Aggies show good eye at plate, overrun Gaels
Patience hadn’t been Arbor View’s strong suit for much of the softball season.
It turned out to be the Aggies’ best friend in their first game of the postseason.
Arbor View worked deep counts, drawing six walks and turning four of them into runs in a 7-3 victory over host Bishop Gorman in the opening round of the Sunset Region playoffs Monday.
“It has taken us a long time to work on being selective at the plate,” Arbor View coach Maria Yoder said. “We broke out a little bit late in the season, and we’re hoping it will be contagious.”
The Aggies displayed patience and got some good fortune during a six-run fourth inning that featured only one hit.
Ashlyn Ames started the inning with a six-pitch walk, and Karli Lehr followed with a single to right. Courtesy runner Katelyn Hall attempted to advance to third on the hit, but the Gaels’ relay, which should have easily retired Hall, was wild, allowing Hall to reach third and Lehr to move to second.
After two strikeouts, Marissa Bachman hit a wind-blown high fly to left that was dropped, allowing two runs to score.
The next three batters — KeAnna Kamaka, Kayla Stephens and Adrianne Drewniak — all walked, and all three scored when Danielle Sheridan’s grounder to third was thrown away.
“That’s something we’ve had done against us a lot this year, with walks coming into score,” Yoder said. “This was a good game for us, a good win.”
The Aggies forced Gorman’s Dayton Yingling to throw 41 pitches in the inning, and she finished with 137 pitches while striking out eight and allowing seven hits. All seven Arbow View runs were unearned.
Lehr was 4-for-4 with a double.
Sierra Dias went 3-for-4 with a double, and Shelby Estocado hit a solo home run for Gorman.
■ Palo Verde 10, Legacy 0 — At Palo Verde, Kelsea Sweeney thew a three-hitter and struck out six as the Panthers topped the Longhorns in five innings.
Breanna Beatty belted a three-run homer, and Dayana Gage added a two-run shot. Rachel Williams was 2-for-4 with two doubles and two RBIs, and Kali Tomlinson was 3-for-3 for Palo Verde.
■ Centennial 13, Spring Valley 0 — At Centennial, Alyssa Finger went 3-for-3 with a home run, two doubles and four RBIs as the Bulldogs routed the Grizzlies in five innings.
Heather Bowen was 3-for-3 with a double, and Bailie Nelson and Lauren Stroman each went 2-for-3 with two doubles for Centennial, which also got a home run by Ashley Ross.
■ Shadow Ridge 6, Cimarron-Memorial 2 — At Shadow Ridge, Tana Feiner went 2-for-4 with a triple and three RBIs to lead the Mustangs past the Spartans.
Jojo Brewer was 3-for-4 with an RBI for the Mustangs. Sarah Pinkston pitched a four-hitter for Shadow Ridge.
SUNRISE REGION
Pitcher Kristina Nelson has looked dominant at times for Las Vegas, and she picked a perfect time to have one of her best games of the year.
Nelson fired a two-hitter with eight strikeouts as the visiting Wildcats stunned Southeast League champion Coronado 2-1 in the opening round of the Sunrise Region tournament.
The only run Nelson allowed was unearned as the Wildcats committed three errors, but they also made key plays to preserve the one-run lead. Nelson retired 12 of the final 13 hitters.
Las Vegas took advantage of a Coronado error to build its lead. After a first-inning walk to Samantha Taylor, Paulina Franco popped up a bunt that the Cougars caught, but threw wildly to first in an attempt to double off Taylor, who raced to third.
She scored on a wild pitch, and Brooke Booth tripled and scored on a passed ball later in the inning.
■ Silverado 17, Basic 5 — At Silverado, Brandi Splinter went 3-for-4 with a home run, a double, two runs and two RBIs, and Ashlee Phillips was 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs as the Skyhawks blitzed the Wolves in five innings.
Kaitlyn Amaral was 3-for-4 with a double, a run and two RBIs for Silverado.
■ Rancho 5, Foothill 0 — At Foothill, Aly Lamboo pitched a four-hitter with nine strikeouts to lead the Rams past the Falcons.
■ Green Valley 7, Liberty 1 — At Green Valley, Maggie Manwarren went 3-for-3 with four runs and four stolen bases as the Gators rolled past the Patriots.
Chelsea Perez was 2-for-3 with two RBIs for Green Valley.
I-A SOUTHERN REGION
Nicole Lesniak tossed a six-hitter and struck out 10 to help Chaparral open the Division I-A Southern Region tournament with a 5-3 win over visiting Pahrump Valley.
Lesniak also went 1-for-2 with three RBIs, and Lauren Lesniak was 2-for-2 with a double for the Cowboys.
■ Faith Lutheran 12, Moapa Valley 6 — At Faith Lutheran, Bri Yee went 3-for-3 with four RBIs to lead the Crusaders past the Pirates. Haley Nielson was 2-for-3 with a two-run homer for Moapa Valley.
■ Cheyenne 14, Tech 3 — At Cheyenne, Megan Ingram went 3-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs as the Desert Shields routed the Roadrunners in five innings.
Vanessa Sanders had a hit and three RBIs, and Alyssa Fata pitched a four-hitter for Cheyenne.
Kimmie Rodriguez belted a three-run home run in the fourth inning for Tech.
■ Boulder City 14, Mojave 1 — At Boulder City, Mikaela Brown pitched a one-hitter and hit a two-run homer to carry the Eagles over the Rattlers in five innings.
