SPORTS

The 'Big Stick'

Cibola's Eltsosie and the Lady Cougars aim for another state softball title

By Manuel Jesus
Special to the Times

WINDOW ROCK, May 8, 2008

Being on the state's top softball team in New Mexico has Latianna Eltsosie and her Cibola Lady Cougars' teammates eyeing their second consecutive Class 5A state title.

Cibola is ranked No. 1 in Class 5A and is favored to win the state title next weekend. Cibola is undefeated with a 25-0 overall record and a 9-0 district mark.

Eltsosie, Navajo, leads the state not only in batting average but also in home runs, hits and RBIs.

Asked how she felt about playing on the state's top-ranked softball team, Eltsosie said, "It feels good. I just keep doing what I'm doing."

Cibola head coach Victor Gene said Eltsosie, a junior, works hard on the field, where she plays shortstop, third base and pitcher.

"She works very hard at practice," he said. "Works very diligent and to our girls that's an impact. Our girls really look up to her for her leadership."

In her second year with Cibola, Gene says he doesn't see much change in Eltsosie from last year.

"The only difference is her pitching is better," he said. "She has better discipline at the plate. She's our leading hitter and she does a great job when we need a pitcher."

"There's no struggle (for Eltsosie) this year. She knows the game very well," Gene added.

Gene said many of Cibola's opponents know about Eltsosie at the plate and opposing pitchers have been careful.

"(They) pitch to her carefully especially when there are runners on base. They're not too crazy about that. They (just) have to pitch to her carefully," Gene said.

Gene said Eltsosie has a batting average over .615 with eight home runs and 47 RBIs - by far the best in New Mexico among high school players.

Originally from Fruitland, N.M., Latianna's father, Randall, said the decision to move the family to Albuquerque two years ago was to get Latianna exposure as a softball player.

He said Albuquerque has larger schools where she would be noticed through the media and word of mouth by coaches.

When Randall found a house near Cibola High School, he couldn't remember which district Cibola played in but it was the school Latianna would attend, eventually helping the Lady Cougars win a state title during her first year.

"She's very excellent in softball," he said. "We're proud of her and we're even happier with her accomplishments. She put in a lot of work."

Latianna's mother is Rosanna.

"I remember her hitting rocks and pebbles and I didn't know that it'd be that way," Randall said of Latianna when she was young.

Latianna was successful in play with summer club teams. She has played in the Softball World Series in Kansas, Phoenix and Las Cruces, where she won most valuable player awards. She also earned a gold medal at the Indigenous Games in Denver in 2006.

Latianna began playing high school varsity softball as an eighth grader at Kirtland Central. While at Kirtland Central she was named to the All-District team, district All-Academic and was awarded the "Big Stick" award.

Last year at Cibola, she was named All-District, was an Albuquerque Journal All-Metro team selection as a shortstop and was named to the Navajo Times All-Area All-Star softball team.

As for another state title for Cibola, Gene said it would depend on the seeding.

"There are 16 teams and we have a chance as everybody else. It depends on our seeding going in," he said.

"It was fun (last year's state championship), it would be fun to be a state champions again," Eltsosie said.

The 2008 New Mexico state softball championships will be held May15-17 in Farmington.

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