San Jon High fields first-ever girls softball team

SAN JON - A new era began last week when San Jon Municipal Schools fielded its first-ever prep girls softball team and played a doubleheader against the Santa Rosa junior varsity.

The Lady Coyotes had only three weeks of practice and 14 workouts, so it wasn't a surprise the more experienced Lady Lions swept the twinbill last Monday by scores of 29-4 and 23-19.

In the first game, played on San Jon's Little League softball diamond near the village's community center, Santa Rosa scored 14 runs in the opening inning on a flurry of walks, hit batters and wild pitches off two San Jon pitchers.

In the bottom of the first, San Jon's Alexa Becerra led off the inning by being hit by a pitch, and she scored the program's first-ever run after three wild pitches.

During the third and final inning, Perlita Ramirez recorded San Jon's first-ever RBI by drawing a bases-loaded walk.

Addie Lafferty, who moved from shortstop to the pitcher's circle during the first inning, recorded the first strikeout for San Jon in the second and fanned three overall.

In the second game, San Jon briefly had a 13-5 lead, but Santa Rosa rallied to win it.

Lady Coyotes coach Aylissa Walker praised the defensive work of center fielder Rayna Sena, Lafferty at shortstop, Becerra at first base and pitcher Sarah Archuleta in the second game that helped forge that early lead. Dakota Fisher and Archuleta also recorded key hits.

The San Jon squad contains no seniors and one junior. The rest of the 11 players on the roster are freshmen, sophomores and eighth-graders.

"We're super-young," Walker said. "A lot of the girls have never played before, so we're trying to get them good fundamentals, learning the game.

"It's a little difficult, but we've made a lot of progress. They have a lot of heart; San Jon girls never give up. They've worked hard, and that's all I can ask of them."

The lack of knowledge was apparent when several times San Jon batters failed to run to first base after a dropped third strike. The home-plate umpire also was heard giving pointers to Lady Coyote players after at-bats.

Before the first game, Walker told her players to remember what they learned in practice, have fun and not to put too much pressure on themselves.

At least one of the players took that advice. As she returned to the dugout after the bottom of the first inning, she was overheard saying, "That was fun."

The San Jon players wore baseball uniforms that had been in storage since the late 1990s. In those days, San Jon fielded a co-ed team for a few seasons.

Because San Jon learned it would have softball only a few weeks ago, the district was unable to schedule games against Tucumcari. However, district's athletic director managed to cobble together a total of 15 games against Clayton, Logan and Santa Rosa.