Gallup softball team earns first state crown over Lovington: Lady Bengals scatter 13 hits in 8-0 win

ALBUQUERQUE

The only thing the Gallup softball team didn’t win on Saturday was the coin toss.

Head coach Crystal Pablo got some good-natured ribbing for that. Nevertheless, the No. 2 seed Bengals jumped on the Lovington Wildcats to earn the school’s first state crown in softball.

After giving up six runs to the fourth-seeded Wildcats the day before, Gallup shutout Lovington 8-0 in the Class 4A title game, finishing the season with a 24-7 record

“We were teasing our coach about losing the coin toss,” said Gallup ace pitcher Seniah “SJ” Haines, who gave up two hits while fanning out six Lovington batters.

As the designated visiting team, Gallup put across four runs in the top of the first, and they never looked back.

“We always try to jump on the other team,” Haines said. “It doesn’t matter what side we get; we’re always going to get ahead first.”

Gallup added three more runs in the next inning as they amassed eight of their 13 hits in the first two innings.

“We like to feed off each other’s energy,” left fielder Chaylee Becenti said. “Once someone starts to hit, we all get into a flow, and we’ll start to go off on teams.”

Five players got two hits each, with Stephanesha Charlie, Alexis Tsosie-Hood, and Haines nailing a double while right fielder Morgan Belone hit a triple.

Centerfielder Taylor Morgan had the game’s lone home run as her solo in the second earned Gallup a 7-0 advantage.

“This means so much to us,” Morgan said of winning the state title. “We’ve been playing as a group since we were like 10 years old, and we worked hard for this, especially for our senior year.

“It just means so much,” she added. “There are no words to describe this feeling we have right now.”

Through its playoff run, the Bengals showed its dominance by beating teams by at least six runs. In four games, they outscored its opponent 62-13.

“I think it all starts within the circle,” Tsosie-Hood said. “I think SJ did a great job at keeping us in the game. She kept us in all of the games the whole season, and, you know, it just about trust and backing her up.”

What also helps is the Bengals are efficient hitters, with seven players hitting above .419.

“We’ve been working on hitting a lot,” Tsosie-Hood said. “Everyone’s strong in the lineup, and anyone can go up there and get the job done.”

The Gallup coach said those two elements were on point in its state championship run.

“I think we peaked at the right time,” Pablo said. “We carried the momentum that we had throughout the district season, and these girls put it all out there.

“It’s good to be part of the Gallup program,” she added. “This is a start to something amazing. It can only get better from here.”

In a heartwarming tribute, the Gallup team presented the blue championship trophy to former coach Ray Spencer, who was fired by the Gallup McKinley County Schools last month for violating the district’s safekeeping of equipment and supplies.

His office keys were allegedly used to open the school in the early morning of April 1 as dozens of students entered the high school and used streamers, toilet paper, and glitter in what the student described as a senior prank.

“He’s been working with us since we were little, and, you know, we went through a bumpy road during the season with him getting fired,” Haines said. “We were able to push through that, and it just meant a lot for us to win the state championship for him.”

“We didn’t have him on the field with us, but we knew he was here,” Tsosie-Hood said. “We worked so hard for this, and all of our hard work paid off. It was a great accomplishment for us and coach Ray.”

---