East Mountain won an impressive 19 regular-season victories and earned the No. 5 seed in the 3A playoffs, but the Lady Timberwolves stumbled in the first round of the state tournament.

In the May 11 opening round play-in game at Cleveland High School, East Mountain’s defense faltered, its offense stalled, and the Lady T’Wolves were upended 21-0 by No. 12 Raton.

The game ended after three innings on the 15-run rule.

Missing their usual starting pitcher Olivia Ford to an illness, the Lady T’Wolves started Cami Jo Radosevich in the circle. From the outset, Raton put the ball in play and took advantage of East Mountain’s miscues.

“It was a little frustrating for myself cuz I wanted to get as many outs as possible,” Radosevich said. She pitched all three innings.

The Lady T’Wolves committed 13 errors in the game. “We were just so jittery, we were just like in our heads, and we just needed to get out of it,” East Mountain sophomore catcher Aubrie Marez said.

Raton put up five runs in the first inning and added two more unearned runs off East Mountain errors in the second inning.

“Yeah, you know, we catch balls every day, all day long, and then we couldn’t stop a ball to save our lives, but I mean, it happens,” East Mountain head coach Bill Radosevich said.

Raton blew the game open with 14 runs in the third. East Mountain’s offense could not get anything started as Raton held the Lady T’Wolves hitless in the game.

“The only time we put the bat on the ball and got it out there was Cami Jo’s deep ball to center field and they caught it,” coach Radosevich said. Only two East Mountain runners got aboard—both were by way of a base on balls.

“It was just one of those games, we just could not hit,” coach Radosevich said. “But that’s the way the cookie crumbles sometimes, you know, it was eventful.”

Marez and Cami Jo Radosevich said the team will bounce back from the loss and use it as motivation for next year.

“I don’t think it’s a big deal, we had fun, we have a young team, we’ll learn from this experience,” Radosevich said.

“We improved so much this year and we just move on from here, we’re only gonna get better,” Marez said.

East Mountain’s Cami Jo Radosevich pitching during the first round of the 3A state tournament, May 11, 2022. Photo by Ger Demarest.

East Mountain catcher Aubrie Marez, right, waits for a throw while a Raton runner comes in to score during the first round of the 3A state tournament, May 11, 2022. Photo by Ger Demarest.