Oh no, not again!

That was the bellow in the Pojoaque Valley dugout by head softball coach Ricky DeHerrera.

Like a badly written horror sequel, DeHerrera and the Elkettes were face-to-face with their nemesis, stuck in the same script and praying for a different outcome.

Up to the plate in the seventh inning strolled St. Michael's freshman Alexandra Groenewold, the player who broke the Elkettes' hearts to take a District 5AAA doubleheader split in Pojoaque over the weekend. And she was ready to induce more mayhem.

With the Lady Horsemen trailing 8-5 and second place in the district at stake, Groenewold couldn't do what she did two days ago. But she extended the drama before the Elkettes escaped Christian Brothers Athletic Complex with a crucial 8-6 win and sole possession of second.

Groenewold, who hit a three-run home run in the doubleheader finale Saturday to give St. Michael's a 10-9 win, couldn't conjure up the muscle for a similar feat.

However, her run-scoring double to right field made it 8-6.

She remained there for the last two batters, then trudged to the dugout when Viola Pecos grounded out to second baseman Kyra Romero to end the afternoon.

And the Elkettes (11-11 overall, 6-3 5AAA) felt a great sense of relief at dodging another heartbreaker at the hands of their long-time rivals.

"I was running toward second yelling, 'Come on, Kyra! Come on!' " left fielder Celestina Martinez said.

If anyone appreciated the ending it was Martinez and fellow senior, starter Ericka Chavez.

Martinez added to the late-inning drama by allowing Arianna Lovato's lead-off single to left get past her. Lovato took second, but got greedy and headed for third. Martinez recovered in time to relay the throw to third baseman Gabby Gonzales for the out.

It proved crucial as Valeria Catanach reached on a fielder's choice and scored on Groenewold's two-out hit.

"It always scares you," Chavez said of Lovato's hit. "I am just thankful whathappened, happened. We got the out."

Chavez, though, appeared nervous at times, although she maintained she didn't think of the homer she gave up to Groenewold when she came up.

"Nothing goes through my head out there," Chavez said. "I just forgot about last game."

Still, it took a visit from catcher Amber Lovato to calm her down after a walk to Cristiana Gabaldon brought the potential winning run in Pecos up to the plate.

In Lovato, Chavez and DeHerrera trust.

"I kept telling Amber to talk to her," DeHerrera said. "Amber knows her more than anyone."

Pojoaque also knew the way to get to St. Michael's was to put pressure on its defense. It worked to perfection as every run scored was unearned thanks to four Lady Horsemen errors.

The miscues undermined a solid performance by sophomore Julianna Valdez, allowed all eight runs on nine hits with a strikeout.

"I thought she did a good job," saidRoseanne Noedel, St. Michael's head coach. "We needed to make routine plays and we needed to catch routine flies. That's pretty much it."

Still, when the Elkettes pushed, the Lady Horsemen (10-13, 5-4) pushed back. Pecos' two-run single in the second tied the score at 2.

When Pojoaque retook the lead at 5-2 after the top of the third (thanks in part to a dropped infield fly between Valdez and third baseman Arianna Chavez), St. Michael's answered.

Erin Torrez hit a solo blast over the left-field fence for 5-3 after three, then came back in the fourth with a two-out, two-run single to knot the score at 5.

Pojoaque had one more push, though. It started with Martinez's lead-off double that was off a charging Pecos' glove.

Pecos then couldn't come up with Mecole Quintana's liner for an error to put runners in scoring position.

A single, a sacrifice fly and a wild pitch followed to score three runs for 8-5.

Martinez said the inning personified what the team preaches each day.

"I tell the girls, 'Just get on base and I'll bring you around,' " Martinez said. "Our mindset is to hit the ball. It doesn't matter if it's a single, just get on and the next girl will back you up."