Aggies got it and then some.  I’m happy Brooke and Gia came out of this uninjured, because any of those falls in the game could have done them in.  No time for reflection though.  We were off to see Aggie Softball, joined in progress.  

NM State Aggies vs Creighton Bluejays Softball 2-8-19

It was a bright, clear sunny day here in the Mesilla Valley.  Regrettably, the ambient temperature was in the 50’s with a light breeze.  It felt somewhere in the 40’s.  I’d gone outside earlier and shivered.  I was doubting my sanity going out for today’s season opener for Aggie Softball, but I’m a fan and had the day off for this, so off I went.  Coach Rodolph, in an interview earlier in the week, said that opponent Creighton was picked to win their Big East Conference.  The school is better known for their Men’s Basketball team. 

The parking lot outside the stadium was full, which was my first indicator of a good crowd.  Inside, a very pretty girl was handing out Aggie hats to everyone.  I declined since I already had one of that kind.  A nice young man helped me with a program.  Aggie Sports Marketing is on the ball.  I picked up a soda and popcorn at the concessions.  I shouldn’t have done that, since it ruined my appetite for dinner afterward. 

It was a full-ish house in the stands with Lobo and Miner fans watching the game between their teams.  I had arrived in the seventh.  The Lobos won 15-6.  I did see a Miner player hit a homer in the seventh.  The Miners are wearing new colors.  I saw one of their players outside later and she came back in to watch this game.  She was very pretty with sparkling eyes.  I’ll see if I can figure out who she is tomorrow.  [I didn’t see her again.  Nor did I see the mythic WAC girl (WAC game 8), who I’d noticed with the team during the fall.]  A pretty Lobo player, #32 Lauren Wilmert, came in the stands afterward and chatted with a couple of Aggie fans.  She was heckled lightly by the guy sitting in front of me.    

A good crowd of Aggie and Creighton fans came in after that game.  Danny came in and I chatted with him.  He’d been here watching the other games today.  He gave me a scouting report, but I couldn’t hear him over the crowd noise.  I filled him in on last night’s dramatic win by Aggie Men’s Basketball.  Creighton brought quite a few fans, including a guy in facepaint and a spiky blue wig, like it was a basketball game and he was trying to get on camera.  Nobody was shirtless with a letter painted on their chest.  Perhaps it needs to be snowing for that to happen. 

Other Aggie sports were well-represented.  First, I saw Coach Baarts and the Soccer team enter.  My heart fluttered a bit seeing Dmitri Fong.  Football, perhaps some Men’s Basketball, Women’s Basketball (including a freezing Brooke Salas), and Volleyball (little Zoe Abeyta was wearing shorts and a windbreaker) were all represented.  The girls all filled up a section. 

I kind of hate to mention this, but later in the game, my dear Aileen Galicia from the Soccer team came in.  I’m still ashamed that I didn’t go see her after the game on Senior Day (10-27-18), though I understand why I didn’t at the time.  I think I took a couple of Aggie losses too hard that day and lost all my confidence.  She looked beautiful now, but somehow changed in personality, more mature maybe.  Aileen didn’t sit with the team, who’d left by that time. 

Even though she walked right past me, I didn’t say anything since she’d brought two guys in with her.  I kind of doubt I’ll have another opportunity to speak to her.  (I want to ask her about the team, but away from the team, since I want her frank opinion.)  Cristina Bertoldo, her graduated teammate from last year, came in afterward and also walked by me to sit with her.  This was my second blown opportunity to say “Hello” to her.  My relations with Aggie Soccer are going downhill.  

The man himself, Pistol Pete, threw out the first pitch.  The heckler guy shouted that Pete doesn’t have real guns.  (This guy should be grateful for that.)  Pete brought along a few Cheerleaders, who threw out some t-shirts.  In the background during the game, I could see the Baseball team working out in their stadium.  Surprisingly, the Aggie Softball team was the visiting team for this game, but did get to use their usual dugout.  (I usually get overly confused with my scoring when this happens.)  Both teams made some noise during the game, but seemed relatively quiet.  I’m sure they were all cold too.           

