Santa Fe Softball Staves Off State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota In Doubleheader

By Heather Mckenzie and Daniela Ortiz

The Santa Fe College Saints took the first game of the Thursday softball doubleheader, 8-5, against State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota.

Racking Up Early Lead

The Saints pitcher Mallory Forrester was on fire. She allowed no hits and collected four strikeouts in the first three innings. Forrester would end with seven strikeouts for the Saints.

The Saints hitters got off to a hot start, too, scoring four runs in the first and second innings. Sydney Fowler came up huge in the first with a steal of home and Madi Conway and Karris Rhine plated three more runs with matching RBI singles.

Manatees Fight Back

Manatees’ Haley Rosenbaum hit a no-doubt home run to left field in the top of the fourth to get her team on the scoresheet. This momentum would be crucial for the Manatees. They tallied another run in the fifth with an RBI double by Taylor Hallback to make it 4-2 Saints.

The Saints quickly answered with a two-run homer of their own, courtesy of Kamaya Cohen. An error by the Manatees’ infield brought home another runner, extending Santa Fe’s lead to five.

Forrester left the game in the sixth, and was replaced by Peyton Bass. After getting a quick out on the first Manatees’ batter, the Saints began to spiral.

Taking advantage of the pitching change, the Manatees (20-26, 14-24 conference) scored three runs on four straight hits, with RBIs by Ryleigh Bennett and Alissa Kessler. After allowing two more walks and loading the bases, Bass was pulled and Forrester entered the game once more, getting the final out to end the inning.

Conway then came up clutch for Santa Fe, hitting a homer to center field to make it 8-5 Saints and putting a dent into the Manatees’ comeback hopes.

Forrester was able to close it out.

Up Next

The Saints (34-17, 25-11 Citrus Conference) won the second game of the doubleheader against Manatee-Sarasota, 1-0.

Santa Fe goes on the road to Fort Pierce to take on Indian River State College on Saturday for games at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.

View more photos from the game here.