Visiting Santa Fe Indian School overpowered By Bernalillo

Visiting Santa Fe Indian School overpowered By Bernalillo, 19-3, in District 5-4A softball Thursday for only its second loss in 13 starts Good early start for Braves, but Spartans responded with four home runs and 12 runs over the last two innings

By Arnie Leshin 

It wasn’t much of a day for the Santa Fe Indian School softball team.

Hoping to keep pace with Bernalillo in District 5-4A, the Braves had to put up with the wind on a nasty afternoon, but the worst was heading home with a 19-3 shellacking in only four innings of the mercy-rule format.

Until this, the only defeat for Indian School in a dozen games was at 8-6 against non district foe Capital High. In other games, they coasted behind good pitching, timely hitting and good fielding, and came into this contest at 1-0 in district.

But the home side didn’t flinch. When the visitors scored, it responded. In the bottom of the first, starting pitcher Shauncey Masaswiestewa clouted a 3-run home run to take a 3-2 lead, than tacked onanother run. When the Braves responded with a run that cut the deficit to 4-3, Bernalillo answered back by pushing across four runs in the second.

Indian School tried to bounce back in the third. With Ariana Marcotte on first, Caitlin Cruz hit a two-out double to center and Marcotte attempted to score. But the throw from centerfielder Julia Beyale bounced right to catcher Angelica Navarro, and she tagged Marcotte in what was a close play.

Braves’ head coach Oliver Torres thought that was a turning point, but it was the Spartan bats that turned things around.

They scored 12 times over the final two innings and Indian School was scoreless. Masaswiestewa was the big boomer with three home runs and nine RBI. There was the 3-run shot in the first, a 2-run clout in the second, and a grand slam in the third. One, two, three was all it took. Her pitching got stronger after the first two innings.

In her fourth time up she had a chance to add another four-bagger, but with Gaby Montoya and Angelica Navarro on first and third, instead of walking her intentionally, he decided to let reliever Alexis Garcia pitch to her, and on a 3-1 count, she plunked the slugger to fill the bases and bring up Mia Montano, the head coach’s daughter, and she deposited the ball over the centerfield fence for a grand slam that upped the 15-3 lead to the final score of 19-3.

The top of Bernalillo’s batting order did most of the damage. The quartet of Montoya, Navarro, Masaswiestewa and Montano combined to go 11-for-13 with four home runs, 13 RBI, and scoring 14 times. And you can tack on two walks and one hit batsman.

Indian School started well by getting to Masaswietewa’s fastball to grab the early lead with the aid of a Marcotte double and a 2-run single by Lauren Bekise. The Braves also scored once more, but that was it, the rest of the hitting belonged to Bernalillo.

The next time the teams meet it will be a doubleheader at Indian School and this time the home team hopes to prevail, wind or no wind.