Prep Softball Season Preview
Raiders possess usual offensive firepower, but face other unknowns
A year ago, two local softball teams in particular had notable seasons.
At the big-school level, Cibola reached the quarterfinals of the 6A state tournament after a regular season highlighted by more in-town dominance and a few big-time wins.
And then there was Yuma Catholic, which made program history by advancing all the way to the 3A state championship game.
Gila Ridge, too, enjoyed success, claiming the 4A Southwest region title and posting 13 AIA wins.
For each of those programs, question marks abound in 2018 following the losses of key players in key spots.
First pitch of the 2018 campaign is today for Yuma High/Kofa (vs. each other), Antelope (vs. Salome) and San Pasqual (at Baboquivari), and either later this week or after for the other four local teams.
Here is a look at each of the local softball squads:
6A Southern
• Coach: Shelly Baumann (29th year) • Opener: Thursday at DobsonWestwood Invite • Last season: Cibola (18-3 AIA, 6-1 region) lost only to No. 3 Tucson High (in the region championship), No. 5 Perry (6A quarters) and No. 8 Desert Vista (6A loser’s bracket). The Raiders’ regular season included wins over both Perry and Desert Vista, and a plus-148 run differential in 11 local matchups. They earned the No. 4 seed and a bye in the 6A state tournament, and beat No. 14 Rincon/University in their postseason opener before getting outscored 31-5 the next two games.
• All-6A Southern returners: Senior 2B Kamryn Moctezuma (POY), senior SS Nicole Villa (1st team), senior C Ela Henry (1st), junior OF Cielo Echols (1st), sophomore OF Christina Robles (1st), senior UTL Hailey Oros (2nd), sophomore DP Angela Oros (2nd)
• The lowdown: Offensively, the Raiders are set. Nicole Villa, the 2016 Yuma Sun Player of the Year, and Kamryn Moctezuma, the reigning Yuma Sun POY, are fourth-year starters who have career batting averages of .515 and .476, respectively. Ela Henry is a third-year starter and a .422 career hitter. Angela Oros and Christina Robles both hit above .400 last year, while Cielo Echols (.376) and Hailey Oros (.361) weren’t far behind.
But pitching is a serious question mark for the Raiders, as this is the first time since 2013 that they’ve entered a season without any experienced varsity pitchers. Three-time all-region selection Madison Sierra graduated last year, and Jannay Jones — who split duties with Sierra last year as a junior — transferred back to Kofa, where she spent her freshman/sophomore years (but won’t play softball this season).
“We’re going to have to score some runs,” Baumann said.
Sophomore pitcher Kelly Katalbas saw a little varsity action a year ago, logging 15 innings in four nonAIA games and earning a completegame victory against Millennium in her only AIA appearance. Freshmen Alanie Ornelas and Ginnellie Cordova, and Angela Oros are three other options for the Raiders in the circle.
Ornelas and Cordova are two of six freshmen on the Raiders’ roster. Kaleiah Tatlonghari has slid into the starting third baseman role, while INF/OF Madison Matthews is an-