Lady Ratters win 2 of 3 home games

Tucumcari's softball team won two of three home games last week, including a 12-2 non-district victory over Mora in five innings Friday.

The Lady Rattlers won the game by the mercy rule with seven runs in the fifth inning, including an RBI single by Amaya Roybal to cap off the rally.

Tucumcari (6-3) amassed 11 hits against the Rangerettes (5-4), including two doubles and two RBI by Alexis Ramirez. Harley McKinney scored three runs and drove in another.

"We had little bit more energy today, hit the ball a little bit better and played really good defense," THS coach CJ Oglesby said.

The Lady Rattlers prevailed despite the absence of senior centerfielder and leadoff hitter Haisley Huffman, who was out of town due to a family emergency.

Oglesby pressed eighth-grader Melanie Lisabelle into action into right field, while starter Caylee Benavidez moved to center field.

"It was Melanie's first time playing," he said. "She stepped up, made a good hit to third base with an RBI. So very proud of her stepping up today."

Lady Rattlers pitcher Mia Estrada deserved much of the credit for the win, throwing four shutout innings while her team staked an early 6-0 lead. She allowed nine hits, two walks and two earned runs. She also fielded her position well.

"The girl's just really locked in, dedicating her (senior) year to just going out there and just playing hard," Oglesby said.

Tucumcari took a 2-0 lead in the opening inning with RBI singles by Roybal and Ramirez.

The Lady Rattlers added three in the third on two errors and RBI hits from Tayden Hyslop and July Lafferty.

McKinney made it 6-0 in the fourth with a sacrifice fly.

Tucumcari's big rally in the fifth included an RBI double by Ramirez, a run-scoring single by Benavidez, Lisabelle's RBI groundout and Roybal's run-scoring single to end the game.

Ruidoso 20, Tucumcari 3

The Lady Rattlers couldn't buy a hit against Ruidoso pitcher Jaya Trujillo until the late innings during a 20-3 district loss in four innings Thursday.

The Warriors, who improved to 11-6 overall and 3-0 in district play, rapped 22 hits against Tucumcari.

Tucumcari hit the ball hard several times against Trujillo but right into the teeth of Ruidoso's defense.

The Lady Rattlers compounded their woes with fielding woes.

"I think we made about eight throwing errors. Without those, it would have been a lot closer game," Oglesby said.

He also said his team became a bit intimidated by the district-contending Warriors, which are ranked in the top 10 in Class 3A.

"The mentality that our team has coming into this, knowing where they're ranked, I think it gets us down a little bit," he said.

Oglesby said his team tends to start slow, which doesn't help.

"We're halfway through the game and then our heads clear, then we start doing what we know how to do," he said. "We go through batting practice all the time, and they hit. They hit the crap out of the ball. It just takes them a lot to get going."

The Lady Rattlers ended Trujillo's no-hit bid when Benavidez and Angel Vasquez each singled, the latter which drove in a run. Estrada hit a two-run double after that, but a Lady Rattler baserunner was thrown out at home trying to tally another score, ending the game.

Tucumcari 12, East Mountain 11

Tucumcari took its district opener with a 12-11 comeback victory over visiting East Mountain in extra innings last Monday.

Four times, the Lady Rattlers fell behind, only to rally.

Trailing 8-5 in the bottom of the seventh, Tucumcari scored three to force extra innings.

East Mountain scored three in the top half of the eighth to take an 11-8 lead.

Tucumcari rallied for four the bottom half of the inning. Ramirez drove in two runs, and Lafferty smacked a two-run double to win it.

East Mountain fell to 6-7.