  

I was sort of surprised to see masher Kelsey Horton leading off the game.  She may have been surprised to find herself there too.  In a preseason interview, Kelsey was anticipating teammates getting on in front of her.  Coach Rodolph would rather Kelsey get as many at-bats as possible from that leadoff position, I guess.  Nikki Butler got a hit in the top of the first and advanced on an error, but the Aggies went down without scoring.

I’d noticed an Aggie Sports Marketing lady handing out shirts to the Aggie Sports girls in their section.  Between innings, their teams were recognized and then they bombarded the fans with t-shirts.  In the bottom, Kelsey was back at her natural first base position.  Jeanelle Medina was moved to second and two new freshmen were on the other side of the infield.  Jeanelle started a slick double play to end the inning, with starter Kayla Green getting strikeout as the other out.

Ariana Grande’s Thank You, Next played between innings.  I was mentally cringing as I waited for the profanity-using chorus, but they played the clean version skipping the bad words.  Ari, it’s a great song, but really, did anybody not think that out?  The Aggies went down in order in the top of the second.  I missed the first out, as there was a small emergency down in front.  Coach Baart’s small son fell down and hit his head.  The heckler guy was impressed that the kid wasn’t crying.  The coach said, “Give it minute.”  Kayla Bowen at short, dropped a ball hit to her, but did a good job of staying with it to get the out.  Victoria Castro almost made a great diving catch in center, but that single was the only hit of the inning.

Local girl and fan favorite, Brandy Hernandez, got the crowd going with a double down the third base line to start the third.  She hustled it into a double.  Kelsey came up for her second AB and promptly jacked it to right center.  2-0 Aggies.  Tori was up next and hit one to the scoreboard.  3-0 Aggies.  Needless to say, the crowd was in a frenzy by that point.  When Nikki came up to bat next, the football players behind me and the heckler in front really started giving it to Bluejay’s pitcher, Logan Black.  Her first pitch went straight to the backstop.  Nikki walked, but a DP started by Black ended the inning.

Kayla gave up a leadoff double.  Kelsey got the next out unassisted, but the runner made it to third.  Kayla Bowen (let’s go with KB from here on to avoid some confusion) threw home on a grounder, but wasn’t close to getting the out, 3-1.  “Don’t play with her, K!” a football player encouraged Kayla on the next batter, who hit a grounder that should have started a double play.  KB was uncertain for a moment about running to second or throwing it and the runner there was ruled safe (questionable).  There was a conference in the circle.  It ended with Kelsey saying something to Kayla that got a smile out of her. 

KB did get the next out on a popup, but on the next batter, Caity in right field misplayed a ball and two more runs scored, 3-3.  The next batter singled in another run to make it 4-3 Bluejays.  Kayla came out after giving up another hit.  I have her giving up 4 runs, but only 1 earned.  Analise de la Roca relieved her.  The next batter singled to center, but Tori made a great throw to the plate to get the runner and end the inning.  Nikki flipped the ball into the circle immediately after making the catch as she ran off the field.  It’s the defensive version of a bat-flip.

Mya Felder singled past first baseman, Sam Alm, to start the fourth.  “Ole!” shouted the heckler as Alm fanned on the ball rolling right by her.  Keala Brown came in to run for her.  She’d would motor all the way around on a hit by Caity to make it 4-4.  Kennedy Johnson, in her preseason interview, was expecting to have a good season this year.  She got started off on the right foot, as she greeted a Bluejay reliever with a two-run homer to right center (the wind seemed to be blowing out that way).  6-4 Aggies. 

Brandy singled again and Jeanelle followed her with another.  They both got moved up on a wild pitch.  Nikki drove in Brandy on a fielder’s choice that didn’t get anyone out.  Jeanelle would then score on a wild pitch to make it 8-4.  Alm made a good play on a liner to end the top of the inning. 

Danny and a lot of crowd had left by this point, apparently either secure in eventual victory and/or freezing beyond endurance.  KB started the bottom of the fifth with a great jump catch.  The next batter managed to hit the right field light pole with a foul.  I’d never seen that before.  Analise issued a walk, but the next batter was out on some kind of interference or some other funky softball rule, whatever gets the game over quicker.     

