Karen Boehler
CCSR writer/editor
The Coyote softball team will rely on defense and an experienced squad to earn their way to state this season.
(CCSR photo by Arnold J. Roe)
If it’s true that “offense wins games, defense wins championships,” then the Coyote softball team should go a long way this season.
Coach Art Sandoval is not shy about praising his fielders.
“As far as our defense, I really do feel that Roswell High School is one of the best fielding teams in the state, and I always felt that way,” he said.
Sandoval has good reason to feel that way. The Coyotes (19-12) finished second in district last year — behind Artesia — then went to the third round of the state tournament before being knocked out by Farmington. And they only graduated three key players from that squad — Raquel Grajeda, Lindsey Dubiel and Vanessa Brogden — meaning everyone else has varsity experience.
On the mound, the Coyotes will be relying on sophomore pitcher Deshawn Varnado and junior Jessica Zamora, who’ll play at short when she’s not pitching.
Junior Kendra Chavez is No. 3 off the mound, with Tyler Armstrong in the wings.
Catching will be senior Ashley Tavares, with sophomore Marissa Torres and Armstrong at first, senior Brianna Lopez at second, Zamora at short and returning senior Jackie Garcia and senior Bethany Madrid splitting time at third.
In the outfield, expect to see Armstrong; her junior sister Amber, who’ll split time between the JV and varsity; juniors Kaelin Ortiz and Chavez; freshman Tiffanie Bolanos; and senior Lauren Carmona.
“We’re still kind of a fairly young team,” Sandoval said, but that doesn’t stop him from sounding confident, both about his pitching and hitting.
“Our hitting’s coming around,” he said. “During our scrimmage games against Portales and Hobbs, we kind of struggled a little bit in the first game but we ended up doing OK. When we played Hobbs, our hitting came around the second game with them. We really did pretty well.”
The coach names several players as his key hitters, including Zamora — “She’s a small kid but can actually hit the long ball” — and Lopez, who’s penciled in at No. 2 right now.
“She’s hitting the ball real well, along with Ashley Tavares,” Sandoval said. “They’re hitting the ball really well.”
Torres “was in a little slump last year,” Sandoval said, but has worked hard and is batting cleanup this year. Add in Jackie Garcia and Beth Madrid, both of which “are hitting pretty well, so yeah, we’re hitting OK. We’re still struggling with the changeup a little bit but we’re hitting OK.”
The Coyotes will get their first non-scrimmage chance to put everything together Friday in Farmington, where they start a tough pre-district schedule.
“We don’t have a cake schedule whatsoever,” Sandoval said. “We have a lot of hard games and so forth and that’s what I’d rather have.”
Friday, they’ll open vs. Aztec at 10:50 a.m. at the Linda Crabtree Softball Challenge in Farmington, then face three-time defending state champ Piedra Vista at 6:10 p.m.
Saturday, they’ll see perennial state contender Farmington at 10:50 a.m., then Bloomfield “which some of the northern schools think they're one of the best teams in the state, A through AAAAA. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but that’s what I heard,” Sandoval said.
Add in individual games vs. Aztec, Hobbs and Clovis and tournaments in Las Cruces and Aztec, and nothing’s easy.
“I think the predistrict schedule is definitely a big asset and is going to prepare us for district,” Sandoval said.
As far as district, the coach isn’t looking that far ahead.
“Right now, a lot of people are saying Roswell has the team to do it, but I’m not really worried about the district tournament,” he said. “I’m worried about the first game and we’re going to take every game step by step and try to prepare for that district tournament.
“Because I tell you what, once we get to district, I know that Scott Simer over there at Artesia will have their team ready to go and coach (David)Lawrence will have his team ready to go. Our district is always one of the toughest.”
He said southeast New Mexico doesn’t usually get a lot of respect in softball, but is hoping the District 4AAAA teams can continue with the strong showing they’ve had in past years.
“We have a bunch of kids who love this game. They work hard and we try to stress the fact we can’t win with one person, we’re going to have to win with the whole team, and it’s nothing but family,” he said.
“The goal right now is to go into every game — like I tell the girls, ‘I don’t care if you’re playing the Los Angeles Dodgers or the New York Yankees, you’ve got to go into every game thinking you’re going to win. And you’ve got to play with an attitude.’ And what I mean by playing with attitude is you’ve got to play with a positive attitude. Have the confidence.”
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