West Las Vegas upsets Portales

LAS CRUCES — West Las Vegas wasted little time pulling an upset over third-seeded Portales.

The Lady Dons, 11-15 coming in, pushed six third-inning runs across for a 7-0 lead and took advantage of Portales errors late to secure an 11-4 victory Fridayin a first-round Class 3A state softball tournament game at Field of Dreams.

West Las Vegas led 11-0 in the middle of the fifth, but Portales (21-5) tallied three times in the bottom of the inning to prevent a run-rule situation.

Portales coach Robbie Crowley said five of the Lady Rams’ seven errors came after the third inning, allowing the Dons to score four unearned runs for insurance in the fourth and fifth.

“They hit really well early,” Portales coach Robbie Crowley said, “and in the third inning when they scored the runs, those were legitimate hits.”

The Lady Dons beat sixth-seeded Miyamura 7-5 on Friday night to advance to an 11 a.m. semifinal today against Raton. The championship game is set for 3:30 p.m.

Crowley said sophomore Kelsey Laurenz, who came in for starter Amanda Marquez in the third, did a good job in relief in spite of the errors.

Laurenz will likely be counted on for many more innings next season, as Portales graduates Marquez and fellow pitcher LeAnne Blaeser, along with first baseman Brittany Gardner and second baseman Jacy Terry.

“We lose the four seniors,” Crowley said. “It’s hard to fill those shoes, but you always have a new crop coming in. I had two eighth-graders playing this year on the varsity. We’ll have a good crop coming back.”

Cynthia Armijo went 3-for-4 with a two-run double in the fifth for Portales, while Marquez went 3-for-4 with an RBI single.