Shiprock High alumna makes an impact on Lamar softball team

By Barbara Boxleitner
Special to the Times

SHIPROCK

Sanaa Keeswood wanted one more year of playing softball alongside her best friend.

So the Shiprock High School graduate joined the Lamar Community College softball team after playing her first year for the Cochise College women’s basketball team.

The second baseman said she learned the team needed players, and she became a starter alongside shortstop Lisa Marie Begay, a past Lady Chieftain who was only one on the Lamar roster to appear in all 49 games.

Keeswood played 35 games.

“It was fun while it lasted,” the sophomore said of teaming with her best friend.

She hit .303, tying for the team lead with two home runs and tying for third with 20 runs batted in.

“She’s a really good ballplayer,” Lamar head softball coach Kristen Silva said. “She always went up there trying to do the basics. She had a good mindset. She was pretty consistent. She came in clutch with some home runs.”

The coach described her as a gap hitter with a top speed. Keeswood hit three triples, second on the squad, and stole six bases without being thrown out.

She opened the season by striking out in her first three at-bats before changing her approach at the plate.

“In the beginning of the season, I would be nervous. (Later) I was just not thinking about it and just hitting the ball,” she said. “I tried to make contact.”

She hit a solo home run during a win over El Paso Community College, her first game getting a hit.

“I definitely was surprised I hit a home run,” she said, noting that she had ever hit a long ball.

Keeswood’s hits became more frequent after that game, for she had six multi-hit efforts. Batting fourth in the order against Luna, she tripled and singled in four at-bats to lead the squad with three RBIs in that victory.

Her second home run was a three-run shot that helped rally the squad from a 5-0 deficit to a 6-5 win over Trinidad State.

She finished with a .945 fielding percentage in 91 chances, the fourth most on the team. Twice she had six chances without committing an error, and in four games, she cleanly handled five chances.

---