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Santa Fe High defeats Santa Fe Indian school in softball play

Santa Fe High scores twice in the seventh inning Wednesday afternoon to slip past visiting Santa Fe  Indian School, 3-2, in non league softball play

Ten-run fifth frame brings visiting Espanola Valley a 16-5 win over Capital in a five-inning District 2-5A contest

By Arnie Leshin | April 6, 2017  Photo used with permission by Alayna Montoya

It was a good neighborhood softball game, low scoring and exciting ending.

Santa Fe High was home to Santa Fe Indian School in Wednesday’s non district contest, and rallied to edge the Braves, 3-2, to up its overall record to 7-9.

It was 2-1 Indian School (9-5) as the Demonettes batted in the bottom of the seventh inning. In the top of the frame, the Braves broke a 1-1 tie when junior Arianna Marcotte singled and scored on sophomore Caitlyn Cruz’ RBI double for the lead.

It was the same two who accounted for the other Indian School run in the third inning. Marcotte walked and Cruz doubled.

But it was Santa Fe High’s game to win in its last at-bat. Junior Angelica Tapia led off with a bunt single and senior Shantel Baca followed with a single. Both moved up on a passed ball, then freshman Jelly Angel clouted a deep fly to right-center that the centerfielder couldn’t get to, and the tying and winning runs crossed the plate.

Before that, it was senior Alayna Montoya’s solo home run in the sixth to knot the score at 1-1 for the Demonettes.

Santa Fe High head coach Randy Montoya said the absence of starting pitcher Shannon Ortiz, a junior, for a few innings after she was hit by a line drive in the fourth inning hurt his team. Ortiz threw faster than sophomore reliever Zoe Martinez and that affected his team’s timing.

“That’s been our struggle,” said Montoya. “We’re not the best hitters against that type of (slower) pitcher. We tend to get in front of pitches too often, plus we’re just so used to the speed of our 6A pitchers, we have a hard time striking the ball when it’s slower.”

Santa Fe High resumes play Saturday afternoon with a District 2-6A visit from undefeated Albuquerque La Cueva (15-0) in a doubleheader scheduled for 1 and 3 p.m. La Cueva has scored 184 runs and allowed only 21.

The Braves play another non district game the same day versus visiting 3A Mora (2-6) in another doubleheader that is slated for 1 and 3 p.m.

Friday, Albuquerque Sandia Prep (3-8) pays a call on St. Michael’s (2-7) for a 3 p.m. non district test.

At Capital High, its softball team fell to 8-7 overall and 2-1 in District 2-5A when Espanola Valley (7-9, 2-0) dominated 16-3 in a five-inning contest called via the 10-run mercy-rule.

It was only 6-4 Sundevils when they burst loose for 10 runs in the top of the fifth to end the game. The Jaguars didn’t help matters with various miscues, as well as committing five errors in the frame.

“It was a fifth inning that was never-ending,” said Capital head coach Sig Rivera. “Of all our errors, the majority came in that inning. It was like my team was trying too hard, and the harder it tried, the more mistakes it made.”

The Jags were down 2-0 as they batted in the last of the opening frame, but they responded with three runs of their own to take a 3-2 lead, But back came Espanola with three runs in the second for a 5-3 lead. It finished with 13 hits in the shortened game.

On Saturday, Capital plays host to district rival Albuquerque Academy (2-11. 1-3) in a doubleheader that begins with the 11 a.m. contest, followed by the closer scheduled for a p.m. The same day, Espanola is home to district foe Los Alamos (8-6. 3-0) in an 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. doubleheader for first place.

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