      

I missed the first Aggie batter of the fifth.  I couldn’t hold that Mountain Dew I’d finished in this kind of cold weather and peed for a couple minutes straight.  The next two batters were hit and then the next walked to load the bases.  Black came back in and faced pinch hitter, Kennedi Sorensen, who drove in two runs on a single.  10-4 Aggies.  I was briefly encouraged at the thought of a run-ruled game ending this immediately, but the top of the order popped out.  The Bluejays went down in the bottom with a single hit.

By the sixth inning, I was no longer taking notes, but I was pretty grateful that the wind died down.  Before this, I’d gotten to the point that I was having to stop myself from shaking in order to write.  I noticed AD Mario Moccia came in at this point.  He must have looked around the near empty stands and thought no one came tonight.  Also, I made the acquaintance of a Creighton fan.  He came over and asked if #2 Jayci Foster, his daughter, had been taken out.  (This is what happens when you’re sitting in ballpark keeping a scorecard.  People assume you’re paying attention.)  He was a real nice fellow and some conversation will help to warm me up a bit. 

Creighton is in Omaha, Nebraska, which I didn’t know.  People there hadn’t been able to go outside for two weeks because of the polar vortex.  That said, their fans still thought it was cold here in Las Cruces right now.  This fellow complimented our facility here.  (If we’re able to get the planned upgrades someday, I’ll be impressed too.)  He was a former umpire and he knew who Kelsey Horton was.  Wow, their fans are serious; they even scouted our team.  Hopefully, we’ll meet again on Sunday morning.  [We just waved to each other on Sunday.]

As for the last two innings, they went fairly quick, thank goodness.  Even Canadian, Megan Hart, finally left with the last of the volleyball team.  Analise locked down two more innings.  In the sixth, KB singled, advanced to second on a wild pitch, advanced to third on a passed ball (I’m sure this disagrees with the official scorer, in any case, she advanced two bases), and Caity drove her in with a single for the final score of the game.  Some reserve players got at bats in the top of the seventh.  Aggies would win 11-4.  I would have clapped harder for the win, but I was afraid I might shatter my hands.

The Aggie offense looked good.  I’ll single out Victoria Castro going 2 for 4 with a home run and an RBI, Brandy Hernandez going 2 for 3 with 2 runs scored, and Caity Szczesny, who went 2 for 3 with 2 RBI’s.  Aggie pitching was good, but the defense let Kayla Green down a bit.  A couple of bad plays behind her cut her outing short.  Analise de la Roca did a great job in relief.     

I must have wanted to see this game, this team, and watch the outcome real bad.  This is about as cold as I’ve ever been outside.  All of the girls were shuffling in place at their positions, but held up well.  I’m simultaneously looking forward to seeing more of the team over the weekend and dreading being out in the cold.  

NM State Aggies vs CSUB Roadrunners Women’s Basketball 2-7-19

Umm . . . This is a basketball post, but I’m doubting the occasion will occur where I’ll be doing an Aggie Track and Field post.  They look nice though.  They’re pretty tall too.  Put a bit more meat on them and work on their shot and maybe they could play basketball.  There were some other new posters up front at tonight’s Aggie Women’s Basketball game against CSU-Bakersfield.  I will have an occasion to post the new Softball and Baseball posters here shortly.    

I was with Ron this Thursday evening as I’d taken the day off.  We went to the new Freddie’s restaurant before the game.  I thought it was okay.  The burger and fries were different, but not especially great.  I was interested in going primarily for the frozen custard there.  Even then, the sundae I had wasn’t as good as other places in town.  Ron liked it a lot, so everything is to taste.  I don’t think Raising Canes next door, with their great food, is going to suffer too much business loss beyond the near future.

We got to the Pan-Am Center way early when it was nearly empty.  Thankfully, a decent crowd would show up later.  It took me a minute to recognize it, but the Roadrunner Review Band was playing Prince’s Let’s Go Crazy during the warm up.  There was even a sax solo.  Much more quickly recognizable was their playing of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody.  The Mills sisters were all smiles playing a little one-on-one against each other after the shoot around. 

For the Anthem, a pretty, but serious-looking blonde came out with a violin.  She played an excellent, stirring rendition.  It was part classical violin, part fiddle.  She was able to make the instrument sound like someone was accompanying her.  It was amazing.  After the game started, I saw her seated by herself behind the scoring table across the court.  She seemed attentive, but not interested, just downright winsome.  She was there for most of game, but left late in the fourth, when the game was well in hand.  I kind of wished I’d run into her before leaving so I could have congratulated her on her playing.        

