Rams third baseman Marissa Valdez fouls off a pitch during the Rams’ recent 20-5 victory over visiting Rio Grande at Paul Kohman Field. RRHS has lost three in a row since that APS Metro Championships tournament opener. (Herron photo)

 

If you like softball, you’ll love this week’s annual Kristin Griego Softball Tournament being played at the Eagle Ridge softball complex.

Defending Class 5A champ Carlsbad (6-2) is in the field, and with it, the state’s best player – per MaxPreps – senior pitcher Faith Aragon.

Last season, when she was named the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year, the 5-foot-5 left-handed pitcher and outfielder led the Cavegirls (30-1) to the state championship, as she compiled a 16-1 record with a 1.91 ERA, striking out 182 batters in 99 innings pitched. A first-team All-State and All-District selection, she batted .598 with 15 home runs and 48 RBIs.

Fans in the City of Vision can see Aragon and her Cavegirls in the tournament’s first game, Thursday at noon, on Paul Kohman Field, the varsity diamond.

The Cavegirls won last year’s Griego event, beating Hobbs 13-3 in the championship game.

The Rams finished third, edging District 1-5A foe Volcano Vista, 11-10. A year ago, the Rams beat the Storm 7-5 at CHS in the Metro championship game.

The Rams go into Thursday’s nooner on a three-game skid, capped by their 14-4 drubbing at Cleveland in the APS Metro Championships’ third-place game. The Storm (5-7) had two big innings in that victory – they scored six runs in the first, and four more in the fourth, with a single run in the bottom of the sixth ending the game via the 10-run mercy rule.

While the Rams will be hoping for better weather than has been the norm the past week for the Griego tournament, the Storm will be in the Valley of the Sun, playing in the Hamilton Invitational in Chandler. There, they face Basha High (Thursday), Mesa’s Desert Ridge High (Friday) and Tucson Magnet School (Saturday).

The Rams and Storm open the District 1-5A season next week: RRHS visits Atrisco Heritage Academy Tuesday at 3:30 p.m., while the Storm are home in the Shock Yards Friday evening at 6 to meet Cibola.

Other games here Thursday:

  • Also at noon, on the junior varsity field, La Cueva meets Las Vegas Robertson.
  • At 2 p.m., Volcano Vista faces Alamogordo on Paul Kohman Field; Miyamura takes on Los Lunas on the JV diamond; Bernalillo meets Tularosa on field 3 and Espanola Valley faces Farmington on field 4.
  • At 4, it’s Kirtland Central vs. Hobbs on Paul Kohman Field; Gallup vs. Valencia on the JV field; Bloomfield vs. Eldorado on field 3 and Los Alamos vs. Aztec on field 4.

Action resumes Friday at 8 a.m., with games all day – at 10 a.m., noon, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.

The championship game is scheduled for 4 p.m. Saturday on Paul Kohman Field.