Mike Ridaught
On Thursday night at Loretta Shane Field in Alachua, the Santa Fe softball team appeared to be headed towards an easy non-district home win against visiting Keystone Heights.
The Raiders led 5-0 after four innings, but following seven unanswered runs by the Indians, had to rally for two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning for an 8-7 win.
“At the end they played as a team,” said Santa Fe coach Gene Findley. “They came up and got the hits when we needed. They got the extra bases when we needed, so at the end they did play together and finish out strong.”
Junior Makenna Payne set the tone in the circle.
Through four innings she allowed no runs on just three hits.
“I felt for the first four innings she was doing pretty decent, but then she started to fall off a little bit,” said Findley, who noted he had a pitcher who was out which gave Payne the start.
The offense did its part.
Junior Gracie Mattson (2-for-5, 2 runs scored) singled to left field in the first inning, stole second, went to third on an infield hit by Maren Hornsby and scored on a ground out to first by junior J’lyn Guyden (3-for-4, 2 RBI) for an early 1-0 lead.
The big inning for Santa Fe (9-2) came in the fourth as they sent eight batters to the plate and scored four runs on four hits and two errors.
With two outs, College of Central Florida signee Amy Crosby grounded to third but the throw to first was dropped, allowing Montana Moen, who had singled, to score for a 2-0 lead.
Mattson followed with an RBI single for a 3-0 lead and after a single to left field by Hornsby (3-for-4, 2 RS), singled to left field, which was misplayed and allowed Mattson and Hornsby to score for a 5-0 advantage.
However, Keystone (4-3) answered, scoring three runs on three hits and an error in the top of the fifth.
Eighth-grader Bella Cumbo had an infield hit, followed by an RBI double by senior Alaina Kinsall to put the Indians on the scoreboard.
Brooklyn McDougall came in relief a couple of batters later and appeared to get Santa Fe out of the inning.
But a bouncing ball went off the glove of second baseman Kaydence Davis, allowing two runs to score to make it 5-3.
“That was a heartbreaker,” Findley said. “But at least as a team they fought back and got the W.”
The Indians took the lead in the top of the sixth with a four-run inning.
Senior Ashley Nugent (3-for-4, 2 RBI, 1 RS) had a 2-RBI double to deep center field to tie the game.
Fellow senior Abbie Roach kept the inning alive with a base hit to left field, and two batters later senior Delia Johnson singled to left field to drive in two more for a 7-5 lead.
Santa Fe, which is ranked No. 16 in the last regional rankings, trimmed the deficit to one, 7-6, in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI single by Guyden.
McDougal retired the side in order in the top of the seventh, setting the stage for the final at-bat.
With one out, sophomore Madisen Crosby tripled to centerfield.
“She came in with a clutch hit with a triple, which fired everybody up behind her, things happened,” Findley said.
Her sister, Amy, followed with a bunt single which put runners on the corners.
Mattson then lined a pitch into left field that was misplayed for a two-run error, giving the Raiders their fifth straight victory.
Santa Fe outhit Keystone Heights, 13-8, but they left 11 runners on base.
The Raiders are scheduled to play at unbeaten Gainesville at 7 p.m. on Friday, while Keystone Heights, which left nine runners on base, will travel to Clay (Green Cove Springs) for a 7 p.m. start.