First Quarter

The scorecard didn’t quite add up for me, but let’s just pretend it did.  The Roadrunners scored on their first possession, so we were not standing for long, unlike the last game (1-26-19).  I remember Bakersfield’s coach, Greg McCall, from previous visits.  He’s a very tall, well-dressed fellow.  Between his and Coach Atkinson’s passionate antics on the sidelines, I wasn’t sure if either would make it to end.

“Damn!” a Roadrunner player missed a wide-open jumper.  I don’t think she said it that loud, but everyone was too quiet after she missed that easy shot.  Brooke Salas came out tenacious on defense with a block on #54 Vanessa Austin, who had four inches and at least 15 pounds on her.  Monique Mills got a block on the next trip down.  It was a low-scoring, 4-5 Bakersfield, at the first timeout.

         

Jasmine Cooper, from last years’ team, walked by in front of us.  It took me a minute to remember her name, though I recognized her immediately.  (I saw her at the grocery store a few months ago and didn’t recognize her until later.)  She was there with friends, including one really hot one.  Wow.  (Unsurprisingly, she was there with a boyfriend.)  On court, a pair of professors were honored.  PA Ed had a bit of a time with one of them having a very Eastern European last name.  Ed also mentioned someone in the crowd and wished them, “Happy Birthday.”  The band started to play the fight song, but then switched to Happy Birthday without missing a beat.

Stabresa McDaniel, who we haven’t seen for a couple of games, came in after the break.  She was wearing a serious knee-brace, but she could play.  Gia Pack ran the point for a few possessions.  She was really harassed, but did some impressive dribbling to get the ball down court.  Aaliyah Prince got a steal and got it to Kalei Atkinson who was fouled and converted a free throw.  Brooke got her first points on a banked three off a great screen by Bre.  8-10 Roadrunners after 10 minutes.

Second Quarter

I’d noticed the Softball team was in attendance.  They were honored on court during the break and handed out hats to the crowd.  Some fans teased that they weren’t throwing them.  I was pleased to see my favorite player name, Caity Szczesny, was out there with them.  I hadn’t seen her at all during their fall games.  And my pen came apart while I was writing this in my notes.  This is why I always have two writing instruments on hand at games.

Brooke was left wide-open for a three at the start of the quarter.  Did the Roadrunners not scout this Aggie team?  She then got a steal in their inbounds and made a layup for the first Aggie lead.  Timeout.  The Band rocked out to Taylor Swift’s Trouble, a song from back when Tay wasn’t a sellout.  Brooke came out firing another three off a Pam Wilmore screen. 

The Mills sisters got involved.  Dominique Mills got a steal and a layup.  Mo hit a three.  There was some good team passing to find her open.  Ooh, Pam got her pocket picked clean for an easy layup.  Right before that happened, I noticed the entire Roadrunner lineup that was in had zero cumulative points.  I guess they were in for their defense.  The Aggies had a 28-27 lead at the half.

Third Quarter

A kid’s hip hop dance group performed at the half.  This was one of the few times I didn’t need to go to the bathroom at the half, since I went right before the game started.  I should do that more often.      

More sister act to start the third.  Mo got a steal and D got a layup off it.  Brooke then went coast-to-coast for a layup.  She got another block on Vanessa Austin.  The Aggies were turning up the defense and started hitting shots to make it 38-32.  Timeout. 

The mostly rather attractive Women’s Golf team was honored on court.  I would have picked up their schedule poster up front, if it had featured more of them.  It was Women in Sports day.  They threw out Aggie-the-Riveter “Guns up” shirts to the crowd.  It’s Rosie-the-Riveter flexing in Aggie colors.  They’re cool, but really seem like something a guy shouldn’t wear.  The girls happily accepted some promo shirts for their own afterward.  The Swim and Dive team is advertising handing them out at their Saturday meet.  I mentioned this to Ron, but he wasn’t tempted like I am.  (They will not have a shirt in his size.) 

#23 Miracle Saxon came out of the break with a bucket for the Roadrunners.  I’m just mentioning that because I liked the name “Miracle.”  Play was getting rough with girls hitting the deck.  Brooke picked up her first foul late.  I don’t know if she was being more careful on defense or if the refs were just letting the girls play.   The Aggies continued to add on to make it 47-36 after three quarters.

