Ladies Go 6-0 in Snyder Tourney, Begin District Play Tuesday
    By Randy Hogan, Staff Writer ~~ The Monahans News, March 7, 2006

The Monahans Lady Lobo softball team took a giant step forward over the weekend, winning 6 games at the Snyder tournament to improve their season record to 12-3.

More importantly, the Ladies have built a mountain of momentum heading into the District 3-3A opener at Seminole on Tuesday, March 7.

The pitching duo of Heather Schuler and Kaitlin Mitchell led the Green to three shutouts in the tournament.

Schuler (10-0) has been dominate from the circle having recorded 55 strikeouts for the season and an incredible ERA of 1.07.

Mitchell (2-3) picked up a huge confidence builder by shutting out Socorro and humbling the Midland Lee JV.  She has sat down 20 batters by strikeout this season.

Monahans (12-3) jumped out to a big start in the tournament by slamming the door on Colorado City 8-0.

Dina Ortiz led the way for the Green, hitting 2 for 2 at the plate and scoring 2 runs.

Ashton Jarrett went 2 for 3 at bat and scored 2 runs, while Brianna Chaney went 1 for 2, picking up an RBI and scoring two running in the game.

Kellie Almanza and Kaitlin Mitchell each added a run, and Almanza, Heather Schuler and Erin Garcia each posted RBI's.

As a team, MHS had 8 runs on 9 hits against the Wolves.

Schuler recorded the win for Monahans, giving up seven hits, striking out 5 and walking only 2 batters in five innings.

The Ladies scored 2 runs in the bottom of the first inning, then sealed the game in the second inning by crushing Colorado City with 5 runs.  MHS scored their final run in the fourth inning.

In game two, Monahans blasted the Midland Lee JV 5-2 to remain unbeaten in tournament play.

Kaitlin Mitchell earned the victory giving up two runs and only one hit against the Lady Rebels.  Mitchell pitched five inning and struck out 2 batters.

The Lady Reb's took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning, but Mitchell settled in and controlled the Lee batters, also picking up big defensive play from the MHS defense.

Offensively, Monahans pounded out 5 runs on 9 hits.

Erin Garcia led the Green, going 2 for 2 at the plate and scoring 2 runs in the game.  Garcia also picked up an RBI to add to her offensive performance.

MHS tied the game 1-1 in the top of the second inning, then applied the pressure by adding four more runs in the third inning.  Lee added a final run in the bottom of the fifth inning to close the game 5-2.

Heather Schuler went 1 for 2, scoring a run and recording an RBI, while Lana Santiago banged out an RBI and scored a run for MHS.

Dina Ortiz also scored a run for the Lady Loboes.

Kellie Almanza, Brianna Chaney, Jenny Jarrett,  Kaitlin Mitchell, and Bailey Marcum each had hits in the game.

Monahans continued to own Jim Ned in tournament play by winning 3-0 and stay unbeaten at Snyder.

It was the Ladies' second consecutive shut out in Jim Ned, having recorded an 8-0 win in the Midland tournament last week.

Much like the game in Midland, Schuler blasted 58 strikes on 81 pitches against Jim Ned.

Schuler pitched 6 innings, allowing only 3 hits and striking out seven batters in the game.

The Lady Loboes took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, before adding a run in each of the fifth and sixth innings to close out a 3-0 victory.

Brianna Chaney, who leads MHS with a .528 batting average, went 2 for 2 at the plate and picked up 2 RBI's in the game.

Ashton Jarrett scored a run while going 1 for 2 at bat.

Heather Schuler and Kaitlin Mitchell each scored a run, and Kellie Almanza added the final hit to the Monahans total.

The Ladies cored three runs on four hits against Jim Ned.

In game four of the tournament, Kaitlin Mitchell led the Green to a 6-0 shut out victory over Socorro.

Mitchell pitched five scoreless innings, allowing only two hits and striking out four batters in the game.  She threw 58 strikes on 83 pitches.

Monahans took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning before adding five runs in the fourth to blow the game open.  MHS scored six runs on the five hits.

Ashton Jarrett paced the Ladies by going 1 for 2 at the plate, picking up an RBI and scoring a run.

Kaitlin Mitchell, Heather Schuler, Brianna Chaney and Lana Santiago each added hits in the game, including RBI's by Schuler and Chaney. Santiago pounded out 2 RBI's against Socorro.

After two consecutive shut outs at the Snyder tournament, Monahans ripped Mineral Wells 9-1 to win their fifth game of the weekend.

Heather Schuler went the distance from the circle, pitching five complete inning to earn the win.

Schuler threw 49 strikes on 74 pitches, giving up five hits and allowing only one run.  She struck out 4 batters in the game.

MHS jumped out to a 4-0 first-inning lead before adding five runs in the top of the third.

Monahans pounded out nice runs on 14 hits in the game.

Trailing 9-0, Mineral Wells avoided the shut out by putting a run on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Heather Schuler pounded out a perfect 3 for 3 at the plate, scoring a run while picking up two RBI's.

Brittany Slade come up big for the Green, going 2 for 2 at bat, smashing two RBI's and scoring a run.

Brianna Chaney went 2 for 4 at the plate and scored a run for MHS.

Lana Santiago hit 2 for 2 to score a run and record an RBI, and Erin Garcia hit 2 for 3, including an RBI and scoring two runs.

Kaitlin Mitchell and Kellie Almanza each added hits, and Almanza picked up an RBI.

Dina Ortiz scored the final run for Monahans.

Team totals included 14 hits on 26 at bats, including seven RBI's.

In the final game for MHS, the Ladies defeated tournament host Snyder 5-2.

Heather Schuler recorded her tenth win of the season, pitching five complete inning to earn the victory.  She threw 49 strikes on 79 pitches, allowing only four hits and two runs and struck out two batters.

Monahans took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning.

Snyder tied the game 2-2 in the top of the fourth inning, but the Green sealed the victory with three runs in the fifth inning to extend their season record to 12-3.

The Ladies had five runs on the 8 hits against the Tigers.

Dina Ortiz lead the way for the Green, scoring 2 runs while hitting 2 for 2 at the plate.  Kellie Almanza also went 2 for 2 at bat and scored a run, while Brianna Chaney hit 2 for 3.  Chaney recorded an RBI and scored a run.

Ashton Jarrett scored a run and picked up a huge RBI, and Kaitlin Mitchell added the final run for Monahans.

The Ladies begin District 3-3A play Tuesday afternoon in Seminole.

Keyed by Chino Arsiaga, Senior