Santa Fe Indian School rallies to beat Sandia Prep, 13-12

For five innings, the Santa Fe Indian School softball team was in a daze. Fortunately for the Lady Braves, they woke up just in time. The Lady Sundevils of Albuquerque Sandia Prep rolled out to a 6-2 lead after four innings of a District 5-4A game in Albuquerque, but SFIS rallied behind 11 runs over the last four innings for a 13-12 win in eight innings Thursday afternoon. With the win, the Lady Braves (19-4) secured second place in the district at 4-2.

The Lady Braves scored once in the fifth, twice in the sixth and three times in the seventh to force extra innings. The big hit in the seventh was a two-run single by Kiera MermejoVarga that tied the score at 8-all. In the eighth, SFIS plated five runs to take a 13-8 lead that was just big enough to withstand a four-run rally in the bottom of the inning by Sandia Prep.

“We were able to come from behind and faced some adversity,” SFIS head coach Oliver Torres said. “That put them in some good situations.”

Leanna Lewis went 3-for-4 with a double and a two-run home run for the Lady Braves, and Lauryn Bekise also went 3-for-4.

SFIS will await its seed for the Class 4A State Tournament, which will be announced on Sunday afternoon.