Fourth Quarter

Dino Dash!  Seriously, I think they moved this event to later in the game to keep more of the crowd around.  A pair of girls were the contestants.  One of them managed to get down and shake her inflated tail booty when introduced.  An extended cat fight ensued during the competition.  Their fight spilled over into the Aggie bench and disrupted their meeting.  It was like Peter versus the Chicken from Family Guy.  Don’t worry.  They were still friends afterward.  It was all in good fun.

Brooke started the quarter sitting out, probably more to catch her breath than because of foul trouble.  No problem.  Bre hit a three to increase the lead to 50-36.  Timeout.  Oh, I’m glad I came for what happened next.  I had some trepidation when I saw this developing on court.  Pistol Pete had joined the Cheerleaders.  Four guys lifted him up by his boots over their heads, while other guys were lifting girls beside him.  The entire group made a human pyramid and then rotated counterclockwise to display this spectacle.  Epic.

Also epic was Bre getting a monster block and a layup.  Things got a bit sloppy at the end.  The crowd actually groaned at one point after multiple turnovers at midcourt by both teams.  It was not in doubt at this point as the Aggies closed out a good 61-48 win.  The team did not panic when the shots weren’t going in and made the most of their defense. 

For the Roadrunners, #12 Alexxus Gilbert had a tremendous game with 20 points, including 7 free throw points.  #15 Malayasia McHenry got 10 points and was wearing a smart-looking pair of yellow shoes to match her school colors.  For the Aggies, Brooke Salas had 21 points.  Typical greatness.  She also had 12 rebounds for another double-double.  Gia Pack had 12 points and a bunch of other players chipped in.  Stabresa McDaniel had a great game back from injury.

I was nearly knocked out by the third quarter of this game.  While last night at work was very light on duties, the preceding days I was stressed out to the point of nightmares.  I think I’m still recovering.  I felt bad that I wasn’t being as responsive as Ron.  He started loudly cheering the team on in that quarter to help rally them.  Ron does not usually pipe up that much and was nearly losing his voice by the end.  He was completely jacked up after this win.  I was feeling exhausted, but was happy as well.  I thought my excitement for the evening was over, but then I caught the Aggie Men’s game on the radio when I got home.  I’ll cover that elsewhere.      

Sports Journal February 2019

2-2-19

I had vague plans to hang out with Ron today, but I wasn’t sure when or where.  While I was sort of in flux, I decided to listen to the UTEP Miner Women versus the Western Kentucky Lady-Toppers (or Lady Hilltoppers?).  I wasn’t going to take any notes on this unless it got interesting, which it did.  It didn’t look good for the Miners even before the game.  They only had seven players available, but it was more like six-and-a-half with one of the girls coming back from injury.   

The Toppers are a good team in C-USA and showed it at the start of the first quarter as they went up 12-2.  But, the Miners came back.  By the start of the second they’d tied it up and took the lead.  They were even up by 12 at one point, but finished up 36-30 at the half. 

By the third, another Miner player was injured just as Toppers tied the score.  Still, the Miners were up by six going into the fourth.  The Lady-Toppers tied it up again, but the score remained close.  As the game became more dramatic, the good-sounding crowd got even more into it.  There was some fan by the microphone screaming his head off at the refs.    

The Miners regained a slim lead late, but were fouling too much.  Zuzanna Puc fouled out.  They might have only had five players available at that point.  Zuzy shook hands with the ref as she left the court.  The Toppers took the lead on free throws.  By this point, the Aggie Men’s basketball pregame was on that I really wanted to listen to, so I was flipping back and forth.

There was lots of contention on the final plays, but the Miners lost 64-61.  The announcers were happy with the competitive effort.  Even Coach Baker was pleased with his girls afterward against a much better team.  For some reason, the girls went into stands afterward to thank the fans.  Damn, why wasn’t I there so I could finally meet Katerina Zec!  I’d be there in an Aggie shirt telling her, “I still root for you, Kat!  I can’t help it!”

Meanwhile, the Aggie Men were playing an odd mid-afternoon game to accommodate some national TV coverage against versus Chicago State.  The Aggies are leading the WAC at 7-1, while the Cougars are winless in conference.  In truth, I was more interested in the pregame than the game.    

