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By: Isabella Mascioli and Dylan Pierce
Quick Start for Santa Fe
The Santa Fe Raiders started strong in their game Thursday night against Belleview. At the top of the first inning, the Raiders shut out the Rattlers by forcing a 1-2-3 inning. They carried the momentum into the bottom of the first inning by scoring two runs, putting them in the lead.
Going Yard
The Raiders would not slow down as they would score the rest of their runs in the bottom of the second. Ten Raiders ended up on base in the second, and almost every one of them scored a run. Santa Fe would go through their entire batting lineup in the second inning and looked to finish Belleview early.
With the score being 8-0 and bases loaded, Infielder Zane Starling would hit a grand slam to enlarge Santa Fe’s lead to 13-0 in the bottom of the second. The next batter up for the Raiders would be Kyler Nowling, who would ultimately end up hitting a home run on the first pitch thrown and scoring the Raiders’ last run.
GRAND SLAM – Santa Fe’s #14 hits the ball over the left field fence. 12-0 Santa Fe.
— Liana Handler (@HandlerLiana) March 30, 2023
Santa Fe On The Mound
The Raiders smothered the Belleview hitters, holding them to zero runs all the way up until the top of the fourth inning. Dylan Lovelace and Caleb Kietzman were the two aces on the mound for Santa Fe. Coach Travis Yeckring spoke highly of his pitchers after the game.
“ I think our pitchers did a great job tonight,” he said, “This is what a good team does. I think we really set the tone for our upcoming game and we have to make sure we don’t come out flat.”
Mercy Rule
The Raiders dominated the game from start to finish, never trailing. It was a performance that made it easy to tell who the better team was. Their many efforts set up an easy fifth and final inning to result in a 13-2 win.
