Lady Rattlers down Santa Rosa

The Lady Rattlers softball team grabbed a big early lead, then held on during the last few innings for an 11-8 victory on March 22 to hand Santa Rosa its loss of the young season.

Tucumcari (4-3) got big production from the top of the batting order, with Harley McKinney, Haisley Huffman and Alexus Lafferty combining for 10 runs scored and seven stolen bases. They fueled the Lady Rattlers taking a 10-3 lead after three innings.

Mireya Estrada earned a complete-game victory for Tucumcari. She struck out 13 and allowed four hits in seven innings.

Tucumcari coach CJ Oglesby said Estrada's performance was the key to the victory.

"She's consistent and working hard," he said. "Her off-speed pitches were keeping their good hitters off-balance."

Tucumcari literally stole a critical run in the fifth inning. Huffman walked to lead off the inning, stole second and advanced to third on an error. The next two batters popped up on the infield. After the second out, Huffman noticed the shortstop wasn't paying attention, nor did she promptly throw the ball back to the pitcher. Huffman took off and scored without a play for an 11-5 lead.

That extra run gave Tucumcari additional cushion when the Lady Lions scored three runs in the final inning.

Oglesby said his team was motivated against the Lady Lions.

"We had a bad taste in our mouths over the Santa Rosa tournament," he said, referring to two close losses there. "Finishing seventh in an eight-team tournament, we really took it hard. We came out, busted our (butts) in practice and showed we were better today, and (Santa Rosa) won the tournament. We have to show we're better with every game and have that killer mentality."

Santa Rosa fell to 3-1 overall.