Lady Warriors explode for 47 runs in doubleheader

Tatjana Castillo beats the tag at second base. Castillio went 5-6 at the plate in game one against Hatch Valley.
Russell Huffman | El Defensor Chieftain

For the past month, the pressure of scoring runs has been building up like flood waters pushing a dam, and against the Hatch Valley on April 22, the Lady Warriors broke through, scoring 47 runs in their Saturday doubleheader.

“It finally happened,” Lady Warriors coach Tracy Romero said. “We have been working on our batting all week and making little adjustments, which paid off this week.”

Trailing 5-2 after two innings, the Lady Warriors cashed in on that hard work with a 10-run third stanza and were on top 16-5 before the Lady Bears rallied to take a 20-18 lead in the final frame.

The edge-of-your-seat inning saw Socorro surge back with six runs to take a 24-20 victory.

“All week last week, we were working our bats. I mean, that’s all we practiced was our bats. We have similar errors; one is we dropped that back shoulder, so we’re correcting that shoulder,” Romero said. “We went through batting and getting the barrel in the zone and keeping in the batting zone.”

The result against Hatch was a 52-hit explosion over two games, with pitcher Abrianna Romero leading the way in game one with a 6-6 performance at the plate. Freshman first baseman Tatjana Castillo went 5-6.

Multiple hits came from Shiloh Rosas (4), Tristen Garcia (4), Jasmine Alvarado (3), Jisela Estrada (3), Lilliana Maldonado (2) and Felicity Otero (2).

“We took the pressure off ourselves and had fun,” Romero said. “At the same time, they were doing what they were told and paying attention on the basepaths. They had the teamwork going,” Romero said.

The Lady Warriors carried their momentum into the second game and never looked back as Socorro established a 6-2 first-inning lead and doubled that to 12-5 after two. A nine-run third broke the game wide open, and Socorro nailed down the win at 23-10.

Castillo, Romero, Garcia, Alvarado, Estrada and Paz came away with three hits each, Otero and Morgan Perkins had two, and Maldonado had one.

Was the doubleheader a turning point for Socorro softball?

“They were so excited, and they deserved it. They have been working their tails off,” Romero said. “They have just been working hard and digging for it. Today, they found their rhythm. They found their groove as a team. That’s the key. The key is to play and battle as a team, and they get it. They have found it.”