Demonettes finish on top at offseason tournament
Ayear ago, the St. Michael’s Lady Horsemen began to pick up the momentum that led them to a Class 3A volleyball title.
Could Santa Fe High be following in their footsteps?
The Demonettes finished a spirited run in the New Mexico Games tournament Saturday at Del Norte High School, defeating the host Lady Knights to win the offseason competition. That performance comes on the heels of a second-place finish at a tournament in
UTEP. With the start of practice for fall sports just two weeks away, Santa Fe High is building steam for what is shaping up to be a breakthrough season.
“It’s a special team this year,” Demonettes head coach Josie Adams said. “They’re strong, physically and mentally. We have a lot of great leadership again. Our whole coaching staff is really excited to watch them progress.”
The program made significant progress last year, going 16-8 and advancing to the big-school tournament for the first time in 13 years (although the Demonettes made it the 4A quarterfinals in 2013). The program returns its top two outside hitters in senior Salome Romp and junior Laila Bernardino, blossoming middle hitter Ainsley ReynoldsSmith and senior setter Courtney Brookover.
Along the way to winning the tournament, the Demonettes crossed paths with a fellow District 5-5A foe and crosstown rival in Capital, beating the Lady Jaguars in the tournament semifinals. Capital ended up taking third in the tournament, and Adams praised this year’s group for living up to a program staple — a tough defense.
“They are just scrappy,” Adams said. “They do a good job of picking [hits] up. We had to put the ball down hard or be pretty crafty. It was super exciting that we had two Santa Fe teams perform well in the New Mexico Games.”
Capital went 8-14 last year, but lost only four players to graduation and one missed most of the 2018 season with a torn ACL.
If and when 55-year-old Rodney Tafoya decides to hang up his baseball cleats, he surely could make a living telling tales about a baseball journey that covers six decades (let’s just assume he pitches in 2020, because he is).
One of his best stories was about
obtaining an autograph from Hall of Famer and St. Louis Cardinals pitching great Bob Gibson.
He first encountered Gibson as he was crossing a street in St. Louis while Tafoya was attending Newman University in the mid-1980s. Tafoya raced over to introduce himself and get his autograph, but Gibson told him he was in a hurry.
“Catch me later,” Tafoya recalls Gibson telling him.
Fast forward a few years later, and Tafoya was at a hotel in Scottsdale, Ariz., when he spotted Gibson heading to an elevator. Tafoya waited until Gibson entered it before rushing in to get a captive audience.
“I took a deep breath and said, ‘Mr. Gibson, I know you don’t remember me, but we met a few years ago and I asked you for an autograph, and you said to catch you later. Is now a good time?’ ” Tafoya said.
Suffice it to say, Gibson gave it to him, and Tafoya has it on display in his Santa Fe home.
The Capital football program will host a youth camp Monday through Wednesday at Jaguar Field. The cost is $50. For more information, call coach Bill Moon at 505-629-9662.
The Santa Fe High School crosscountry team is training every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday in Toby Roybal Gymnasium at 7:30 a.m. before the start of fall practice Aug. 12. For more information, call coach Peter Graham at 505-670-2484 or Samantha Ramirez at 505-919-9072.