Richard Smith

West Valley Preps

Deer Valley rarely looked in position to win its Tuesday afternoon game against Shadow Ridge until one swing put them in the catbird seat.

With two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning, Skyhawks junior Eli Eliot bashed a grand slam over the fence in left center field to turn a 5-3 Deer Valley deficit into a 7-5 Skyhawks lead.

The home team then survived the Stallions scoring in the top of the sixth and loading the bases with two out. Deer Valley (5-4 overall, 3-2 regular season) held on for the 7-6 victory.

"My coaching said to take deep breaths so I did and I got my timing down for the pitcher. He usually throws first pitch strikes so I was expecting that, but he threw a ball, so I was ready for the next one," Eliot said. "It felt great to hit the ball and then to win because we usually would give that lead up."

Shadow Ridge (6-4, 3-2) was in control early. The visitors scored four runs in the second after facing adversity in the first.

They loaded the bases with one out and junior Josh Thurman hit what appeared to be a fielder's choice, driving in one run and allowing another to score on a fielding error at first. However, the umpire ruled Thurman's slide illegal and called him out.

"That was an unfortunate call and I didn't think that was the right call, but it's part of the game," Shadow Ridge coach Charles Summers said.

The Stallions regrouped quickly as senior Michael Valdez and sophomore Brett Kuhlin led off the second with singles. Freshman Treyton Tarver bunted both men over and senior Daniel Holbert brought Valdez home on a sacrifice fly.

Senior Victor Fraire's double plated one Stallion and another scored on an error. Chase St. Amand finished the scoring with an RBI single.

"Both teams competed. We got ahead and hit the starter around a little bit," Summers said. "And then we had one bad inning and we couldn't overcome it."

Now in a 4-0 hole, Deer Valley took a bit to regroup. The home team sliced its deficit in half in the third.

Senior shortstop Wesley Hamen drove in a run despite grounding out, then another came home on an error.

"We can't have our starter have to get five outs. We talk about making the plays you're supposed to make and not giving the other team extra outs," Deer Valley coach Greg Rice said.

Senior catcher Cade Kennedy tripled to start the fifth. St. Amand's sacrifice fly brought him in for a 5-2 lead.

Sophomore Tanner Merrifield walked and Dominic Samura singled to start the home half of the fifth. Sophomore Ashton Reagan drove Merrifield in with a double.

Hamen then walked, loading the bases for Eliot.

Kuhlin doubled to start the sixth and Turner brought him home, but one more run eluded Shadow Ridge. Skyhawks senior Chase Parks finished three innings of relief.

"Our senior leadership starts with Chase Parks giving us a couple of clean innings. Getting some success last year helped," Rice said. "That's a good ball club (Shadow Ridge). They hit."

Shadow RIdge's Daniel Holbert (#10) fields a ground ball against Deer Valley on Tuesday, March 13, 2018 at Deer Valley High School in Glendale. [Jacob Stanek/West Valley Preps][/caption]