Former Aggie Coach Reggie Theus was back in town for an on-court ceremony.  The women in Las Cruces were all now suddenly basketball fans again.  Justin Hawkins, one of his former players and the color commentator, recollected a 2007 New Year’s Day game with Chicago State.  Coach Theus and actress Tara Reid were both throwing parties at team’s hotel in Chicago the night before.  There like 40 people at game the next day and the Aggies nearly lost.

“He walks among us,” said Jack Nixon as Reggie came over to chat.  Again, I was flipping back-and-forth on the radio.  (This was the worst possible timing for me.)  Hawk was in awe.  Jack was a bit more skeptical, but happy to see him.  Reggie said he would “school” his players out on court in practice, playing for money, just to prove his abilities.  Reggie said he wasn’t necessarily “the smartest guy in the room,” but he always tried to know what his players were capable of and would then put them in a position to where they could succeed.  His former players still call him, even a kid he’d kicked off the team and took away his scholarship (he came back as a walk-on).     

Here’s where I’d like to recap the game, but I can’t do it with any honesty.  Ron came by about ten minutes into the first half to watch some TV shows he’d downloaded, and he brought food (that was very nice of him).  The reason I was willing to turn off the game so easily was because it wasn’t much of a game even early on. 

It sounded like a good, happy crowd.  (No doubt there were a bunch of women there standing in line wanting to talk to Reggie.)  Clayton Henry was popping three’s early.  According to the newspaper account, the team did well with 15 made-three’s for the game.  83-39 Aggies was the final.  Terrell Brown led the team with 19 points.  I’m assuming the bench got in a lot of work today. 

The Aggie Women were also playing Chicago State today on the road.  I’m going to assume it was still cold there with aftereffects of the polar vortex.  There wasn’t any live coverage of the game, but when Ron called me, he told me that they’d won big from the final posted on the team Twitter.  The final was 87-66 Aggies and was announced during the Men’s game coverage.   

From the paper, I got more details.  Gia Pack was still playing thankfully, so her injury in the last game wasn’t enough to take her out.  She had 11 points and scored her 1,000-th point.  Brooke Salas led with 28 points.  Monique and Dominique Mills both scored in double digits.  That is awesome.  Usually it’s only one sister or the other doing the scoring in a game.  I wouldn’t count on all four of these young women scoring that much in a game against the other teams in the conference, but it’s good to know they’re capable of it.  I forgot to mention last time, but this Aggie team is also in first place in the WAC.

2-3-19

I thought I would be doing extensive Superbowl coverage today.  I had planned on watching all eight hours of pregame coverage.  Somehow, that didn’t work out, but I was sure I would be watching the game itself.  But then, I noticed TBD was doing a marathon of Wil Wheaton’s Tabletop show and I had to watch that instead. 

I started flipping around during the commercials, but I just couldn’t find the game.  I don’t know where it was.  The closest I could find was an MLS match between the New England Revolution and the LA Galaxy.  The Revolution went up 3-nil at halftime, but the Galaxy made a great comeback and tied it 3-3 with 15 minutes left in the match.  This must have been the most exciting and highest-scoring soccer match of all time.  I missed the end though, since it was soccer and I don’t care, unless Alex Morgan is playing.  It probably just ended in a tie anyway.  Typical soccer. 

Okay, enough jokes at the NFL’s expense.  BECAUSE I HAD $10,000 ON THE OVER AND NOW I HAVE TO GO BACK TO PROSTITUTION IN MY SPARE TIME INSTEAD OF WRITING!  I wasn’t really rooting for the Patriots, but congratulations to Tom Brady for making all of those sports “experts,” who have been throwing dirt on the Patriots’ grave all season, puke all over themselves with yet another Superbowl victory. 

I really only watched the end of the game.  I did watch the postgame on TV Azteca so I could see the annual ritual of Ines Saenz charging on to the field to interview random players with her heavy accent.  At least the Mexican network has the good sense to have a glamorous blonde doing this, certainly the most likely candidate to engage the players whether they could understand her or not. 

So much for football this season.  I hope we can get back what the NFL does best next season: head injuries, domestic abuse, and social justice.  I do think the league broke some new ground with poor officiating this year though.  They can build on that.    

