Loaded Gallup team looking to do more this season

WINDOW ROCK

A state runner-up finish has the Gallup softball team wanting more.

The Lady Bengals return all but two key starters from last year’s state tournament run as Gallup took home the red trophy after the Class 4A state playoffs.

“We had a great season last year, so our expectations this season is to get back to the title game and win the championship,” longtime Gallup coach Rayfert Spencer said. “Honestly, this is probably one of my best teams we have right now, but I don’t want to take away what our players did last season. They did a great job last year.”

In last season’s abbreviated season that ended in late June, the Bengals went 20-3 overall, losing the title game to Artesia in a 4-0 contest. Incidentally, that was Gallup’s first appearance in a state title game.

The Bengals were held to one hit as then-junior RyLee Crandall silenced Gallup’s potent bats. The Spencer-coach team will see Crandall in a doubleheader later this season, which is scheduled for Apr. 2 in Artesia.

In addition to that game, Gallup will also play a few quality 5A teams at this weekend’s two-day Cleveland softball tournament.

Gallup will face Farmington and Atrisco Heritage along with 4A Valley and 3A West Las Vegas.

“I tried to make our schedule competitive, to get us ready for district and state,” Spencer said.

Gallup got a taste of that competition earlier this season as they were challenged at the Mohave (Arizona) softball tournament, playing some top programs in Arizona and California.

“We saw some great teams, some ranked teams,” the Gallup coach said. “We played Los Alamitos (California), and they were ranked seventh in the nation.

“They were quick, and they showed us our weakness,” he added. “We learned a lot from that game in what we need to prepare for.”

And although they won one game at the Mohave tournament, Spencer said his team did very well.

“Our record doesn’t show how we did, but we competed,” he said. “They did a really great job, and I give ourselves a ‘B-plus’ on how well we played.”

Spencer said ace pitcher Seniah “SJ” Haines was one of the top pitchers at the tournament.

“She did great,” he said. “She’s still going to be our ace, but we also have Katherine Lincoln and Morgan Belone, our eighth-grader in the rotation.”

Hitting-wise, Spencer said he’s getting contributions up and down the lineup as Gallup enters the Cleveland tournament with a 3-4 record.

“On paper, we look great,” he said. “We’re still continuing to hit the ball really well, one through nine. Everybody is doing their jobs, and they do what they need to do.

“There were times at the Mohave tournament the bottom of the lineup stepped up,” he said. “A couple of games our top, our middle stepped up. We just have a good rotation with the lineup that we have.”

This season, the top hitters include senior Ciara Spencer, Taylor Morgan, and Window Rock transfer Autumn Tsosie-Hood, who sat out last season.

“Ciara is coming off a torn ACL last year,” the Gallup coach said. “She only played two games last year, but she’s coming back, and she’s leading us in home runs and slugging percentage.”

Morgan, meanwhile, is right behind Ciara Spencer in those statistics, the Gallup coach says.

As for Tsosie-Hood, Rayfert said his shortstop is still mending an elbow injury.

“She’s probably at 67%, but she plays like she’s 100%,” he said.

And although those three players have done very well for the team thus far, Spencer said everyone in his lineup are putting up some gaudy numbers.

“It’s a team effort, and I really can’t put one player as our standout,” he said. “Like I said, everybody does their job, and they just have great chemistry.”

Spencer said the team’s defense is showing a lot of promise.

“Our offense is great, but I think our defense is the biggest strength we have,” he said. “The girls know what to do. They’ve been playing together since they were nine years old, so they know the rotation, and they know my system.”

The Bengals will start its district title defense on Apr. 5 in a home game against Kirtland Central before playing at Miyamura on Apr. 7.

Gallup will complete the first half of the district season at Bloomfield (Apr. 9), at home with Shiprock (Apr. 12), and at Aztec (Apr. 14).

“I think we have one of the top districts in the state in 4A,” Spencer said. “It’s going to be a battle. I know our record is not that great because we played in the Mojave tournament.

“Everybody else in our district is doing great, they’re doing a good job of winning games,” he added. “It’s going to be another tough year for us, another battle, so it’s not going to be easy.”

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