Lady Sand Devils sweep Window Rock

FORT DEFIANCE

The Page softball team were tested early, but the Lady Sand Devils put the hammer down during last Friday’s doubleheader win over the Window Rock Lady Scouts.

The scores were 24-10 and 16-1.

In the opening game, Page got off to a good start leading 6-0 in the first frame, but Window Rock fought back. The Lady Scouts took a 10-7 advantage heading into the fifth.

Nonetheless, Page rebounded by plating 17 unanswered runs for its 24-10 six-inning win as the Sand Devils outhit Window Rock 18 to 16. The Scouts, however, were undone with 11 errors.

“We came out strong, and then we kind of got lax and let them back into the game,” Page second-year coach Trent Sutherland said. “But we’re a good team, and it’s a sign of a good team when they can overcome what happened and go out and do what they did.”

In its best two frames, the Scouts put up three runs in the third and seven in the fourth. In the latter, Window Rock strung together seven hits which included a triple by third baseman Lillyanna Loa for its 10-7 cushion.

“We kind of let up, and we were making little mistakes,” left outfielder Traidyn Sutherland said. “What Window Rock was doing was playing small ball and we couldn’t quite get that. Once we realized that and fixed our mistakes, and got the small ball they were playing, we came back with our bats.”

“We hit one speed bump, and it just got bigger and bigger,” Sand Devil catcher Shanelle Tallsalt added. “It was a matter of picking up each other and relying on each other.”

The Sand Devils were led by shortstop Kayomi June who batted first on 5-of-6 hits. Tallsalt added four hits with three RBIs.

Window Rock, meanwhile, had freshman leftfielder Teaghan Nez and sophomore centerfielder Ryleigh Owens with three hits.

Page’s Leah Bigthumb earned the win as she surrendered 10 runs on 15 hits while striking out nine batters and giving up three walks.

Freshman McKayla Young was tagged with the loss as she gave up 24 runs on 18 hits. Of those runs, four were earned as errors hurt the Scouts.

In the second game, the Sand Devils pounded out 17 hits as Page ended the game in shortened four-inning contest with a 16-1 win.

“Their bats were definitely going in that second game,” Trent Sutherland said. “You know, when you get your leadoff hitter started with a double, the rest of them like to follow.

“They do it every time, you know, when we get a leadoff hit from Kayomi June, the rest of the team follows,” he added.

Page had two batters – Bigthumb and June – going a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate. The Sand Devils also had four other players come up with two hits, including three RBIs from catcher Shanelle Tallsalt.

“We played with more energy,” Bigthumb said. “In our first game we were tired. We had to get up at 4 a.m. to get here.”

Window Rock’s lone hit came from Owens, who hit an inside-the-park home run in the bottom of the fourth.

Pitcher Sophi Tallsalt finished with five strikeouts in 3.2 innings of work. For Window Rock, freshman Lyannah Thompson picked up the loss by giving up 16 runs, 13 of which were earned, on 17 hits.

“Leah is our No. 1 and she threw a good game,” Trent Sutherland said. “We just had a little bit of difficulty in the field to where we weren’t backing her up.

“Sophi came in the second game and she pitched fantastic,” he added.

On Tuesday, the first statewide poll was released by the Arizona Interscholastic Association and the Sand Devils were ranked No. 7 in the 3A Conference. Last year, Page was seeded No. 15 in the 3A playoff and despite that the Sand Devils took second-seeded Bourgade Catholic to extra innings before falling short, 2-1.

“That was a great game and we’re ready to follow it up this year,” Trent Sutherland said.

The Sand Devils are looking to get a better seed for the playoffs, but the Page coach admitted that it’s been difficult to beef up its schedule.

“It’s hard being up far north like we are, to get teams to schedule with us,” Trent Sutherland said. “It’s been difficult to get some of the better 3A teams to play against us.”

The teams that Page faced this year include No. 18 ALA-West Foothills, No. 12 Winslow and No. 6 Snowflake.

“Those are some good, solid teams that we played,” Sutherland said.

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