Broken Bats, Broken Hearts Lead To A Santa Fe College Loss Vs. St. Johns River

The Santa Fe College softball team lost the first game of a Thursday doubleheader in heartbreaking fashion, 6-4, against visiting St. Johns River State College.

St. Johns River Swings First

St. Johns River (8-6) came out strong with Caylee Elder hitting a double and putting up the first run in the game. The bats stayed hot for the Vikings with a strong home run hit by Princess Arredondo in the second inning. 

The Saints (5-5) put up some great defensive stops with groundouts completed by Cloy O’Doniel and Sydney Fowler. But the Vikings kept swinging with an RBI hit by Emily Griffin and a two-run homer in the fourth by Elder. 

A SFC pitching change to Peyton Bass, a great double play by Juliann Smith and a great pop fly catch by Karris Rhine ended the top of the fifth with a score of 5-0.

 

Comeback?

The Saints did not give up hope and kept their bats swinging. They went on a two-out rally with Fowler coming in clutch with a three-run homer in the bottom of the fifth.

Momentum stayed strong for the Saints with singles by Ariana Wright, Alexis Daphney and Smith. Smith stole second and scored the fourth run for the Saints to cut the deficit to 5-4.

Elder, the Vikings pitcher, stayed strong and closed out the inning with a strikeout after a battle in the box.

 

Vikings Secure Win

The sixth inning was a quick three up, three down for both teams. Elder hit a home run to extend the Vikings’  lead to 6-4 in the seventh. With the game at risk in the home half of the seventh, Elder got her sixth strikeout to seal the victory.

St. Johns River remained hot on the day, winning the second game 16-2 to sweep the double dip. SJRC is 3-1 against SFC this season after splitting the first two-game series in Palatka earlier this month. The Saints won the first game then, 5-4, before losing the second 12-11.

Up Next

 Santa Fe travels to Florida State College at Jacksonville for a 1 p.m. game Friday. St. Johns River will also play Friday at 1 p.m. vs. the College of Central Florida in Ocala.

 

More photos from the game can be found here.