Kirtland Central coach leads state softball all-star team with two seniors

Kirtland Central coach Dillon Mason took his program into New Mexico’s statewide spotlight when he was selected to coach the Red team in the New Mexico High School Coaches Association’s all-star softball series, with two of his own seniors on the roster.

The two-game series was played at Cleveland High School in Rio Rancho, with games Friday evening and Saturday morning. Mason was one of four head coaches chosen for the all-star teams, a role that put a San Juan County coach in charge of one of the state’s showcase squads as the school year wound down.

Mason’s Red team included Kirtland Central pitcher Rory Benally and outfielder Amelia Gomez, both seniors. Mason said the assignment was “definitely an honor” and that it felt “new,” “different” and “a little surreal.” He said he was there to coach the best he could and help the girls, and called it “awesome” to get one more chance to work with Benally and Gomez.

The selection process behind the weekend carried its own stakes. The New Mexico High School Coaches Association requires district representation at the selection meeting, and there are no alternates on all-star rosters. That means each player invited to the weekend had to be ready to go, and each district had to have a hand in deciding who represented it.

For Kirtland Central, the weekend was also a public measure of how far the program had reached. Mason said Benally and Gomez were both great kids, and he noted that Benally’s pitching and Gomez’s outfield play would be hard to replace next year. Their place on the all-star stage put Kirtland Central, and San Juan County, directly into the state conversation and signaled that the program’s influence extended well beyond one season in Kirtland.