Lady Loboes Pound Out Big Hits At West Texas Classic
   By Randy Hogan, Staff Writer ~~ The Monahans News, February 28, 2006

The Monahans Lady Lobo softball team improved their season record to 5-3, finishing the Midland West Texas Classic with two shutout victories.

Monahans finished Pool C with 29 points tied with Alpine, and behind perennial state playoff team Coahoma with 38 points.

The tournament was cut short and play suspended on Saturday after heavy rainfall left the fields unplayable.

The ladies rebounded nicely from last Tuesday's home opener loss to Alpine, as MHS blasted Canyon Randall 16-0 in perhaps their most dominating offensive performance to date.

Heather Schuler pitched the win for Monahans, throwing a one hitter.

The Lady Loboes belted out 16 runs on 15 hits in the game to dominate Randall in the tournament opener.

For Monahans, Dina Ortiz led the way going 3 for 4 at bat, scoring 2 runs and picking up 2 RBI's in the game.

Schuler hit 3 of 4 for 3 runs and picked up an RBI, while Kaitlin Mitchell went 2 of 4 at the plate, scoring three runs and picking up an RBI.

Lana Santiago hit  2 for 4 to score a run and pick up 4 huge RBI's in the game.

Brittany Slade scored three runs for MHS, and hit 2 for 4 at bat.

MHS scored two runs in the second inning, one in the third, three more in the top of the fourth, and routed Randall in the fifth inning with 9 runs.

The game was called after only fine innings.

"We played extremely well Thursday against Randall," MHS Coach David Parker said.  "Our defense was great the entire game and Heather dominated them with her pitches."

Monahans continued to ride the shut out momentum by defeating Jim Ned 8-0.

The Lady Loboes once again pounded out 12 hits in the game, and set the tone early by picking up four runs in the bottom of the first inning.

The Ladies added one run each in the second, third,  fifth and sixth inning to close the game after six innings of play.

In the game, Brianna Chaney hit 3 for 4, scoring 2 runs, while Ashton Jarrett went 2 for 3 at bat, and also scored two runs.

Heather Schuler picked up the win for Monahans and allowed only one hit in the game.

"It was wet and drizzly, but the girls played well defensively," Parker said.

The Lady Loboes found themselves in a showdown with Alpine once again.  The game marked the third time the two teams have squared off in the past two weeks.

Unlike Tuesday's game in Monahans, the Lady Loboes drew first blood, scoring a run in the top of the second and third innings to take  2-0 lead into Alpines half of the fifth inning.

The Lady Bucks scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to tie the game 2 -2.

Jenny Jarrett pinch-hit in the game and sparked a two out rally with a single to get the ball rolling for the Green.  Jarrett was 1 for 1, and scored a timely run to give MHS the lead in the sixth inning.

Monahans added an assurance run to go into the bottom of the final inning leading 4-2.

Coach Parker got a big time performance from Heather Schuler once again.

With bases loaded with only one out, the Lady Bucks were able to get a run across the plate to cut the scoring gap to just one point.

But the final batter for Alpine blasted the ball back to Schuler at the mound, and Heather put the Lady Bucks away with a 4-3 victory.

"Heather really controlled the plate in the Alpine game," Parker said.  "She played big for us when we needed it.  This game went down to the wire and our girls stepped up and took it."

Schuler picked up the win over the Lady Bucks, allowing only three runs on six hits in the game.

In the final contest of the tournament for Monahans, the Ladies faced a relatively unknown team in Merkel.  Experimenting with the lineup proved costly, as the Ladies dropped the game 6-0 to the Badgers.

"We tried to mix things up in the lineup," Parker said.  "We wanted to give all the girls playing time, and wanted to see who we could play in the field."

Add in the fact that Merkel had perhaps the fastest pitcher MHS has seen this season.

"Our chemistry just wasn't there against Merkel," Parker said.  "We saw a faster pitcher in the game, but we were still able to pick up 5 hits."

Dina Ortiz hit 2 of 3 for MHS, joined by Lana Santiago who went 2 for 2 in the game.  Brianna Chaney accounted for the Ladies final hit, going 1 for 3 against Roach from Merkel.

"Overall I think we did a really good job in Midland," Parker said.  "We are improving and playing as a team, and that is encouraging."

The Lady Loboes will host Midland High Tuesday at 5 pm.

Keyed by Melissa Ramirez, Senior