Mesilla Valley Christian softball remains alive in A-2A playoffs after first day

The Mesilla Valley Christian softball team remains alive in the A-2A playoffs after the first day of action in Albuquerque.

No. 5 Mesilla Valley beat No. 8 Mora 11-1 in the consolation bracket Wednesday evening. Earlier, the SonBlazers beat No. 12 Pecos 18-2 in the play-in round and then lost to No. 4 Shiprock Northwest 9-7 to get knocked into the consolation bracket of the double-elimination tournament.

Mesilla Valley will face the loser of No. 2 Tularosa vs. No. 6 Jal at 11 a.m. Thursday at Rio Rancho High School.

Mesilla Valley coach Rodney Pollard has sixth eighth-graders, four freshmen, three sophomores and three seniors on his team.

“We are a really young team,” he said. “This is really great experience for the young ones and will be a great way to finish out a solid season for the senior class.”

Destiny Gomez was the winning pitcher in both of Mesilla Valley’s victories.

In the first game, catcher Lillian Balizan took a ball off the clavicle area and had to go to the emergency room and missed game two, Pollard said. That caused Mesilla Valley to have to shift around its lineup in the game against Shiprock Northwest.

Balizan was able to return and play in the third game.

Against Shiprock Northwest, Mesilla Valley gave up six runs in the third inning and that proved to be the difference as Pollard said they dug too big of a hole.

The team was able to pull to 9-7 with three runs in the bottom of the seventh and actually had a chance to tie the ball game up but couldn’t come up with a key two-out base hit, Pollard said.

In game three against Mora, Emma Carver had a triple and single that knocked in four runs and scored both times she was on base.

Mesilla Valley will stay alive in the double-elimination tournament as long as the SonBlazers continue winning.