MV softball looking to make another postseason appearance
CHINLE
Last season, the Monument Valley Mustang graduated four seniors on a team that made the Arizona Interscholastic Association 3A Conference Softball Play-In game.
The Mustangs are looking to make another postseason appearance with a bevy of key returners.
“A majority of our players came back,” MV coach Armanda Gamble said on Saturday. “Two of my juniors came back and they’re seniors now. We’re pretty much loaded with other girls that played last year. We have some freshman that came down, and they’re getting all the techniques down.”
Gamble says her team have doing very well on both ends of the field. Offensively, they are consistent on putting the ball in play.
Navajo Times | Quentin Jodie
Monument Valley Tonikia Gullatt puts up her glove for a pop out against the Valley Lady Pirates on Saturday during the Canyon de Chelly Invitational.
“We’re really glad that they’re making contact with the bat,” Gamble said. “It’s just a lot of repetition at practice, and just getting the steps down. We’ve been reminding them that the footsteps need to be taken and, yeah, we’re hitting very well this season.”
On the defensive end, the Mustangs have used sophomore ace Blu Peterman in the circle for much of the season.
“She’s really consistent,” Gamble said. “We’re encouraging her to hit her corners and she’s doing very well. The outfielders and infielders are backing her up by catching flyballs and stopping grounders. I think when they do that, it gives Blu a lot of confidence, knowing that the defense is behind her.”
Last week, the Mustangs competed in the inaugural Canyon de Chelly Invitational by going 3-1 during the two-day tournament. The Mustangs posted wins over Many Farms (23-3), Wingate (14-1) and Valley (19-2). They came up short to Navajo Prep in a 11-9 loss.
“I think we did really good,” Gamble said. “It was the first time we met up with the New Mexico teams this season, and the Navajo Prep game was pretty close.”
The MV coach said they took a combination of varsity and JV players to the tournament as she allowed her JV players to gain experience against their final game with the Valley Lady Pirates.
“They did pretty well,” Gamble said of her younger players. “They’ve been practicing hard and they’re getting all the techniques down. Right now, I can see a lot of improvements from them, and the girls are having fun and that’s a big plus.”
On Tuesday afternoon, MV posted a 21-4 win over Tuba City in a 3A North Region contest. With the win, the Mustangs improved to 7-2 overall and 4-1 in the region race.
The Page Lady Sand Devils heads the six-team region with an 8-3 overall mark and 6-1 record in region play followed by MV, Window Rock (4-4, 2-2), Ganado (3-6, 1-3), Chinle (3-6, 1-4) and Tuba City (2-8, 1-4).
Earlier this season, MV split its doubleheader with Page. The Sand Devils won the first contest 16-6, as that game went six innings. In the second game, the Mustangs returned the favor with a 10-9 win.
“Page has been pretty dominant in our region for many years and that was a really good win for us,” Gamble said. “We’re really very proud of the girls with how they were able to finish out the game, winning by one run.
“Whereas as the first game, they run-ruled us and that was kind of disappointing,” she added. “But the second game they came through and they held their own and we won that game.”
Get instant access to this story by purchasing one of our many e-edition subscriptions HERE at our Navajo Times Store.
Highway 264,
I-40, WB @ Winslow