Gallup rallies past Kirtland Central 11-9, keeps perfect district mark

Gallup’s district hold was tested hard, and the Lady Bengals answered with the kind of late surge that can matter again in May. Down five runs, Gallup rallied in the fifth and sixth innings Friday afternoon at the Gallup High School softball field and escaped with an 11-9 win over Kirtland Central, keeping its perfect district mark intact.

The comeback gave Gallup more than another rivalry win. It stretched the Lady Bengals’ winning streak over the Broncos to 14 games, moved Gallup to 10-7 overall and pushed the team to four straight victories. It also came against a Kirtland Central club that had been rolling on the road, snapping the Broncos’ six-game road winning streak and leaving them at 14-6.

Gallup’s offense piled up 16 hits for the fourth straight game with at least that many, and the production was spread across the lineup. Madison Martinez pitched three innings, allowed one earned run on five hits and also went 2-for-4 with two runs, a double and an RBI. Jaylah Greene was 3-for-4 with three runs, a triple and an RBI. Leia Tso delivered the biggest run production of the day for Gallup, going 3-for-4 with four RBI and a double.

Kirtland Central did enough damage to make the finish tense. Cailyn Belin powered the Broncos with two home runs in a 2-for-4 day, Amelia Gomez went 2-for-3 with a home run, two runs and two RBI, and Lacey Parrish finished 3-for-5 with two RBI. The Broncos kept swinging deep into the game, but Gallup’s fifth- and sixth-inning response proved enough to close the gap and finish the job.

The teams have turned their district meetings into tight affairs. Gallup’s 11-9 win followed a 12-10 victory over Kirtland Central in April 2025, another game that came down to the final margin. For Gallup, Friday’s result was a reminder that the league leader can still absorb a punch and keep control of the race. The Lady Bengals were scheduled next to face Shiprock, while Kirtland Central was set to meet Aztec.