Jones’s birthday shot keeps Santa Fe rolling

Natalie Jones hit a grand slam and recorded another RBI from a hit earlier in the game when she led the Edmond Santa Fe Lady Wolves over the visiting Putnam City by a score of 7-2 on Tuesday night. Putnam City took an early lead after scoring 1 run in both the second and third innings, but Santa Fe battled back and took the lead for good in the bottom of the fourth. Santa Fe’s Jordan Bowman led off the inning with a single. Next up, Emma Moreland was hit by a pitch. Madi Coats reached on an error from the PC infield when Coat’s sacrifice bunt was mishandled and Loren Wright followed Coats with a single that scored Bowman. Next up, Sierra Burleson hit into a ground-out that scored Moreland. Finally, Natalie Jones hit a deep sac fly to the outfield that scored Coats and grabbed the lead for Santa Fe 3-2. The inning’s outburst was ultimately enough for Santa Fe to claim the victory, but a little late-inning insurance helped give the Lady Wolves some breathing room. In that late-inning, Coats and Wright both reached on walks to start the inning. Then, Burleson singled to load the bases with Natalie Jones standing in the on-deck circle. Jones parked a pitch during her ensuing at-bat and recorded a grand slam. Jones’s 5 RBI performance comes on a familiar place on the calendar for the junior – Tuesday was her birthday. Jordan Bowman pitched all seven innings in Tuesday’s victory recording 2 strikeouts while giving only giving up 3 hits and 2 earned runs. “Jordan pitched really well,” said Rhonda Lawson, head coach of the Santa Fe Lady Wolves. “And our girls kept us in the game by continuing to put the ball in play.” Lawson’s team has turned the tide on the early-season narratives. After their record dropped to as low as 3-9, Santa Fe has gotten hot during the backstretch of their season. The Lady Wolves have won 5 of their last 6 games that includes a big performance at the Bethany Tournament over the weekend that helped the girls come together. “We are getting better day-by-day,” Lawson said. “I’m very proud of these girls, things are finally starting to come together.” Santa Fe beat Bethany, Millwood, Norman North and the OKC Broncos before coming into Tuesday’s contest with Putnam City. The victories came during play of the Bethany Tournament late last week. All-in-all, the Lady Wolves outscored their opponents in those four wins by a combined score of 32-5. That tally gets bumped to 39-7 when Tuesday’s victory is factored in. The Lady Wolves will look to continue their late-season hot streak against Del City on Thursday. Santa Fe will host Thursday’s game before traveling to Mustang on Friday and Saturday to compete in the COAC Conference tournament with other Edmond schools.

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JONES’S BIRTHDAY SHOT KEEPS SANTA FE ROLLING

AARON ALBERTSON

The Edmond Sun | 9/14/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Drew Harmon