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Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Last Out Is the Hardest Elkettes Pitcher Able To Strike Out Batter
By Vince Kong
Journal Staff Writer
JACONA — No need to tell Kassandra Martinez which out is the hardest to get — if she hadn't figured it out before Tuesday, she knows now.
The Pojoaque Valley junior cruised through six scoreless innings only to find herself one out from victory when trouble struck. Still, despite yielding an RBI single, then three straight balls to the final Santa Fe Indian School batter with a runner on first, Martinez persevered, leading the Elkettes (12-9, 3-4 District 5-3A) to a much-needed 3-1 win in district action.
On a 3-0 count with two outs in the seventh inning, Martinez struck out the final batter on three straight pitches to seal the win.
"It's pretty hard getting that last out — there was a lot of pressure," she said. "But I think I did a good job."
The Elkettes' right-hander scattered four hits through six innings, before giving up the only run of the game for the Lady Braves (13-8, 3-5). Pinch hitter Lovena Lovato had a leadoff single, before scoring on a Dailene Chavez base hit.
Too little, too late, said SFIS coach LeRoy Valencia.
"We're playing well defensively," he said, "but we're in a little bit of a funk with the bats."
To make matters worse, he added, were the mental errors. More specifically, Valencia cited a base running mistake in the first inning when SFIS leadoff hitter Lenaya Martinez, who advanced all the way to third base on an error, was doubled up after leaving the base early on a sacrifice fly. And with the missed opportunity, Pojoaque Valley made the Lady Braves pay.
After SFIS starter Kandyce Garcia cruised through two scoreless innings, the Lady Braves junior walked the first two Elkette batters, setting the stage for Kiana Vigil. The Pojoaque Valley senior, who leads the team in virtually all hitting categories, drove a Garcia fastball deep into left-center field for an RBI double, and later scored on a wild pitch to provide all the runs the Elkettes would need. And while Garcia settled down, giving up just two hits and a walk the rest of the way, the damage was done.
Valencia still praised Garcia for her performance, considering she was pitching in place of Lady Braves freshman ace Demetria Madalena, who is out indefinitely with an ankle injury, and the team's No. 2 starter, senior Jessica Tsosie, who missed the contest due to personal reasons.
"Pitching isn't what hurt us today," Valencia said. "We need to start hitting the ball again."
However, at least one person was greatful to catch SFIS in a hitting slump — she's even happy to have helped prolong it.
That's because the last time Martinez faced the Lady Braves, she was tagged for a combined 15 runs during a doubleheader split. And now that the Elkettes have taken the regular-season series, 2-1, against the Lady Braves, all is well heading into Saturday's pivotal series against St. Michael's, with each team vying for second place behind league juggarnaut Sandia Prep.
"Last time that I pitched against them they really got to me. So as far as my pitching goes I think I did a pretty awesome job," Martinez said. "Now we want St. Mike's bad — we need to sweep. The last two games against them, we were awful. But if we come out like we did today, I think we can do it."
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