Cavegirls Battle Centennial Hawks

By Don Eskins

The Carlsbad Cavegirls will be in Las Cruces on Friday, March 21, for a doubleheader against the Centennial Hawks. Game times are set for 4:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

The host Hawks, 6-0 on the year, are currently ranked second in Class 5A softball. Carlsbad, overlooked in this week’s March 17th MaxPreps poll, is 2-2.

Rough Opener for the Cavegirls

The Cavegirls opened up the 2025 season at the Southern New Mexico Invitational in Las Cruces on March 14-15 with mixed reviews.

On Friday, following a close 7-6 season inaugural loss to the 4-1 Silver City Colts, the Cavegirls rallied to upend the Belen Eagles 8-7 to register their first victory of the new year.

On Saturday, CHS continued their winning ways with a 7-6 win over the Roswell Coyotes but couldn’t keep pace with the Las Cruces Bulldawgs in their tournament final. The Cavegirls fell to the Dawgs 15-7.

“Opening the season against teams that had already played five or six games did put our girls at somewhat of a disadvantage,” said Cavegirl head coach Brian Santo. “But our problem at the Southern New Mexico Invitational wasn’t so much our lack of experience going into the tournament; we just didn’t play very well. We made a lot of early-season mistakes, particularly on defense.

“But we spent a lot of time at practice this week working on correcting those mistakes,” he said. “Hopefully, we’ll play much better during our doubleheader with Centennial.”

One problem the Cavegirls didn’t have at the Southern New Mexico Invitational was hitting the long ball. Carlsbad slugger Faith Rivera went yard three times during the tournament. Also going yard were Kalion Fuentes, twice, and Vianka Villa, once. (three-game stats only)

Note: Due to forecast high winds, the Cavegirl doubleheader, scheduled for March 18 in Artesia, was canceled. Both games have been rescheduled for April 8 in Artesia.

Las Cruces Inv. Recaps

Friday- March 14

vs. Silver City

CHS 0-0-0-0-3-3-0--6

SHS 0-0-0-3-1-0-3--7

Leading Hitters: Faith Rivera 2H-2R-2RBI-HR; Parris Weldon 2H-2R; Aubrey 2H-RBI; Chester Makayla 1H-1R; Kalion Fuentes 1H-RBI; LP Kalion Fuentes 6.1 in-6H-7R-5ER-1BB-13K’s; ERA 5.53. Team 6R-8H-5E’s Record 0-1 (MaxPreps Stats)

vs. Belen Eagles

BHS 0-2-1-0-0-3-1--7

CHS 3-0-1-1-0-3-x--8

Leading Hitters: Kalion Fuentes 3H-4RBI-2B-2HR; Kendra Ortega 2H-RBI; Faith Rivera 1H-2RBI-HR; Vianka Villa 1H-RBI-HR; Katrina Ortega 1H; Marisela Reyes 1H; WP Aubrey Hernandez 6in-5H-7R-3ER-ERA- 3.50-3BB-3K’s; Katrina Ortega 1in-1H-0R-0ER-0ERA-1BB-1K; Team 8R-9H-4E) (MaxPreps Stats)

Saturday- March 15

vs Roswell Coyotes

CHS 0-0-1-2-0-0-1-3--7

RHS 0-1-0-0-0-0-3-2--6

Leading Hitters: Faith Rivera 3H-2R-3RBI-HR; Katrina 2H-1R; Makayla Chester 1H-2R-RBI; Parris Weldon 1H; Vinank Villa 1H-2B; Kalion Fuentes 1H; Allyson Madrid 0H-1R: WP Katrina Ortega 5in-5H-5R-2ER-ERA 1.75-10BB-10K’s (MaxPreps Stats)

vs. Las Cruces Bulldawgs

CHS 2-1-1-2-0-1-0--07

LCHS 2-2-6-4-0-1-x--15

Leading Hitters: Game stats unavailable at press time.