Upon reflection, SFIS coach decides No. 5 seed is better

Five might be better than four in Oliver Torres’ mind.

But 12 wasn’t enough for the McCurdy softball team.

Torres, Santa Fe Indian School’s head softball coach, was initially disappointed with the fifth seed the Lady Braves earned Sunday for the Class 4A State Tournament.

Play begins Wednesday at Rio Rancho Cleveland.

The Lady Braves, the District 5-4A runners-up, will play No. 12 Hatch Valley at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, and a win will pit them against District 2-4A champion Las Vegas Robertson, the fourth seed, in the quarterfinals at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday.

By being seeded in the top four, the Lady Cardinals get a bye into the quarterfinals. Torres said playing the opening-round, single-elimination game

could give SFIS an extra game if it reaches the double-elimination bracket. The loser of the quarterfinal game will play in the consolation bracket at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Torres felt his team had done enough to earn the fourth seed, with a 21-4 record and a pair of wins over Raton, the District 3/5-1A/3A champion. But upon second thought, getting a game under the Lady Braves’ belt might be beneficial.

“We need to concentrate on Hatch right now,” Torres said. “If we do win, we have an extra five at-bats and we have the jitters out of us. We know what [the seeding] is, and we’re going to be in a game where we are not sitting and waiting.”

SFIS and Robertson are among three northern teams who saw their season extended. West Las Vegas earned the seventh seed and will play No. 10 Albuquerque Hope Christian at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, with the winner playing No. 2 Bernalillo.

Los Alamos was the lone District 2-5A participant. The Lady Hilltoppers are the No. 10 seed and will play No. 7 Aztec at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday at Cleveland. The winner will head to the quarterfinals against No. 2 Lovington at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday.

The surprise from the day’s softball seeding and selection was the omission of McCurdy, the runner-up to Raton in 3/51/3A. Despite a 13-10 record and a No. 13 spot in the Freeman rankings supplied by MaxPreps.com, the Lady Bobcats were on the outside looking in as Eunice, which had a 9-17 record, took the 12th and final spot in the bracket.

“I am disappointed for my team,” Lady Bobcats head coach Christian Lopez wrote in an email. “They had a lot of softball left to play. Unfortunately, the process used limits this.”

Class 1A/2A baseball: Mora earned the No. 2 seed for the eight-team bracket and will face No. 7 Dora at 7 p.m. Wednesday quarterfinal at Rio Rancho High School. The Rangers went 16-4 and won the District 5-1A/2A title. A year ago, Mora reached the 1A/2A semifinal last year before losing to Lordsburg 21-6.