‘Nervous’ Lady Knights fall despite proud coach

Posted by Quentin Jodie | May 4, 2017 | Baseball |

Navajo Times | Adron Gardner
Navajo Prep Eagle Monty Larvingo clears a hurdle in the girls 100-meter hurdles during the Bill Moss Aztec Invitational at Aztec High School April 22.

PHOENIX

By ending a nine-year hiatus at a state playoff game, Greyhills Academy softball coach Fidel Begishie anticipated some first-game jitters from his youthful squad last Saturday.

The Lady Knights lacked state experience so Begishie was hoping his team would get over their nerves as the game went along against the Mogollon Lady Mustangs.

After giving up three runs to start the game his team seemed to settle down in the second but the No. 3 seed Mustangs scored seven runs in the next two innings to post a shortened 10-0 win at Rose Mofford Complex.

“The girls were happy that we made state but they were just nervous,” Begishie said. The nerves “took over and they were overthinking a lot of things out there.”

The Knights ended their season at 9-7 overall but the first-year Greyhills coach said he saw some improvements from the first time they played Mogollon.

“We played a lot better in this game than we did the first,” he said.

Begishie said they scheduled a pair of games with Mogollon and Williams to see where they stood among the top 1A teams in the state.

“Those were big tests for our girls,” he said. “It showed what we were and what we needed to work on.”

After three quick innings with no base runners on, Greyhills put some pressure on Mogollon in the top of the fourth with midfielder Bryanna Tisi hitting a single with one out. Second baseman Mckayla Zahne followed with a single that got by Mogollon shortstop Taylor Human.

With Mustang pitcher Olivia Porter working on the next batter, the two Greyhills runners advanced on a throwing error by Mogollon catcher Hannah Ballesteros as she tried to throw out Zahne at second.

The Mustangs, however, ended that threat by retiring the next two batters.

In the fifth, sophomore Queenssa Bedonie cracked her second offering near the fence line in midfield for a triple. Next-at-bat Janelle Sloan had a nicely placed bunt as Begishie sent Bedonie home but she was eventually tagged out.

“We had opportunities but at times we got too anxious,” said Begishie, who owned up to the base running mistake late in the game.

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