Sports Journal January 31, 2019

1-31-19

Funny that I started this month off talking about not getting a Big Tex sandwich at Church’s for a month end meal.  This month end, I went to Church’s and still didn’t get my sandwich.  They got my order wrong and gave me their usual chicken sandwich, which sucks.  At least they didn’t charge me more for the wrong item. 

I’m only posting here because of the tyranny of the calendar.  If I’d thought it through, I’d likely have held back that last post until after tonight’s games.  More or less to pad this out, I’m posting a flyer I found at work for the Aggie Tip-Off Dinner.  I don’t know how one gets into that dinner.  I’m thinking its more than just buying season tickets.  My workplace must have bought a table there.

On the flyer, I noticed the coach’s wife, Sheri Jans, is prominently mentioned.  She ran a recent clinic on basketball for women, which sold out in attendance.  A couple people said on the Aggie Coach’s Show that Sheri was the best reason to bring Chris Jans here and was his much better half.

The other reason I’m padding this is because I was too busy to really watch or listen to both of tonight’s games.  Sorry.  I’m probably going to reevaluate my sports coverage after this season.  In any case, the Aggie Women played first on the road in Kansas City versus UMKC.  When the team arrived yesterday, they tweeted out snowflake emoji’s.  Nothing like stepping off a plane into a polar vortex.  Even the girls who grew up in cold weather were probably not used to temperatures that negative.

The WAC Digital Network was carrying the game, but unfortunately there wasn’t any sound for the first half.  Brooke Salas was also not scoring for the first half.  I think she had zero points after 20 minutes.  I had to look to make sure she was actually playing.  Perhaps she’d been flash frozen.  I wish I’d been able to watch more and that there’d been sound.  I’m thinking the Roos must have triple-teamed her whenever she had the ball.
   

That probably might have worked if they hadn’t been leaving Gia Pack and Monique Mills open.  Gia finished with 32 points!  Mo came up with 17.  It’s good to see the other Mills sister stepping up.  They probably were leaving her wide open.  Aaliyah Prince and Stabresa McDaniel both came up big with 12 points.  Brooke finished just shy of a double double with 8 points and 12 rebounds. 

The Aggies won a close one, 90-86.  The bad news was that Gia was injured on the last play on court.  She was trying to block a three, which wouldn’t have mattered at that point.  Gia fouled the Roo player, who took three foul shots after, and came up limping with a bad knee.  She couldn’t put any weight on it, so it didn’t look good.  The only other thing I noticed with the coverage was that they held a high school or middle school girls game during halftime.  They were pretty enthusiastic. 

The Aggie Men started their game here in Las Cruces shortly afterward.  Ivan Aurrecoechea was in street clothes on the bench.  They weren’t giving a time table for his return, but at least nothing was broken so he may be back before the end of the season.  The Aggies started off the game well and had the UMKC Roos nearly down by double digits right off the bat.  The Roos would make a comeback, but the Aggies were up by eight at the half. 

Somewhere during this I went across the street to get my disappointing sandwich.  When I got back, the Aggies had the game well in hand.  I found myself watching Dizzykitten chatting instead.  (It was interesting and she looked so pretty.)  I did eventually go back to the game.  A Roo player missed two free throws which activated the free Chik-fil-a sandwich promotion for the crowd.  This made me feel even worse about my own crummy chicken sandwich.  (It upset my stomach mildly too.  I was expecting that if I’d gotten the Big Tex that I’d wanted, but at least it would have tasted better.)

The Aggies won 70-54.  A lot of the bench saw action later in the game.  Terrell Brown led the team with 15 points.  Your stat of the match was 43-17, that was the Aggies’ rebounding advantage tonight. 

I enjoyed what I heard of Jack Nixon and Justin Hawkin’s commentary.  Early on, Jack questioned a foul, “Refs aren’t seeing things the same way I am.”  Later, with the game basically decided, Jack and Hawk were commenting on a player’s sharp-looking shoes.  Promoting the Saturday game, former coach Reggie Theus was announced to be coming back to town for a ceremony.  Jack said the women in town were getting their hair done for game, Reggie being well known as a “ladies man.”  Jack asked Hawk if his wife is getting her hair done.  Hawk: “I’m getting my hair done.”