On Wednesday, the Dexter Lady Demons hosted a few first-round matchups for the Class 3A State Softball playoffs.

The playoff seeding was announced on Sunday, and 12 teams qualified. Seeds five to 12 are placed in four play-in games hosted by the top four seeds. The No. 5 seed plays the No. 12 seed, No. 6 faces No. 11, No. 7 takes on No. 10 and No. 8 matches up with the No. 9 seed. The winners of those games face the host team right after the conclusion of the play-in game, with the losers being eliminated. The No. 1 seed hosts the 8-9 winner, the No. 2 seed faces the 7-10 survivor, the No. 3 seed takes on the 6-11 winner and the No. 4 seed plays the 5-12 winner.

Once those second games start, the playoffs become double-elimination, meaning if a team wins in the first round, they move forward in the winners’ bracket. If a team loses, they are put in a consolation bracket, and they get a second chance to make it to the championship.

A loss in the consolation bracket means elimination from the state tournament. The winner of the winners’ bracket and the consolation bracket meet in the championship match. If the winner of the winners’ bracket wins either of the two possible games, they are champions. If the winner of the consolation bracket wins the first game, there is a second game that is played, with the winner of the second game becoming state champions.

Two games were hosted by the Lady Demons. Game one was a play-in game between the No. 7 seed Robertson Lady Cardinals versus the No. 10 seed Santa Fe Indian School (SFIS) Lady Braves. The Lady Braves won that game 14-0 and moved on to face second-seeded Dexter in game two. The Lady Demons entered with a 19-5 record, while SFIS entered at 16-11.

Dexter dominated this game from start to finish. Their defense and pitching only allowed three base runners during the game, and because of this, they didn’t allow one run to score. They helped their defense by scoring a lot of runs on offense.

Their offense scored at least four runs in every inning of play; because of this, they were able to end the game early in the third inning via the run rule. The run rule says that if a team is up by 15 or more runs by the third or 10 runs in the fifth, and the other team has already batted, the game ends. And after a grand slam by Kaylonie Nevarez (1) in the third inning to make the score 16-0, the game ended with the Lady Demons the victors.

The Lady Demons had 18 total hits, while SFIS had none. Neither team committed any errors. Along with her game-winning grand slam, she also led Dexter in hits. Maddie Miller (11) also had a home run for the Lady Demons. Annelli Kemppaihen (4) had the lone hit for the Lady Braves.

Nevarez (1) was also the pitcher for Dexter, lasting all three innings, struck out five batters and allowed one hit and zero runs. Isabella Galvan (10) and Laura Sarracino (27) were the two pitchers SFIS used.

Lady Demons head coach Arturo Duran said that it was awesome to get a big win like this to start the game, explaining that their pitching, fielding, hitting and base running were nearly perfect today. He believes that wins like this gives them a great boost of confidence that can propel them far in the playoffs.

Dexter will next play third-seeded St. Michael’s on Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. at Los Altos Softball Complex, Field 5, in Albuquerque.

More local sports content can be found on our RDR Sports Facebook page.