Lady Timberwolves Continue to Show Improvement

Sandia Park – While the scoreboard at the end of Tuesday’s matchup against Hope Christian may not have favored East Mountain, the final 18-2 tally was secondary to the narrative unfolding for the Lady Timberwolves: growth.

In his first year at the helm, head coach Eric Rivera is intentionally shifting the focus away from win-loss columns and toward a foundation of fundamental progress. For a program coming off a challenging previous season, Rivera sees every clean play as a building block.

“My biggest goal was to focus on what they had achieved last year and to progress from there,” Rivera said. “The expectations would be making outs, improving the quality of pitching, hitting the ball successfully, and reducing errors. It’s been an amazing transformation.”

The “transformation” was on display throughout the contest as the Lady Timberwolves (0-5) battled through pressure situations against a potent Hope Christian lineup.

Sophomore Laryssa Rivera anchored the effort from the circle, pitching four innings and demonstrating the poise the first-year coach has emphasized. At the plate, Rivera and junior Kaitlyn Vigil provided the offensive sparks, each recording hits to keep the Huskies’ defense on their toes.

The youth of the roster—which features a heavy rotation of underclassmen including freshmen Sasha Smith, Abigail (Abby) Valenzuela, and Skye-Ann Wood—means that inexperience occasionally leads to mistakes. However, Rivera views these moments as necessary hurdles rather than setbacks.

“It’s such a young team,” Rivera noted. “A lot of those inexperienced moves and plays are because they just don’t have enough games under their belt in pressure situations. But they’re getting there. You’re seeing the improvements.”

Defensively, East Mountain saw contributions across the diamond. Senior leadership from Ava Higgins and Ciana (CiCi) Vigil helped steady the younger players, while Cadee Higgins, Morae (Mo) Vigil, and Anabella (Bella) Rivera logged critical innings in the field to stymie Hope Christian rallies.

For Rivera, the metric of success in a tough district isn’t found in the standings, but in “little wins.”

“Our goals are not so much to win games, but to create little wins with each individual player,” Rivera said. “Instead of missing a ground ball, making that ground ball—that’s a little win. When they begin to accrue enough of those, they’ll start seeing those big wins.”

The Lady Timberwolves showed that resilience late in the game, refusing to fold and continuing to put runners on base, including efforts from Gracie-Mae Wood and Rylee Drager.

As the season progresses, the focus remains on the long game. With Rivera’s patient approach and a roster full of young talent like Alyssa Smith, East Mountain is betting that these small victories in March will lead to a program-defining culture by May.

“I’m proud of these girls,” Rivera said. “They try hard. They’ve met expectations tenfold.”