Jeremy Bush
For West Valley Preps

Though it was the 1 versus 16 match-up in the 6A baseball playoffs, fans in Chandler Saturday would not have been able to tell by how evenly matched the two teams looked throughout the afternoon.

Actually, Valley Vista entered the postseason as the No. 22 team before knocking off No. 11 Mesa Skyline in a play-in game Wednesday. That gave the upstarts from Surprise a new seed and the task of trying to upset No. 1 Basha in an elimination game.

It was a back and forth battle between the Monsoon and the Bears on Saturday that needed an extra frame to complete. Basha eventually walked away with the 9-8 victory after a two-out hit in the bottom of the eighth.

"They battled, we battled. It was just a great game," said Valley Vista Coach Ernesto Ortiz.

The game started a little sloppy for Valley Vista (20-12) as they had some trouble containing base runners and allowed the first run to cross the plate in the first thanks to a base runner who was allowed after the catcher could not handle third strike.

After holding Basha (24-3-1) to its only scoreless inning of the game in the second, the Monsoon took the lead in the top of the third on a two-RBI double by junior Damian Nunez.

"That was huge for us. They were only a pitch away from going back to the dugout with another zero," said Coach Ortiz.

Basha tied the game in the bottom of the inning, a trend that would continue throughout the game. A wild pitch led to another lead for Vista in the top of the fourth but saw it erased by an RBI single from junior Brennan Davis.

Senior Jared Lang gave Valley Vista the lead right back with an RBI double in a two-run fifth. Not to be outdone Davis struck again with an RBI double that was followed by an RBI single from senior Mason Regester to tie the game once again.

The Monsoon could not get anything in the sixth and Basha made them the pay with a run in the bottom of the frame to take the lead.

The visitors would not go quietly though, as they exploded for three runs in the top of the seventh thanks to a two-RBI single from Dylan Chelini that gave Valley Vista an 8-6 lead.

But they could not finish Basha off though. The Bearstied the game on an RBI ground out by Seth Beckstead.

Valley Vista failed to score in its half of the eighth and it would be costly, as would a balk in the bottom of the eighth. With two outs in the bottom of the eighth and runners on second and third, junior Trevor Dorn hit a drive to the gap that would end the game.

Despite the heartbreaking loss Ortiz was very proud of the effort his team put forth. "They showed a lot of fight. They didn't pay to much attention to the seeds and they just showed a lot of fight," Coach Ortiz said.