Lady Bengals awarded top seed in 4A bracket
Navajo Times | Quentin Jodie
Gallup first baseman Leia Tso catches the ball and grounds out an Aztec’s Reagan Bradshaw in this file photo. Gallup earned the top seed for the Class 4A state playoffs while Aztec garnered the No. 7 seed.
WINDOW ROCK – The Gallup softball team enters the Class 4A state playoffs on a 14-game winning streak.
The Lady Bengals, who were awarded the top seed by the New Mexico Activities Association, will host No. 16 seed Portales at 11 a.m. Saturday.
The brackets for 4A and 5A will feature eight single-elimination play-in games with the higher seeds hosting. The winners will then be placed in a double elimination bracket with the quarterfinals scheduled on May 16 with all games being played at Cleveland High School in Rio Rancho, N.M.
“We kind of expected to get the top seed, but we got some help,” said Gallup coach William Haines, whose team captured the District 1-4A crown over second-place Aztec.
Early in the season, Gallup traded the top spot with Artesia in the coaches poll, but the Lady Bulldogs finished second in District 4-4A behind Lovington.
With that Lovington was awarded the second seed while Artesia dropped down to No. 5.
“I think with Lovington winning that district we got the No. 1 seed,” Haines said.
The remaining top five seeds include No. 3 Silver and No. 4 St. Pius X while Aztec earned the No. 7 seed.
“Artesia, Silver and Lovington are from the south and they’ve been playing good softball,” Haines said. “St. Pius and even Aztec have been playing tough, so it’s going to be a tough tournament.”
Once the play-in games are complete, the easier route to make the 4A title game on May 18 is to win out in the double elimination format.
“I’m hoping that we can take the easier route because if you come through the loser’s bracket you have to play those extra (elimination) games,” Haines said. “And if you make the championship through the loser’s bracket, you have to win twice on Saturday to be the state champions.”
In addition to Gallup and Aztec, the northwestern district also has Miyamura and Bloomfield in the playoffs.
Miyamura earned the No. 14 seed, and the Patriots play at third seed Silver at 1 p.m. on Saturday. Bloomfield, the No. 12 seed, travels to Artesia for a 5 p.m. game also on Saturday.
Aztec, meanwhile, hosts No. 13 Deming on Friday at 5 p.m.
Portales enters Saturday’s game with a 10-15 record, which includes a fourth-place finish in District 4-4A. The Rams finished behind Lovington, Artesia and Goddard in that four-team district.
“We can’t take them lightly, no matter what the seeding says,” Haines said. “We can’t take them for granted. It’s the state playoff and everyone starts at 0-0. We just have to play our game and take care of business.”
The 5A play-in games feature No. 8 Piedra Vista and No. 12 Farmington. PV will host No. 9 Albuquerque High at noon on Saturday while Farmington plays at No. 5 Cibola Friday at 4 p.m.
Alamogordo heads the 5A field followed by No. 2 La Cueva, third seed Las Cruces Centennial and No. 4 Hobbs.
Last season, PV finished as the 5A state runner-up behind Carlsbad, this year’s sixth seed.
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