Kristen Griego Memorial Softball Tournament: Gallup takes down four 5A squads for third place

RIO RANCHO, N.M. – The Gallup softball team made every hit and every out count.

The Class 4A Lady Bengals capped the Kristen Griego Memorial Softball Tournament with a sparkling 4-1 record against 5A opponents during the three-day tourney hosted by Rio Rancho High School.

Gallup opened the 20-team tourney with three straight wins over Hobbs (7-4), Volcano Vista (11-1) and Carlsbad (3-0) before losing a 6-1 affair to third-ranked Alamogordo in the semifinal.

That loss relegated the Bengals to the third-place contest in which Gallup beat the Rams, the tourney host, by a 4-3 count.

The third-place finish is Gallup’s best at the highly competitive Rio Rancho tournament. Prior to this year, Gallup’s best finish was fifth.

“It’s a win for us even though we lost to Alamogordo,” Gallup coach William Haines said. “It’s a win for us to see that kind of pitching.”

The second-year coach was referring to Alamogordo ace Sydney Lessentine, who is committed to Texas A&M.

“She’s a really good pitcher,” Haines said. “She kept us off balance and Alamogordo is a really good team.”

After two scoreless innings, the Tigers of Alamogordo jumped on Gallup with three runs in the third frame. The 5A team added another run in the fourth before tallying two runs in the sixth as Alamogordo outhit the Bengals 11 to 4.

“The score should have been a lot closer, but we had some errors,” Haines said. “We missed a fly ball in left field and then they started bunting the short game.

“We didn’t cover first, and it was errors that got us behind,” he added. “We tried to adjust to her (Lessentine’s) pitching. We just adjusted too late.”

In the circle, Gallup ace SJ Haines (the coach’s daughter) went the distance as the senior gave up two earned runs on 11 hits while striking out 12 batters.

“I feel like we did really good playing against all those 5A teams,” SJ Haines said. “I mean, Volcano Vista, Carlsbad and Alamogordo are really good teams. We saw some good competition and it’s going to get us ready for state.”

In the third-place contest, Gallup jumped out to a 3-0 lead with two of those runs coming in the second frame. With two outs the Bengals strung together four consecutive singles, with SJ Haines scoring two runs with her grounder into right field.

But in the fourth, the Rams put some pressure on the Bengals with shortstop Destiny Gonzales slamming a two-run homer that cut Gallup’s lead to 3-2.

In the top of the sixth, Rio Rancho first baseman Delysia Valdez hit a solo home run that tied the game. But in Gallup’s next at-bat, sophomore Leia Tso reached first thanks to a catching error by Rio Rancho. Three batters later, Tso scored as designated player Mackenize Notah ripped a double into right field for her second hit of the game.

“She came off the bench and she had some key hits,” William Haines said of Notah. “She stepped up today and she really helped us out to get the lead back.”

The game, however, nearly took a wrong turn as SJ Haines gave up a walk to leadoff hitter Brie Kissinger in top of the seventh. But catcher Madison Martinez made a gutsy play and picked off Kissinger as she was trying to steal second.

“Maddie is a great catcher and she’s only a freshman,” SJ Haines said. “I feel like that was a big momentum changer because if she doesn’t get that out, (Kissinger) is in scoring position with no outs.”

The Gallup ace then settled down and retired the next two batters to secure the Bengals the third-place trophy.

In the circle, Haines allowed three earned runs on four hits. She also finished with five strikeouts.

Offensively, Gallup tallied eight hits with Notah and second baseman Brenna Becenti going 2-for-3 at the plate.

“Brenna is one of our lefties and she can do it all,” William Haines said. “She can hit, she can slap, and she can bunt. She’s our speedster, and she’s just a good player.”

On Tuesday, Gallup improved to 10-5 overall after run-ruling crosstown rival Miyamura in both squads’ district opener. Gallup won 11-0 in a game that went five innings.

The Bengals are expected to run the tables in District 1-4A, but SJ Haines is not counting anybody out.

“We have to stay humble and hungry,” the Gallup ace said. “You know, we’re going to keep fighting. There are some good teams in our district, so we have to play as a team and just have each other’s back.”

As for the district, William Haines expects to see some tough competition from Bloomfield and Aztec.

“We come from a good district,” the Gallup coach said. “Aztec, you know, won a state championship and the same thing with Bloomfield. We just got to keep working and I hope that we can peak at state.”

Gallup will be seeking a third consecutive trip to the 4A state championship game as the Bengals won the program’s first state crown in 2022. Last season, the Haines-coached team fell short to Silver, 3-2, in the title game.

“We’re just trying to play unselfish softball, and we’ll let our wins speak for itself,” William Haines said. “We’re just trying to get better and better, and we’re going to continue to work hard to get back into that state championship game.”

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