by 
By Frank Smith
The San Manuel Lady Miners varsity softball team picked up a couple of region wins over Miami and Globe to stay in the hunt for a playoff spot.
The Lady Miners made the trip to Miami on April 4 and pulled out a close 5 – 3 win over the Lady Vandals.
In the circle for the ladies was Nicole Encinas with Mariah McBride catching. Encinas faced 20 batters allowing two runs on two hits, collected three strikeouts and had three walks.
Lyana Waddell then came in to relieve with Mariah McBride catching. Waddell faced 11 batters allowing one run on one hit, collected four strikeouts and had one walk.
At the plate, Tamayo went 2 for 3 with singles, and one RBI; Medina went 2 for 3 with a triple, a home run, and one RBI; Zuniga went 2 for 4 with a single, a triple, and three RBIs; and Encinas went 1 for 2 with a single.
Head Coach Deanne Brewer said, “This was a little too close for comfort. We had four errors, which is too many in a game this close. We had one run until the fifth inning when we scored another one run. We scored one more in the sixth and the last two in the seventh. We do better when we score earlier in the game.”
San Manuel then hosted the Globe Lady Tigers on April 5 sending the visitors packing after six innings on the 10-run rule, picking up another win 15 – 5.
In the circle was Encinas with McBride catching. Encinas faced 15 batters allowing four runs on seven hits, collected three strikeouts and had no walks in three innings.
Waddell then came in to relieve with McBride catching. Waddell faced 11 batters allowing one run on one hit, collected four strikeouts and had one walk in 3 innings.
At the plate, Tamayo went 2 for 5 with singles; Encinas went 2 for 5 with singles, and one RBI; Cuellar went 2 for 5 with a single, and a double; Medina went 2 for 5 with a double, and a triple; Vindiola went 2 for 4 with singles, two stolen bases, and one RBI; Gomez went 3 for 5 with two singles, a double, and four RBIs; Zuniga went 3 for 4 with a single, two doubles, and three RBIs; and Waddell went 2 for 4 with a single, a double, and a stolen base.
Coach Brewer said, “Our season is drawing to a close. We are looking at being undefeated for the rest of our season. We don’t want to take Ray or Miami lightly. We still have games that we need to stay focused on and stay on top in the power rankings going into state. I have good feelings about the state tournament. Let’s see if we can make things happen!”
The Lady Miners will travel to Ray on Thursday with the varsity playing at 2 p.m. and the JV playing at 4 p.m. San Manuel will then host the Tombstone Lady Yellow Jackets on Friday with varsity playing at 4 p.m.
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