Richard Smith
West Valley Preps

Each time the up and coming Shadow Ridge softball program faces 5A powerhouse Tucson Sahuaro this year, the Stallions play the Cougars a little bit better.

And that makes each loss a little tougher to take. Thursday night's third meeting was a 5A winners bracket semifinal at Rose Mofford Sports Complex and the teams engaged in a pitching duel well into the night.

No. 3 Sahuaro (26-9) finally broke through with two runs in the top of the 11th inning and held on for a 4-2 win. Afterward, the frustration for No. 2 Shadow Ridge was palpable.

"We left a lot of runners on and we didn't execute when we needed to execute. Some of our hitters that are pretty consistent didn't perform tonight. It was really hard for us to do anything when we had so many strikeouts and had girls not executing bunts. (Lexy Coons) threw well but girls that normally hit were not able to today," Shadow Ridge coach Vicki Bejarano said.

To get another shot at the Cougars on May 11, the Stallions will have to take another shot from No. 10 Queen Creek — who eliminated defending state champion Oro Valley Ironwood Ridge Thursday night. Shadow Ridge beat Queen Creek 4-3 in eight innings Tuesday.

Shadow Ridge and Queen Creek's rematch will be an elimination game at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Mofford.

Sahuaro gets a week's rest after the marathon game and awaits the winner on May 11.

"It's kind of nice. Last year we had a couple days off after playing another 11-inning game against Salpointe. But we still need to get better at some of the things we do to win one of the two games that we could play to get to the final," Sahuaro Coach Jeff Fowler said

Early Thursday night the Cougars appeared to be cruising to victory.

Sophomore Brianna Jackson hit an RBI single to center field in the top of the second. Junior Lauren Wedman led off the third with a ground rule double and junior Jasmin Lopez's sacrifice fly brought her home for a 2-0 lead.

But in both innings Sahuaro had a chance for more. Shadow Ridge escaped the second on a line out double play to third base and got a fly ball out with Cougars on second and third in the third inning.

Conversely, the Stallions' offense seemed a bit listless early. Sahuaro's senior ace Lexy Coons rolled through the first three innings without allowing a hit. It was the program's first big game at Mofford.

"Today we didn't start out with energy in the dugout," Coach Bejarano said. "I told them I don't care what field we're going to. It does not matter. That's what happens with us every year — we settle. 'Oh, let's get to Rose Mofford.' I said I don't just want to get to Rose Mofford. I want to go past that. We've got to come back and win three to get to the championship game."



Her team started to figure it out in the fourth. Senior pitcher Devynn Marshall led off with a single back up the middle and freshman Sophia Carroll followed with a double to left center.

Senior Cassidy Young sent pinch runner Avery Dome home on a well-placed ground ball with one out. But Carroll was stranded at third and it remained 2-1.

Both pitchers got stronger as the night went on. Marshall only allowed two runners in scoring position from the fourth through tenth innings and neither of them advanced past second.

Coombs went through a few struggles, until the game was on the line. Sophomore Riley Holmberg's one-out infield single and sophomore Mickaela Covarrubio's bloop double started a Stallion threat in the fifth, but a popup and Marshall's scorching grounder right to junior Danielle Jamieson kept Sahuaro in front.

"They're about as well-coached as any team that's out here. They have some good pitching. Neither one of us got hits when we needed to because both pitchers were dominating," Fowler said. "That's a dangerous team that can compete with anyone."

Young ended up with both Shadow Ridge RBIs, blasting a two-out home run to dead center in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game.

Coons gave the Stallions only one chance to break the tie. She walked two and hit Carroll with a pitch in the eighth, but escaped with a pop fly.

"She's composed. She's a senior who's been doing this since she was a freshman. She trust her teammates and her stuff. She keeps battling the whole way through," Coach Fowler said.

Marshall matched her until the 11th when her injuries caught up with her. After Jackson's one-out single and a walk Young replaced Marshall in the circle.

An error on senior Ari Gomez's bunt loaded the bases and Wedman broke the tie with a deep sacrifice fly. Senior Hailey Ward added an RBI single for insurance.

"(Devynn) can keep going usually but her finger is cut up. We've been super gluing it. She's pretty beat up so we're going to try to give her a break," Coach Bejarano said