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Rams win home opener; Jayden Throgmorton no-hits Jaguars
Guess who won this meeting at the plate? It was the Valencia catcher had the ball in plenty of time to nab Rio Rancho pitcher Jayden Throgmorton in the second inning of the Rams’ 10-0 victory. (Herron photo)
Suffice it to say RRHS senior Jayden Throgmorton (30) had more success in the circle than on the basepaths, as the Valencia catcher is about to tag her at the plate in the second inning. Rams coach Paul Kohman tried to stop his pitcher at third base on a single by Destiny Gonzales. (Herron photo)
RIO RANCHO – After winning just once in five outings in Bullhead City, Ariz., the previous weekend, the Rio Rancho High School softball season got a no-hitter from pitcher Jayden Throgmorton in their 10-0 home-opening victory March 5.
To celebrate, the players were seen doing a line dance to a country tune after the game, played on a chilly and windy evening.
The Rams scored in all five innings, putting it away as a mercy-rule Won an RBI triple by Alivia Henderson in the fifth.
Lilyrose Larrabee singled home a run in the first.
Delysia Valdez singled home a run in the second, when two more scored on a single by Destiny Gonzales.
A walk, two wild pitches and a couple Valencia (0-2) errors led to two runs in the fourth.
Before Henderson’s game-ending three-bagger, Ellie Kissinger walked and made it 9-0 on a double by Olivia Chavez.
Kissinger led the Rams’ 10-hit attack with two singles; Larrabee and Gonzales each drove in two runs.
Meanwhile, Throgmorton was unhittable, although the Jaguars left runners in scoring position in the first and third innings, thanks to Ram errors. Only two balls left the infield, both caught by left fielder Marisa Valdez, with the first of those a head-first, sliding web gem in the second innings.
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Throgmorton stuck out four and got seven groundouts along the way.
“In Arizona, we obviously were under pressure in every game,” said coach Paul Kohman. “We did not take care of the ball well; our defense was not very good.
“Our hitting was reasonably well, considering the pitching we saw, so that was good to see,” he said. “We had a lot of stolen bases. Of course, you know how aggressive we are.”
Speaking of which, the Rams stole four bases against Valencia; Throgmorton tallied the team’s eighth run after scoring on a popup to the second baseman.
“That’s what we expect the kids to do; we’re gonna take chances,” he added. “We’re gonna push it as much as we can, so we got a reasonable amount of stolen bases for the number of kids we got on base out there.
“Jayden did a great job. We had two innings, the last two, when she only had to throw four pitches in each one,” he noted.
Kohman remained cautionary about the 2024 season, though,
“We’re not near where we were four years ago, even two years ago,” he said, referring to a young team in 2024. “Our team in ’19 and ’20 was the best team we ever had, and we didn’t get to play (in the postseason because of the pandemic). We gotta get better so we can play at the end of the year.”
Rio Rancho 14, Los Lunas 3: Two nights later, another Valencia County team visited the Rams and suffered the same fate – a mercy rule-shortened loss.
Larrabee swatted two home runs and drove in four runs, while Jordyn Tenorio had three hits and three stolen bases in the rout of the Tigers.
Mia Martinez also hit a home run and drove in four for the Rams, who were home Wednesday, March 13, to play host to Gallup.
Gallup 17, Rio Rancho 4: The visiting Bengals scored eight runs in the first inning of their game at the Eagle Ridge complex on March 13, and added six more in the second inning.
Although the Rams, now 3-5, scored twice in their half of the first inning, the Bengals had a comfortable 16-2 lead after three frames and coasted to the win in the mercy rule-shortened five-inning affair.
Larrabee led the Rams offensively, going 3 for 3 with two RBIs and scoring twice.
The Rams managed only six hits in the lopsided contest.
Cleveland turns things around
After giving up double-digit runs in all six of their games to start the 2024 season, all losses, the Cleveland Storm won all three games of their annual Cleveland Invite last weekend.
The Storm put up double digits in all three wins: 10-9 over Kirtland Central, 12-6 over Miyamura and 17-2 vs. Capital.
Now 3-6, the Storm are in Las Cruces this weekend, opening Friday vs. Artesia.
APS Metro bracket released
New-and-improved Los Altos Park, on Eubank NE just north of I-40, is the site for the entire 16-team APS Metro Softball Tournament March 21-23.
Cleveland opens the tournament on Field 2 vs. Eldorado at 3 p.m.
The Rams face West Mesa on Field 1 at 5 p.m.
As convoluted as the tournament is, visit aps.edu and click on the Albuquerque Metro Information link to see times and fields for games following the openers.
